Under Color Of Authority

Normally, no one wants an employee who makes mistakes that cost the compay money.

After all, nobody wants a worker who keeps making the same mistake, and “if we fail and don’t learn from it, it’s not an intelligent failure,” he said.

And then, unfortunately for us, there's the Bush Administration.

Excuse me? Atheism has led to the greatest cruelties and violations of justice of all time? The Pope is off his rocker. Again. The Crusades must have slipped his mind. Along with the Salem Witch trials, Northern Ireland, the Thirty Years War and even more importantly, priests who sexually prey on those they are supposed to give guidance to, like children.

Speaking of stupidity, wanting to have a woman executed because some seven year old kids named a doll Muhammad and your name (like so many others in your country and around the world) is also Muhammad, is just a little strange. As well as confusing to little kids.

Innocent and still served time. How can a lawyer forget his client is in jail? Obviously the defendant wasn't the one paying the bill, because he would have noticed when he wasn't paid.

Every once in a while justice is served.

Oh great. Flying taser ships for the cops to use to subdue suspects and crowds. Sounds more like the infancy of Skynet.

Thoughts And Memories

Shades of Samuel Mudd. Why didn't they just hang him? Twenty-five years for providing health care, but only fifteen years for providing hand to hand combat training. Meanwhile our soldiers and Blackwater security guys can rape, kill and torture with impunity. We have lost our freaking minds. And all sense of normalcy, decency and any semblance of the moral high ground.

I've been reading since I was three and the only way my parents could get me out of the house was to throw me out. If computer toys had been around back then, they never would have been able to separate me from information gathering. Some kids are suited for action toys, and some aren't. Legos and Barbies never interested me but I still remember my first record player. I was six and it lasted until I was fourteen, when my baby brother took it apart to see how it worked.

My first records were Breaking Up Is Hard To Do by Neil Sedaka, The Loco-Motion by Little Eva. a couple others I don't remember, and my all time Christmas favorite, The Chipmunks (Christmas Don't Be Late). I played it so much that it disappeared. Just in time for the holiday season, they are back with a movie to go with the song.

For all of our history, we have been able to explore new lands but now there are none left. Unless we go into space. Why is it taking so long? In the middle of the twentieth century it took twelve years to go from Sputnik to landing on the moon and now it looks like another twelve before we do it again. What the heck is the holdup? If it only had something we needed...

SubPrime Loan Crisis Explained

By two British comedians with their extremely dry humor. It's a little long, but well worth it. You will understand how hedge funds made their money and why the little guy will take the hit when it all falls apart. YouTube can be so helpful.

If They Only Had A Brain

The Tin Man is coming. There have been many variations and visitations to the Land of Oz over the years and this one looks pretty good.

Trujillo added that The Wizard of Oz, the 1939 movie also based on Baum's book, differs significantly from Tin Man. "The original film is dated, and it's romanticized, and it's more innocent, and it was reflective of the time," Trujillo said. "So I think something a little grittier, a little darker, a little bit more foreboding was called for." Tin Man will premiere on Dec. 2 at 9 p.m. ET/PT.

I love all things Oz, so I have to ask, what movie is this man talking about, did he not see the flying monkeys? I was forty years old before I saw the movie from start to finish. And that was without the Dark Side of the Moon enhancement.

What a tool. Who the hell is Juan Williams and what gives him the right to perpetuate the very old and tired canard that racism isn't responsible for black people not succeeding, it's that the hundreds of thousands of black people who grew up and are living in areas where there is neither decent housing, food, transportation or schooling, it's their own fault because they don't try hard enough? And I hate to break it to him but we are all one race, and when most people see a black person, they don't wonder if they are a "good" black or a 'bad" black, they just see black and think what they've been told by the media. I don't listen to rap, but an awful lot of people besides blacks are buying it. I hear it boom from cars that don't contain any black people, so it isn't responsible for the decades that have passed without the majority of blacks being able to work their way out of poverty but it did help a select few to get away from the ghetto.

When I worked at Universal Studios in the eighties, the secretaries noticed that even though we were union, if a guy started in the mailroom he didn't stay there or progress up the clerical ladder. In very little time (like under a year), he was the assistant to someone and then a year later one of us would be his secretary. It was quite consistent and talent had nothing to do with it. Did it mean that the women weren't trying to get ahead? No, it meant that we weren't part of the boys club. Just like blacks aren't considered to be human. Until it's time to blame them for not succeeding and brainwash the majority into believing that even though they don't have any opportunities whatsoever, it's their fault because they aren't trying to grab a piece of the American dream.

Which doesn't exist for the average citizen either, but why split hairs at this point?

Thinking About Things

When I used to practice acupuncture, one of the things I told parents was that their kids were at a greater risk of osteoporosis than previous generations. Kids no longer live the life portrayed in The Sandlot. The idea of playing outside with your friends all day long has been replaced by computer games, television, Ritalin and ridiculous amounts of useless homework. Not only do they not get enough calcium in their diets to build their bones, but they also drink too much soda which has the opposite effect. Old age is not going to be pleasant for the younger generation.

When did pregnancy become a disease? All those scans and tests and we are still near the bottom in infant mortality. Oh well, as long as they weren't aborted.

It's such a shame about Sean Taylor. What a waste of talent. From what little I've read, it seems that there might be a chance that this was no accident. Somebody had it in for him. Rest in peace, hopefully they will be able to find your killer.

