Gosh Darn It!

Damn! While I may not cuss much on my blog, I could go through a bar of soap on a daily basis if we spoke in person.

h/t MinstrelBoy, or as he's known in my house, TruffleBoy

YouTube Sunday

For today's entertainment Reader Rick sent me two links a few weeks ago and now that I'm feeling slightly better (headache is only a 6 instead of the 9.8 that it has been for the past three weeks), it's time for some humor.

First up: Speed Bump


Second up: The Front Fell Off

One, Two, Three, Four

How white of him. Why doesn't he just pat her on the head and offer a handkerchief? I honestly can't stand the man and the more time that passes and the more I learn about him, the less I like him. His attitude will ensure a Republican victory in November to an old man and a perfectly picked Veep choice. On the bright side, we can probably avoid martial law or a "surprise" terrorist attack.

"My attitude is that Senator Clinton can run as long as she wants," Obama told reporters in Johnstown, Pa. "Her name's on the ballot, and she is a fierce and formidable competitor, and she obviously believes that she would make the best nominee and the best president."

No, that was Edwards, but it's too late to fix that now.

When the sad number of 4000 was reached and breached, security contractors weren't included in the body count. With over 150,000 of them in Iraq to support our troops by getting paid more than the enlisted men they replaced, they have should be included in the dying also. They meet all of the qualifications. The first is being dead, followed by dying in Iraq doing jobs that the military doesn't have the manpower for. And their families have just as few answers as military kin do. Country Joe sang it best. Too bad Iraq doesn't rhyme with much.


My two favorite teams. The Cincinnati Reds and who's ever playing against the Dodgers. Especially when they win.

Just rewards only apply to the poor. Others when they screw up, get millions of dollars in stock options. Meanwhile, Bank of America continues to get every last dime in fees from those of us who don't have millions, and never will. Some of their customers are homeless because of the games that Countrywide played, but that's another issue, isn't it?

BBB

And The Rock Cried Out - No Hiding Place

From JMS' (Joe Michael Straczynski for those who aren't fans) script to the Universe's ears. May those who have dragged us into an illegal and immoral war understand that eventually it all catches up with you. The innocents should not be the only ones who pay the ultimate price. Sooner or later, justice will be served, hopefully in our lifetime and before it is too late to undo the damage the crew without a clue has caused. Plus the music is good, Marva Hicks can sing.

Maybe, just maybe, we (or your descendants) will live to see a time when this is true.

"Declaration of Principles

"The universe speaks in many languages, but only one voice. The language is not Narn or Human or Centauri or Gayan or Minbari. It speaks in the language of hope; it speaks in the language of trust; it speaks in the language of strength, in the language of compassion. It is the language of the heart and the language of the soul. And always it is the same voice. It is the voice of our ancestors speaking through us and the voice of our inheritors waiting to be born. It is the small still voice that says, 'we are one'. No matter the blood, no matter the skin, no matter the world, no matter the star. We are one! No matter the pain, no matter the darkness, no matter the loss, no matter the fear. We are one, here, gathered together in common cause. We agree to recognize this singular truth, and this singular rule: that we must be kind to one another, because each voice enriches us and enables us. And each voice lost diminishes us. We are the voice of the universe, the soul of creation, the fire that will light the way to a better future. We are one. We are one."

----------------
Listening to: The Isley Brothers - Fight the Power
via FoxyTunes

BBB

Talking Dogs

March Madness

© Copyright 2008 RJ Matson - All Rights Reserved.

Numb3rs PC vs Mac Parody

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Listening to: Pink Floyd - Run Like Hell
via FoxyTunes

There's No One Like You

OMG! Whatever happened to having a sense of humor? I've been reading (and starring) Stuff White People Like almost since it began. What a hoot! When he did the top 10 ten rap songs and I realized that I have a couple of them on my iPod, but Going Back to Cali by LL Cool J (this video is hysterical and helps to prove the point) didn't make the list I was so heartbroken I almost choked on my tea. I think I'm white but somebody forgot to inform the genes that determine how much melanin I display. As usual the commenters at ABC have gone off the deep end, proving that they come from the shallow end of the gene pool. Oops, Gato Barbieri just finished and the Scorpions are up, my German blood shows up occasionally.