Maglev trains. Every decade or so, they start talking about building them here in the US. I guess it's that time of the decade.

So much for improving my cooking skills. The Rachel Ray Network has canceled Emeril Live due to "contract issues". Mom is really bummed. She likes the band and the interaction with the audience. I'm tired of watching people giggle and eat, I want to watch them cook. No more Mario, and the wrong guy won the Next Iron Chef (Michael Symon giggles like a teenage girl) and isn't nearly as easy on the eyes as John Besh. I hope nothing happens to Alton Brown, he's both cute and informative.

In Memoriam

It's amazing how easy it was to dismantle the foundations and freedoms that this country was built on. As someone pointed out, nowadays it's always 1984 in America.

More recently, there has been the post 9/11 creation of a virtual avalanche of legislation and commissions designed to protect the country at the expense of the Bill of Rights. The two Patriot Acts of 2001 and 2006 and the Military Commission Act or 2006 have collectively limited constitutional rights to free speech, freedom of association, freedom from illegal search, the right to habeas corpus, prohibition of cruel and unusual punishment, and freedom from the illegal seizure of private property. The First, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, and Eighth Amendments in the Bill of Rights have all been disregarded in the rush to make it easier to investigate people, put them in jail, and torture them if necessary. A recent executive order of July 17th, 2007 goes even farther, authorizing the President to seize the property of anyone who "Threatens Stabilization Efforts in Iraq." The government's own Justice Department decides what constitutes "threatening stabilization efforts" and the order does not permit a challenge to the information that the seizure is based on.

One would have thought that the systematic dismantling of the Constitution of the United States would have been enough to satisfy even the most Jacobin neoconservative, but there is more on the horizon, and it is coming from people who call themselves Democrats. The mainstream media has made no effort to inform the public of the impending Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act. The Act, which was sponsored by Congresswoman Jane Harman of California, was passed in the House by an overwhelming 405 to 6 vote on October 24th and is now awaiting approval by the Senate Homeland Security Committee, which is headed by Senator Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut. It is believed that approval by the committee will take place shortly, to be followed by passage by the entire Senate.

Whatever. We are so screwed and the majority doesn't even notice. Or care. Why do I get the feeling that Osama been forgotten laughs a little more each day?

A little music to remind you how easy it is for things to change. The focus is bad, but the song rocks!



Or how about this one from a little earlier?

One Sick Story After Another

Why do I do this to myself? Otherwise known as, the stupid, it burns. What the heck is wrong with people? Jeering at disabled veterans, accusing them of scaring children and thinking that just because you paid money your recreation time is more important than the rehabilitation time that soldiers need to regain some semblance of their lives? These women should be "named and shamed". Then they should be ostracized, just like they are trying to do to these unfortunate veterans.

And if the children are scared, maybe it will be an incentive for them not to go to war in the future.

Arrests for sex crimes are falling and have been for many years. Quite a few reasons are postulated, without ever mentioning the most logical one. Rape hasn't disappeared, too many high profile cases were more about the victim than the criminal and so women stopped reporting it. Since only children are innocent victims...

Our "friends" in Saudi Arabia handles their cases even more barbarically. The victim is punished along with the perpetrators. And if she protests, her sentence is increased and then she mysteriously confesses to committing adultery in the moments immediately before the rape. Convenient, but this is from a country that believes that a girl raped in her own home has brought dishonor to the family. Doesn't matter how old or young, whether strange men broke into the house, she is still at fault. Even when she's covered head to toe in concealing robes, she must have done something to lead them on.

The high cost of health care. I wanted to be a doctor at the age of three. I was hit by a car and this nice doctor sewed me up. When he walked into the room, everything got calm and I remember thinking "I want to do that". As I got older that dream never died. My dad refused to pay for my schooling because I actually wanted to help people, not just get rich. I have nothing against being rich, but I believe that a good doctor is one that cares about his patients more than he does his business. Because that is what medicine has become. A business. And like every business, everyone wants their cut. Even companies who literally do nothing but push paper. Lots of it and then they do their best to keep the lion's share for themselves. Heaven forbid that someone would want to get well.

This crap is just depressing. I'm going to go take the dogs to get their shots.

Hindsight Is Always 20/20

As the old saying goes, the love of money is the root of all evil. The ability to do simple arithmetic should be a requirement if one is going to purchase a house. It used to be a requirement for mortgage lenders.

It isn't really necessary to understand percentages and all the other stuff. You take your income after taxes and subtract the proposed house payment, the mandatory insurance and property taxes, estimated utilities, the car payment that gave you the good credit, and the gas to get you to work since you live so much further away.

Is there enough left over to buy clothes, pay for health insurance, go to an occasional movie, buy cleaning materials for the house, save money to send your kids to college, save money for crap that always shows up that isn't in the budget such as car and home repairs, and that old standby, food? Cool.

How about if someone loses a job? Will you have enough when the loan resets, without depending on your home increasing in value? No? Then you can't afford it. No matter what the realtor says. They are salesmen. It's their job to sell you the biggest something that they can get away with. It's how they pay their mortgage.

You can be like the rest of us and rent. Home ownership is great, but I prefer gadgets and good times. As long as I have a roof over my head, food in the fridge, a decent temperature inside the house and I can afford some of the electronic goodies, I'm a happy woman. Plus, I have memories of fun for the last few years, not regrets on how everything I worked for has disappeared into foreclosure.

Besides, when you close your eyes and go to sleep, everything looks the same.

Supposedly, Not A Third World Country

Not just sad, it's shameful. To have worked so hard all their lives and still be shafted at the end. Frozen out of hearth and home, eating beans and trying to convince themselves that others have it worse. They built this country and now that they can't contribute to the masters of Richistan, it's off to the dungeons for them. The price of heating their homes has increased, but help for those in need has decreased. And they aren't even people of color. How sad. Sort of like a historical Oreo. Cold and hungry in both youth and old age while the middle is filled with the illusion of sweetness.

Spying, Lying And Trying

Color me not surprised. Welcome to the new world order. Just like the one Reagan supposedly got rid of in that other country that is also becoming more repressive. Who would have thought that what looked like progress on the civil rights front, that we would find new ways to return to the days of suspicion and control?

Fry's was a madhouse at 5 am, parking was a nightmare and had to be done a few blocks away. The trash these people left behind and the complete lack of manners was eye opening. Sure enough, the Mac ad was incorrect. There was no 20 inch iMac with a 2.4 GHz processor for $794, they had the Mac Mini for $594 instead. So, I bought the MX Revolution laser mouse and left. If they had had the Bluetooth iPod adapter, I would have bought the MotoRokr S9 headphones. Four hundred dollars in savings on a Mac was worth it for me to get up at five, otherwise I have the same opinion that Konagod does. A warm and toasty bed was a much better idea, but I was already up. But I won't be doing that again.

The Goldilocks method of pain control. A little doesn't work, too much increases pain and moderate amounts work quite well. Moderation, the key to a happy life.

Have you seen the list of the top fictional weapons of all time? The light saber isn't number one, but if you are a geek you will think that number one rocks. Let's shed a little light on the matter.

Me And My Shadow

The newest addition to the family. Isn't she cute?



Shai Shai's reaction to the intrusion. Jealousy is her middle name, though she is coming to accept the little bundle of curiosity.



The two of them together. Shai weighs twenty pounds and Shadow probably weighs a pound and a half.

It's A Hen Party!

Tomorrow is the big day for turkey that you get to eat, unlike the turkey we've had to swallow for the last seven years. All my guests are women this year, the guys think they are going to swing by and eat leftovers but they are probably in for a rude surprise.

Since Thanksgiving tends to be somewhat of a traditional holiday, I don't understand why everybody gets so freaked out about cooking it. If you make most of the same dishes year after year, what's the problem? I change up the flavor of the turkey and the stuffing/dressing and usually keep the sides pretty close to the same. I change it a little depending on the guests.

This year's menu consists of:

Turkey - Herb brined for about 15 hours because it is less than ten pounds

Herbed Shallot Stuffing

Creamed Mashed Potatoes with Spinach

Brussels Sprouts with Marjoram and Pine Nuts

Baked Tomatoes - it's a recipe from my mom

Gravy - Homemade from the drippings if they aren't too salty from the brine

Cranberry Sauce - Harry's

And last but certainly not least,

The Pink Teacup's Sweet Potato Pie recipe in a gingerbread pie shell.

No bread, there are more than enough carbs in this meal.

Shh! Somebody's Watching You

The US is hardly unique in its quest to silence dissension. When we lost our way, the rest of the world followed. All over the globe the hammer is coming down and if you don't like your government...tough catooties. Your choices are nil. You can either live under the thumb of an oppressive regime or you can spend time in jail. Or worse.

How did the world change so much in such a short span of time? There have always been authoritarian governments, but it has been a long time since most of the world was affected at once. You name the hemisphere, it's got problems.

Asia is a hotbed of repression. From the fingerprinting of tourists in Japan (as if you couldn't tell the tourists from the natives) to the sanitization of the media in Malaysia, freedom and democracy have left the building in search of Elvis.

Established in 1967 as a bulwark against communism, Asean was composed originally of the region's more developed and democratic states: Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines. Since the end of the Cold War 15 years ago, it has carved out a new a role as a nonpartisan agent of economic development, admitting smaller neighbors with less democratic governments such as Brunei, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and, in 1997, Myanmar.

None of the group's members have a spotless record on human rights. Vietnam and Laos are notorious for their intolerance of dissent. Arroyo's own government faces criticism over extrajudicial killings.

Last week, the Malaysian police used fire hoses to quell political protests in the capital. And Singapore has rejected requests to stage an anti-Myanmar rally in keeping with its ban on public gatherings of more than four people without a police permit.

Does the Middle East even need to be mentioned? Is there anyone who thinks that region is peaceful and democratic? All the time, money, and wasted lives to bring democracy to a region that doesn't want it and the only thing we have to show for it is a lot of dead people, two countries with a destroyed infrastructure (that would be us and them) and the price of oil going through the roof. Nice.

Europe, South America, Africa, they all have their issues. Antarctica gets a pass, but just barely. Whatever isn't melting is being used as a staging ground for more than scifi novels. And all this time I thought it was a Dirk Pitt adventure.

North America has become spy country. The government does it, corporations do it, football teams have been caught doing it and now individuals can track their loved ones, either by phone or by chip. So they aren't using 666, but the results are the same.

Monday Morning Musings

Johnny hasn't been able to read for many years now, which is how we ended up with George. While reading may have been fundamental at one time, kids nowadays don't have time for those extra vowels and consonants. It's much more fun to play video games, Twitter and check out Facebook than it is to concentrate on something that doesn't give feedback.