Armchair warriors, indeed. On to the next milestone that people will ignore. The only thing that Cheney regrets is not being able to drop a nuclear bomb. He probably gets a stiffy just thinking about it. Noble, necessary and just. That would be my description of the war crimes that Bush and Cheney should both be charged with, not a description of an illegal and immoral war perpetrated on people who had done nothing and were capable (at the time) of doing nothing to us.

How can he go back to something he can't do in the first place?

I'm running the new Firefox Beta and while I like some aspects of it, I miss some of my extensions. Specifically Tab Mix Plus (just found a build that works), Colorful Tabs (now that one is working) and Forecastfox. There are a couple more that I wish were working, but I'll just have to wait.

Don't drink the water. Or bathe in it, brush your teeth or cook with it. No wonder people think that bottled water is better. If you live in Alamosa, CO, it is. Makes you wonder how many other city's community water systems are in trouble. Other than all the drugs and hormones that they admitted to a few weeks ago.

Selfish and stupid. Deliberately bringing a child into the world when one knows it will die shortly after it's born, usually painfully and completely unaware, is cruel. No matter what your religious beliefs, you are not putting the child's welfare ahead of your own personal interests. Purposefully having a child whose mental impairment means that someone will have to care for it for the rest of its life, is cruel. With the technologies of today, that child could outlive the parents by many years and then who is going to love them? Who is going to fight for the benefits that they will need? Because with the growing lack of compassion people have for those less fortunate, they will have a miserable and lonely life after the parents are gone. What kind of parenting is that? Maybe because I'm watching my mom lose her mind and realize that if it happens to me there will be nobody to make sure that I'm not living on the street that allows me to take the "cold" view.

I'm more than a little tired of the sexism/racism question in the race for president. For me it's empty suit against another dynasty. I can't and probably won't vote for Obama. I live in California so my vote really doesn't count. Otherwise John Edwards would be my candidate but the media made sure that wasn't an option for me.

Oh boy, another day, another stolen laptop with unencrypted patient data. No wonder people aren't as worried about their phones being tapped and their internet habits being tracked as they should be. With all the data that has been lost over the last five years it's no surprise that the average person doesn't care.

You don't say. Wow, a newspaper that states the obvious like it was a new phenomenon. Of course health costs are cutting into wages, Bush's plans have done so much to help the economy. Of his friends and cronies. Walgreen showed a profit for its second quarter, what a surprise. Not.

BBB

Saturday Night Cartoon

© Copyright 2008 Jimmy Margulies - All Rights Reserved.

What If The Earth Is Just One Big Science Experiment?

Biblically correct, now that's a mouthful. A book written by many men (Ruth and Esther were tokens used to prove a point but Mary, the mother of Jesus and a major part of a world religion, gets scant mention much less her own book, why is that?) to reflect their point of view and the parts that didn't fit in, were discarded. Now some of the "believers" are conducting museum tours and explaining to the young and impressionable that thousands of years of history never happened. Oh sweet Jeebus, how much dumber is our population going to get? Tyrannosaurus Rex was a vegetarian because Adam and Eve hadn't sinned yet, so there was no death? What planet do these people come from? They most certainly didn't evolve from intelligent humans. That Bible belt is cinched a little too tight and preventing oxygen from circulating through their very little brains. No wonder there are very few "American" doctors in practice, you have to have a science education in order to understand how the body works. Praying doesn't help cure disease.

This will really throw a spanner into the works. Not only is the moon not made of cheese, but it isn't even made of the same materials as the Earth and Mars is made of something completely different than the other two. Maybe since we are supposed to be made in God's image, he's just trying to find out whether intelligence waxes or wanes with each succeeding generation. I think we are in the wane phase.

Funny how when I was growing up on an Air Force Base, science was accepted as tradition and you were expected to do well in it. I got kicked out of Sunday School (Southern Baptist) for asking impertinent questions like "if you lived on an island and had never seen a white man, does this mean you go to hell because you never heard of the Bible or Jesus Christ?" When I was told yes, I answered "I don't think God does that, he wouldn't punish innocent people for an eternity just because they had never heard of him." And out the door I was pushed and told never to return. Forgiveness seems to be a sin, unless you're a Republican who has committed a sexual indiscretion.