Yeah, we know. I can hardly wait for the next stab in the back.

The tide that was supposed to lift all boats, hasn't. All those people that supported cutting back government aid to those in need never thought that it could happen to them. It's tough to help your fellow man when you need the same help. Food pantries (whose choices are not always the healthiest but they are cheap) are unable to keep up with the increased demand and the reduced donations. And it isn't even winter yet.

Well, what did you expect? And nowadays so much counts as a sex crime. Their names, photos and addresses (if they have one) are available on the internet and they are prevented from living a normal life. While I may think that certain sex offenders should be sliced and diced before being shot and hung, not everyone that has the label, has been involved in a sexual act with a minor. That was recently brought to my attention from someone I know. He is now accused of a felony (after originally being convicted of a misdemeanor) for failing to register on his birthday because he thought that when he moved three weeks before and went and registered that, that he was covered. He couldn't have been more wrong. Between them and the pot smokers the police don't have time to solve murders or deal with any of the gang activity. Gotta have our priorities straight.

Oh goodie, we must be safe now.

Lazy Sunday Morning

What a cool toy! When I was a kid, I always had a difficult time focusing binoculars and microscopes. The ability to have your television magnify what interests you by 200x is going to send a lot of junior geeks into nerd heaven. Since real chemistry sets (I spent hours with mine and had to promise not to try and blow anything up) are out of the question, it is going to be difficult to encourage budding scientific minds, but this should help. Where are our next generation of inventors going to come from if everything is restricted? And the really sad part is that we are still going to have terrorists and drug users, we just won't have scientists.

GreaseMonkey has some pretty useful scripts for Google Reader and one of them is the ability to view the original article in Reader. You can make comments or reorder your NetFlix queue without leaving the page.

The Economic Consequences of George Bush have been pretty clear to me for quite a while and unfortunately, are finally becoming clear to others. Whether or not it is in time for us to salvage our country is a matter for debate, but it doesn't look good.

Another interesting article on race and IQ. My question is this. Where do I fall in this theory? Dad was obviously black, but incredibly smart and yes he did have a big head, Mom is "white" but one of her grandmothers was of Mongolian descent and her father was Jewish. As multi-racial children increase, won't that change the IQ stats?

Cranky Saturday Links

We've gone completely nuts. In our efforts to control every segment of a person's life, Prince George County in Maryland has decided that if parents won't vaccinate their children, they can go to jail and pay a fine. Is there any aspect of life that the government doesn't feel like interfering with? Considering that so many schools have a no hugging policy, why do kids need to be vaccinated against Hepatitis B? Are they swapping needles and having unprotected sex in the school bathroom? If so, they have a much more important problem. And why isn't the cervical vaccine required?

United we stand, divided we fall. Ever since Reagan destroyed the Air Traffic Controllers Union, employees from every walk of life have continued to lose money, benefits and respect from their employers. Job protection is nonexistent and retirement is out of the question for those on the the lower end of the pay scale. Work until you die, as long as the people on top can vacation when and wherever they want and then come home their McMansions. Meanwhile, the little people scrimp, save, and suffer for the good of their masters employers and are supposed to be grateful that it isn't worse. Strikes do work, but in other countries they manage to do it all at the same time. It has more of an impact that way.

There should be more feel good stories like this one. Once again high school students kicked some major collegiate ass in a science competition. Proving that one doesn't always have to attend the best school to have the better ideas.

Now all they need is to change the color of the uniforms to match the brown nosing jackboots. Or as we used to say when I was in, "if the CO makes a right turn, the people following will break their neck."

Just think, if you have neighbor issues this can lead to a whole new level of harassment. Right now it depends on parental consent, but the Fourth Amendment is on life support and most Americans (especially the ones who think they won't be affected) are willing to pull the plug. I wonder what the whackos who think that assault weapons for "hunting", think about this plan. While I may not be a fan of assault rifles, I am a fan of search warrants and due process.

Saturdays are supposed to be peaceful and pleasant, so I'm going to go outside and play.

People Need To Get A Grip

I am neither on the fringe or "pre-nursing home", but I am a voting citizen and I believe that Dianne Feinstein is a traitor to both the Democratic Party and to the citizens of her state. She believes more in the dollar and what it can do for her than she does about the effects her votes have on the non-rich citizens of California.

"But it's consistent with other things she's done in her career where she does break on lots of important issues", Anders said. "She has not shown much concern for civil liberties in the context of criminal justice and national security."

I love orange cauliflower, it has a richer taste than the plain old white. The purple one looks spectacular against a white bowl and they all tasted good as a starter soup. I usually just simmer with a little stock until tender and then hit it with the stick blender. You can add herbs if you want or you can try this recipe if you have a few extra cranberries and like pine nuts.

I have lots to say about the Barry Bonds witch hunt and the supposed thirty years in jail, but I'll just leave it at this. Scooter Libby. Since lying about revealing an acting CIA agent wasn't considered important by anybody on the almost never right, what is the big deal now? Sheesh, you'd think he had lied about a blow job.

The Flying Spaghetti Monster has made the big time. Speeches being given at the American Academy of Religion include these gine contributions from some articulate Pastarians.

The presenters' titles seem almost a parody themselves of academic jargon. Snyder will speak about "Holy Pasta and Authentic Sauce: The Flying Spaghetti Monster's Messy Implications for Theorizing Religion," while Gavin Van Horn's presentation is titled "Noodling around with Religion: Carnival Play, Monstrous Humor, and the Noodly Master."

Surf's up. It turns out that the theory of everything might be even simpler than we thought. See what can happen when you aren't slaving away for every dime?

Two For Thrusday

No wonder this country is falling apart. 1500 students at NYU are willing to give up their vote for life, if they are paid a million dollars. 90% of those students also feel that voting is important and 70.5% of those feel that one vote can make a difference. What happened to logic? Oh yeah, most of those students came from high and upper middle class homes. They should have their right to vote taken away permanently. They also shouldn't be allowed to breed.

It's electronic recycle day here in Silicon Valley. Microsoft is collecting tvs, monitors, cellphones, etc. as gesture of good will. If you aren't here, remember that Costco will also do the same. They also give you a nominal amount of money.

This 'N That

Now that's not fair! Though I will admit that if I start researching recipes, I do get a little more creative.

For many cooks, the compulsion to add to the mash is irresistible. It starts with a few parsnips, some carrot and celery root, a little Web research. Next thing you know, fresh lavender and goat cheese are on the shopping list.

I've tried goat cheese in my mashies but I admit to preferring the taste of simple mashed potatoes. I do like to add spinach to the mashies for Thanksgiving. It tastes great and it's another way to sneak in a vegetable. Plus, it doesn't matter what kind of potato you use. And the lavender makes a nice herb butter to go under the skin of the turkey. I'm going to brine my turkey this year, the last time I did it, it was the best tasting turkey I had ever made.

Have you ever wondered what earth-rise looked like? In HDTV?

Pretty soon most Mac users will have upgraded and the furor will die down, but you have to love it when Apple kicks Microsoft ass.

I have to agree with Dr. Haig. Sometimes you have to know when to punt. I just don't know why he let it go on so long. Patients that want you to do all the work for them, while they tell you everything they want done, rarely get better. They're really not interested in getting better, it's a control issue for them and as long as there is a problem, they feel in control.

Comcast sucks. Fortunately I can't get it where I live and if I was forced to use it, I would do without. They charge too much, provide lousy service and I just don't like them.

Update: Fixed the Comcast link.

Economy And BS

Great, just great. She screwed the country by retiring and leaving the way open for the Supreme Court to remove every gain that women and people of color had made in the last forty years and now the husband that she supposedly did all this for, has forgotten her and moved on to a new love. Meanwhile, the country is still stuck with the guys that want a return of the Leave it to Beaver lifestyle.

Zach Quinto really does look like a young Spock. Supposed spoilers for Star Trek XI can be found here.

Why yes, my brothers and I are worse off than my parents at the same point in life. Why do you ask? Do we have college degrees? Why yes, yes we do. One of us is a computer whiz and the other two have Master's degrees. And our "IQs" (those standardized tests that blacks aren't supposed to do well on) start in the early 130s and work their way up. We don't speak "ghetto" either. Maybe the world isn't as friendly as some think?

Proving once again that you can do anything you want with statistics, the WSJ tries to say that only rich people have suffered financially in the last few years. What a load of crap! Just because those of us on the bottom seem to be making more money, they conveniently forget that the price of everything has gone up and that the money doesn't go as far. While mom's social security has gone up every year, she has less disposable money because food and rent costs take up a disproportionate amount of her check. She definitely can't afford the new Nokia with its embedded sapphire since it is almost two months worth of money to her.

I've been hanging out at Gun Toting Liberal for the last few days. Interesting site with well thought out posts about things that interest me.

More Bushit. The man has no shame. Or compassion. But he can certainly play politics, especially with other people's lives. Screw the kids (again!), build more bombs, invade other countries to bring democracy to those who don't want it. No child left behind. Indeed.

Green Tambourine

Gee, I wonder what drugs they were doing? The interview was even funnier than the performance which was pretty imaginative for 1968. A winking elephant, ah-huh.

Ground Control?

In what seems to be one more piece of evidence that as a nation we have decided to blow up instead of grow up, DARPA is trying to slip through another questionable space project and Congress is aiding and abetting their little venture. Hot on the heels of the failure of the Boeing spy satellite system, now the government wants to build (I'm sure it will be outsourced to the lowest bidder, probably Boeing) a

"reusable Hypersonic Cruise Vehicle" (HCV) capable of delivering 12,000 pounds of payload at a distance of 9,000 nautical miles from [the continental United States] in less than two hours."

Every day we get closer and closer to the scary side of the science fiction world. The one where every technological advance is used to terrorize and control the citizens, not the one where we boldly go where no one has gone before. Dictators, tyrants and controlled societies are becoming the norm. Again.

Billions to strike down people from outer space, nothing for children's health care. They really are planning on the Rapture because the future they plan on leaving for the survivors is going to be hell on earth.

3Bs

Are My Words Too Big?

I was checking in over at PSoTD and couldn't resist clicking on the link. I'm kinda, sorta proud of the results.

Freedom Tiptoes Away

We don't have a choice. We end up giving our data to strange people at call centers because all of the jobs have been moved out of the country (remember all that offshoring?) so the businesses can make an obscene profit. Including those that handle our medical and IRS records. Which is a totally different situation than the government spying on its citizens, listening in on their phone calls and reading their email. Don't you just love when the crew without a clue tries to be disingenuous?

Kerr said at an October intelligence conference in San Antonio that he finds concerns that the government may be listening in odd when people are "perfectly willing for a green-card holder at an (Internet service provider) who may or may have not have been an illegal entrant to the United States to handle their data."