Then I got involved with the Pentecostals. Now that was an adventure. Reality went on a long hike because only a chosen few will be saved. Once again I was shown the door. This time because I thought it didn't make sense that a person who had committed murder, rape, robbery and other trespasses of the Ten Commandments could repent on his deathbed at 75 and he would go to heaven, but a person who had followed the Commandments to the letter would go to hell because he hadn't accepted Jesus Christ as his savior. An exemplary life doesn't count but crying and begging for forgiveness of heinous crimes does. Didn't sound logical then and it doesn't sound logical now. Jehovah's Witnesses are sure I'm not going to heave either. That's okay, it doesn't sound like a very happy place.

Almost 7 billion people on the planet but just 144,000 are going to qualify to go to heaven. One would have to ask what kind God would do something like that. Maybe a scientist who was looking for deviant bacteria and a way to inoculate the space population from contamination would be my guess.

BBB and IIRTZ

The Inevitable Collapse Of The Dollar

We are not invincible and other countries are beginning to believe that. We use the world's resources and contribute nothing but trouble.



This is going to get nasty, not that you would see this on American television. Until it's way too late.

BBB

Reader Rick Strikes Again

My neighbor found out her dog could hardly hear so she took it to the
veterinarian. He found that the problem was hair in its ears. He cleaned both ears and the dog could hear fine. The vet then proceeded to tell the lady that if she wanted to keep this from recurring she should go to the store and get some 'Nair' hair remover and rub it in the dog's ears once a month.

The lady goes to the drug store and gets some 'Nair' hair remover. At the register the druggist tells her, 'If you're going to use this under your arms don't use deodorant for a few days.' The lady says: 'I'm not using it under my arms.'

The druggist says: 'If you're using it on your legs don't shave for a couple of days.'

The lady says: 'I'm not using it on my legs either; if you must know, I'm using it on my schnauzer.'

The druggist says: 'Stay off your bicycle for a week.'

Thanks Rick!

Let The Good Times Roll

Worried about how you are going to feed yourself during the Depression? This is a project you can do yourself, or better yet, get some of your neighbors to participate (that way they won't steal from you) and you can grow a variety of fruits and vegetables which means you won't have to pay exorbitant prices for poor quality food at the few grocery stores that are left. Unless you have the gas (for your new jet) to go somewhere else.

The company, which collapsed suddenly last week when real estate clients withdrew $17 billion in two days, will provide psychological counselors, called employee assistance professionals, to help workers handle the news that their plans and perhaps their dreams have abruptly and dramatically changed.

Cartoon by Gordon Campbell

And the doofus we have now, makes Alfred E. Neumann look intelligent.Makes you proud to be an American, doesn't it? Too bad about the treasure, money, and lives lost because dimwit and the rest of the crew without a clue think that everything is hunky dory. Or at least going to plan. Their plan to destroy the nation we live in and make it look like their latest "success".

By hook or by crook, one way or the other.

BBB

Hooterville, Chimpyville, What's The Difference?

80 years, YouTube and a United States press that can't be bothered to report the truth. It's so much easier to worry about whether or not Heather Mills got as much money as she deserved for being married to one of the Beatles. Or whether Brtiney should pay the lawyer fees for her ex-husband. Anything except how the realities of the sub-prime crisis are affecting those who've lost everything. People like you and me, not those "other" people. You know the ones the Republicans want you to think they are. The ones without education or are illegal aliens, welfare mommies or drug addicts. Nope, these people are melanin impaired, have all their teeth (at the moment) and used to have good paying jobs.



It will make O'Lielly feel so good to know that not one of these people admitted to being a veteran. As if that was important at this point. Ownership society, my ass.

3Bs

Monday Morning Blues

Help the little people? Not on your life. But help a company that produces nothing but paper that says it is worth something, the candle burns all weekend until there is a solution. Even a bad one. Our tax dollars at work, doing everything but provide services to the citizens.Remember when they refused to bail out New York City?