If he really wanted to pay tribute and honor us veterans, he would shut his untruthful mouth, resign and take his lying carcass to a maximum security prison for high crimes and misdemeanors. And take all of his moneymaking cronies who have destroyed the country that 35 years ago I was willing to give my life for, with him.

The coup at home. Indeed. This country may have started with a revolution but we are ending without even a whimper. Next thing you know, the American people will have justified not having elections because the majority never shows up.

I have personalized license plates, so what? It makes it easy for me to remember and even easier to find my car in the parking lot. Especially since my red car is no more. Vanity has nothing to do with it. Convenience does.

Oh look, the Bush administration screws up once again. For a party that wants government so small that they can drown it in a bathtub, they don't do a very good job of getting the best bang for their buck. Another program over budget and unable to get off the ground. So much for the war on terror. They want to spy on American citizens for no reason, tracking us wherever we go and listening in on who we talk to, but they can't build a working spy satellite to track the real bad guys. Why aren't I more surprised?

Boeing had never built the kind of spy satellites the government was seeking. Yet when Boeing said it could live within the stringent spending caps imposed by Congress and the satellite agency, the government accepted the company’s optimistic projections, a Panglossian compact that set the stage for many of the travails that followed. Despite its relative inexperience, Boeing was given responsibility for monitoring its own work, under a new government policy of shifting control of big military projects to contractors. At the same time, the satellite agency, hobbled by budget cuts and the loss of seasoned staff members, lacked the expertise to make sound engineering evaluations of its own.

Sigh.

Mission Unaccomplished

As Iraq stands down, Afghanistan steps up. Anyway you look at it, American troops are dying in record numbers in campaigns that supposedly had been won. As in declared victory, mission accomplished, that sort of thing. A sophisticated, coordinated ambush. What's up with that? And where is that Osama guy?

Then there are the injured and the reservists. Brought home and forgotten. Their lives shattered as well as their bodies, minds and spirits. A blip in the news for a few days and on to the next big scandal.

Ouch! And I thought I had a low opinion of the West Coast Lieberman, but someone called chastegoddess ventured this opinion after learning that our Demowienie "senator" was going to vote with the Republicans on telecom immunity.

Feinstein's recent votes are no surprise to me. I lived in San Francisco before, during and after her tenure as mayor, and I know from first-hand observation that she is one of the best politicians money can buy. That woman would put her own people back in concentration camps if she thought the Nazi vote would help her career or bank account.

Guantanamo by the numbers. With an average weight gain of 20 pounds, they are being fed very well. The other stats aren't as funny.

Swede Potato Soup with Fried Spaghetti Squash and Toasted Pepitas. Don't let the name fool you, it's a vegan soup. Made with rutabagas. One of these days I just might try it.

Because It's The Write Thing To Do

Support the Writer's Strike, they deserve to make a living wage. Heck, they deserve to make a profit. You have no idea how different their original story is from what finally makes it to the screen. Don't blame them because producers and studio executives are frustrated writers without an original idea so they have to steal from those they have power over.



Have you seen the commercials with the digital actors? The producers want all the money for themselves. Very little work on their part, massive return to their pockets. Just like the rest of big business.

Thinking About Things

In a Republican world, veterans who are injured should be helped by the generosity of their betters. So far, so good. The American people believe in helping others out in times of need and generously donated hundreds of millions to charity. Unfortunately, due to that same old American entrepreneurship, a good proportion of that money never made it to the people who needed it the most. War profiteering from recruitment to grave, they have no shame.

Fifty percent of the country is suspected to be suffering from Bush Derangement Syndrome and with a little more than 437 days left in his Decidership, that number can only grow. He might end up uniting the country after all.

Once again the crime of rape is trivialized and the defendant never serves his sentence. If it had been a murder conviction he would have been returned to jail to serve out his sentence, rape should be no different. Just because everyone dropped the ball it shouldn't mean that the victim gets no justice. Mychal Bell has served more time.

The Jena 6 drama continues. This is more about revenge and punishment than justice. There will be no mercy.

Could it be that women are single because it's less hassle? Romantic comedies have nothing to with my reasons for being single. Isolation and a lack of worthy candidates has more to do with it. At our age everyone has baggage. Some of us have steamer trunks and some of us have carry on. It's hard to match up.

If Only

I could think as fast as this person did. I hate stupid questions and honestly do try to restrict my answers but sometimes one just has to respond. I'm still snickering. Reprinted form Alternate Brain because it is just that good.

I have three dogs and I was buying a large bag of Meaty Bites at Big Wand standing in line at the check out.

The woman behind me asked if I had a dog.

On impulse, I told her that no, I was starting The Meaty Bites Diet again, although I probably shouldn't because I'd ended up in the hospital last time, but that I'd lost 20 kilos before I woke up in intensive care ward with tubes coming out of most of my orifices and IVs in both arms.

I told her that it was essentially a perfect diet and that the way that it works is to load your pants pockets with Meaty Bites and simply eat one or two every time you feel hungry and that the food is nutritionally complete so I was going to try it again.

I have to mention here that practically everyone in the line was by now enthralled with my story, particularly a guy who was behind her.

Horrified, she asked if I'd ended up in the hospital in that condition because I had been poisoned.

I told her no; it was because I'd been sitting in the street licking my balls and a car hit me.

I thought one guy was going to have a heart attack he was laughing so hard as he staggered out the door.

Stupid broad... why else would I buy dog food??]

'Cause ya got company comin'? Put toothpicks in the kibbles, they'll never know the difference...

Can't you just see the people who were standing in line trying to retell this story to their friends?

Wednesday Wanderings

Chubby may be the new "healthy", but the upper end of it looks like I swallowed an inflated beach ball. Ever since the sixties people have been trying to convince themselves that the emaciated look is attractive, even though it doesn't look that good on Ethiopians or Holocaust victims. Marilyn Monroe was one of the sexiest women of the century (Elizabeth Hurley can take her attitude and shove it), and her weight varied throughout the years but that didn't affect her sexiness. Or her health. Plus, you get to enjoy your life instead of worrying that every little tasty bite will be your last. It's the quality, not the quantity of life, that matters. Which is why I just joined a gym. With a sauna.

Police don't listen to the voters any more than the politicians do. 54% of the 2005 vote in Denver was in favor of the police ignoring adult possession of less than an ounce of marijuana. Instead, arrests increased. Now the people have passed another initiative, this time by 55%, that states that they want their police department to make marijuana arrests their lowest priority. But the cops can't envision not arresting people for pot. The cynic in me says; nice use of resources, this way they don't have to catch anybody committing a serious crime because they can justify to themselves that they are catching "criminals".

WTF? It's easy for someone to say that a recession has its good points when they aren't going to be affected by it. Meanwhile, those of us who live in the real world are getting hammered at both ends. Everything is costing more, from food to fuel, and at the same time we are working harder while earning less money due to fewer hours at jobs that have no benefits. Oh yeah, and any safety net programs for those who aren't used to being poor have been eliminated and they're supposed to depend on the charity of people like him to survive these so-called good times? Not good, not good at all.

I can honestly say that I've never seen any of the Top 10 Most Disturbing Movies.

I did find this one to be disturbing. While I dream about having a luxurious kitchen, it certainly isn't for the same reasons. The racism and sexism are disturbingly obvious during the Asian based segment. It was offensive, but just like watching a bad accident, I couldn't stop watching.

Tuesday Morning Observations

Penn Jillete is an arrogant, overbearing jerk who likes to pass himself off as smart by shouting down those who oppose him. I used to love Penn & Teller, watched them whenever I got the chance and belonged to one of their online fan groups while I was in acupuncture school. There had been an ongoing discussion about Penn's intestinal problems that he had brought back from a trip to India and how nothing was working. I foolishly wrote that he should try acupuncture and they flamed me. My inbox was full for days. I was called everything but human and both Penn & Teller got in on the act. It totally ruined any respect that I had for them and it doesn't help that many years later they admitted that acupuncture works. Now he hangs out with Glenn Beck and accuses Clinton of sounding like Charles Manson. What a tool.

Not content with deluding home buyers into stupid mortgages that they can't afford, now the lenders are doing their best to gouge them on the way out of home ownership by attaching spurious fees and charges that either don't show up during the bankruptcy process or are ridiculously high and have no supporting documentation. Two million more families are expected to lose their homes during this crisis and now it looks like the lenders want the shirts off their backs in addition to repossessing the house.

I support the WGA and hope that the writers prevail because without them, there are no ideas. They should get paid for those ideas and they should be included in the profits of the future. Actors are nice, but writers give them something to work with. Hopefully, not all of the writers will have to take part time jobs like these.

Monday Morning Blues

Alameda County police are going to start scanning the irises of sex offenders and collect them in another database. It sounds good until you realize that with very little effort, people's rights are being infringed upon and terminated. Just being a passenger in a car will be considered a good enough reason to scan you.

"The way the technology is evolving, there will be a hand-held camera in six months," Melley said. In the future, he said, "an officer will be able to have a hand-held iris recognition scanner on his or her belt, and as part of a routine traffic stop could simply ask the driver and/or passengers to look into the camera."

In other news designed to increase hysteria, there is more to this story than meets the eye. In this day and age there is very little about childbirth that isn't managed to the nth degree. Her doctor had to have known throughout the pregnancy that she was a Witness and should have been prepared. For the story to say that she died because she refused blood is irresponsible. I'm not a Witness and I also refuse blood transfusions, they could have made plans beforehand.

Bush doesn't care one whit about what Congress, the nation or anyone else thinks. Like most megalomaniacs he believe that he's right and everybody else is wrong. Vetoes, signing statements and executive orders are the way he subverts the Constitutional process and the people's will. There won't be much in the way of a recognizable Republic when he gets done. Obviously, just the way he wants it.

Is our economy in trouble? If it isn't, why are rap stars starting to use Euros in their videos? Inquiring minds would like to know.

Back to the whittling down of the former Bill of Rights. The government position on email seems to be that if you sent it, then the government has the right to read it because you have no expectation of privacy since you used and ISP. How else is it supposed to arrive at its destination and why would I think that if I've addressed it one individual that others should read it along the way?

Iris scanning, GPS locators, illegal tapping of phones and people turning in other people because they are scared and suspicious of their own shadow. They think terrorists are everyone but them. If you suspect something you should report it. Now, who thinks that they are safe? If someone on the street doesn't like the way you look or act, you could find yourself in jail and having to defend yourself against accusations that are nowhere near the truth. Meanwhile, Osama sits halfway across the world laughing at how little it took to disrupt our freedoms and force a change in our way of life. To something a little closer to the Taleban model.

Barn Door Meets Lock

When I was a little girl, hospitals were sparkling white. Everything looked and smelled clean. It was a fresh scent with a rubbing alcohol backnote. Everybody wore crisp, clean clothing and stray hair was non-existent. How times have changed. When mom had her gallbladder out a few years ago I saw some things that gave me pause. One of the nurses was typing at the medical station and sneezed all over the keyboard. Then the next nurse came in, typed for a while, touched a few things at the nurse's station and then left to work on a patient. Mom's doctor was dressed in a pair of saggy pants that he had to keep pulling up, even after he had washed his hands. I couldn't get her out of there fast enough.

Now antibiotic resistant staph infections are on the rise and one of the proposals is for hospitals and other entities to clean more. Well, duh.

As the bottom line became more important to hospitals than patient care, they cut back on what they considered "non-essential" services. One of the problems with corporate thinking is that "non-essential" usually means those on the bottom end of the pay scale. The ones that do the dirty work. Literally. Unfortunately this has not just been restricted to the medical profession. This same short-sighted thinking has been applied to schools, stadiums and other places where large crowds gather.

Did you know that it's hard to type and sing at the same time? The sound is pretty good on the new iMac, but the screen is huge in comparison to the laptop. I haven't really played with Leopard yet, I still have to buy a Firewire so I can transfer the data from the PowerBook, clean it up and sell it to a friend of mine. I'll be back to regular posting soon, as soon as I quit playing around with the new toys. I sort of miss my car, but gadgets have helped to mitigate the sadness.

Played during writing of this post.

Queen - I Want It All
Rodrigo y Gabriela - Satori
The Guess Who - Clap for the Wolfman
Johnny Cash - I Walk the Line
Oingo Boingo - Weird Science
Climax - Precious and Few
Stealers Wheel - Stuck in the Middle with You
The Romantics - Talking in Your Sleep
The Romantics - What I Like About You
The Trammps - Disco Inferno (Single Edit)
Tone-Loc - Wild Thing
The Clash - Rock the Casbah
Exile - Kiss You All Over
via FoxyTunes

Shame On Me

But I just couldn't resist. In honor of the revelation of King Tut's "beautiful" face. And yes, because it brings a smile to my face, it is on my iPod.

Tortured By Twinkies

And I though Clinton's women were lacking in the looks department. As expected, San Francisco's traitor does what she does best. Whatever Bush wants, when he wants it and how he wants it. Just like a well paid lady of the evening. I wonder if Condi realizes she has been replaced. Or, as someone so crudely put it, "Feinstein is living proof that assassination works". On the bright side, she never has to look for a Halloween costume, evil never seems to go out of style.

Dumber than a box of rocks. Given the administration's previous track record, if she and Schumer believe anything that the administration's shills "promise", they should be locked up in an institution. For stupidity unbecoming a human being.

Rage and cave. Indeed.

See how easy it is to impose martial law? We could easily be next. Close down the newspapers, radio and tv stations, all conveniently owned by Bush buddies; restrict travel, suspend elections, arrest the liberal members of the Supreme Court and declare Congress more useless than they already are and you're officially in the dictator business.

Never having to worry about another veto. Priceless.

3Bs

Waterboard, Shuffleboard, Enhanced Interrogation Techniques

They are not the same. Seriously, how incompetent and out of touch are the crew without a clue? Supposedly they were caught off guard (Different circumstances, same reaction to everything that doesn't immediately go their way. Remind me again, why is it that they are qualified to lead?) by the opposition to Mukasey as Attorney General. Poor widdle babies.

Torture is torture, period. You can try to change the name, the description or give an "aw shucks" response, but bemusedly condoning the techniques and despicable behaviors used by the Spanish Inquisition, Pol Pot and Saddam Hussein, but not by the Nazis, aren't really the qualities most Americans are looking for in their Attorney General.

In all fairness, most politicians don't exhibit any of the qualities that most Americans prefer in their close neighbors. I guess when you live in a McMansion, behavioral requirements and attachment to reality are a little bit different.

How Much Longer?

Bush definitely needs a muzzle to go with his straitjacket. He should only speak when spoken to and in monosyllabic words only. He has run roughshod over this country for way too long and every single one of his appointments has been surrounded by controversy, lies, half-truths, deceptions and a belief that the average (not a corporation or rich) American citizen is stupider than he is. If he ever leaves office, there won't be much of a free country left. But that seems to be the plan, doesn't it?

Almost two years ago I wrote a little post called "Scalia Believes Lethal Injection Is Illegal", it's nice to see that I was right. The death penalty needs to be abolished. Completely. Then the crew without a clue can decide that they can use all the prisoners who would have been on Death Row to fight out of control forest fires, volunteer for scary medical experiments or anything else that is considered dangerous to law abiding citizens. Just sayin'.

Snowflake memos are unlike their namesakes because they are all the same. The sky is falling, the sky is falling. Or, do your best to terrify the American people into becoming warmongering soulless zombies in fear of everything and everyone who isn't exactly like themselves. Batshit crazy and he wants everybody else to be like him.

It's Iraq, Stupid. So true but you wouldn't know it from the debates, actions of the candidates or the press. Let's make war on another country since we can't finish the last two we started. Anybody know where that Osama guy is going to escape from the next opportunity to capture or kill him? Kill as many innocent people as you can instead of the one that deserves to pay. Nice political strategy. For a fool.