The Fed will provide special financing to JPMorgan Chase for the deal, JPMorgan Chase said. The central bank has agreed to fund up to $30 billion of Bear Stearns' less liquid assets. Risky bets on securities tied to subprime mortgages -- loans given to customers with poor credit history -- crippled Bear Stearns, the nations' fifth-largest investment bank.

Hell, no. $30,000,000,000 of our money goes to guarantee the purchase of Bear Stearns because they were incompetent greedy bastards and have 'less liquid assets'? That's just outrageous. Why are we providing our money to help one business acquire one grossly incompetent business?

We can't fund programs helping our veterans.

We can't fund programs that give children insurance.

But over one damn weekend, we find $30 billion to fund greed. It's ridiculous. Pathetic enabling crap.

And it's money wasted, completely wasted. Just like the billions poured down the gullet of Detroit. Because you pull the Band-Aid off slowly or quickly, we're trying to allow these people to feel no pain, when pain is exactly what they deserve.

When you are poor and have financial problems, it's always your fault and it's up to you to figure your way out. Nobody, and I mean nobody, is willing to help someone who already can't pay their bills. Something about not being a good risk. If it only worked like that for the people at the top, maybe a little more thinking (such as simple arithmetic instead of compound interest) would have provided a few level heads and prevented what looks like the second Depression in my mother's lifetime.

On a really sad note, Tom and Steve Hilton from If I Ran The Zoo are experiencing the physical loss of their father after the recent loss of their mother. My heart goes out to the guys (we've shared a few beers, which was cool because one of them lives on the other side of the country) and hope that this next few days and months eases the pain and returns the happy memories of childhood. And Steve per one of our conversations, another good one is "when you get to the dead skunk, turn right. Quickly."

Oh no, it's that green drinking day. Again. Just without the music, Guiness or soda bread but I am making the non-tradtional Corned Beef and Cabbage, otherwise known as a New England Boiled Dinner.

Don't you wish you owned gold instead of dollars? I own neither, but I can dream. This is going to be a really bad roller coaster ride. Like one of the ones where the majority of riders gets killed. It took a lot for me to ride Revolution at Six Flags after watching that movie.

Speaking of movies, I watched Waitress a few weeks ago, I had put it off because I knew it was going to be painful to see all that talent go to waste. What a great movie and what a supreme loss of talent. Adrienne Shelly definitely had a lot to contribute. Nathan Fillion wasn't bad either.

3Bs

Inner City Blues

The times may have changed but every word still sings true. Especially for the last two weeks of my so called "life".


Way too short, just like his life.

BBB

Worst Pun Ever

"In Fyfe, Scotland, there's an annual tench-eating competition [tench are small fish like sardines]. The world champion, Sven from Finland, was in Fyfe to defend his title. Local boy Hix won through to the final and it was a contest between him and Sven. The result was that Hix ate 27 tench and Sven managed only nine - so Hix was crowned world champion. The headline?


One To Three For Fyfe's Hix, Sven Ate Nine Tench."

3Bs

Flight Of The Bumblebee

Kiko's House reminded me that it's Bobby McFerrin's birthday and being the arbitrary person that I am, here is my favorite song by Bobby and it features Yo Yo Ma and a real bee.



Plus, it's my 3rd year blogiversary.

It's Not The Income, It's The Outgo

Inequality myth my ass. Hoo boy, where to start. Don't you just love when professors conveniently present "facts" that support their point of view and ignore reality as they drive down their privileged streets?

First, we can easily dismiss the notion that the poor are getting poorer. All the Census Bureau tells us is that the share of the pie consumed by the poor has been shrinking (to 3.4% in 2006 from 4.1% in 1970). But the "pie" has grown enormously. This year's real GDP of $14 trillion is three times that of 1970. So the absolute size of the slice received by the bottom 20% has increased to $476 billion from $181 billion. Allowing for population growth shows that the average income of people at the bottom of the income distribution has risen 36%.

They're not rich, but they're certainly not poorer. In reality, economic growth has raised incomes across the board.

And prices haven't risen at all. An apartment that rented for a few hundred dollars in 1970 now rents for over a thousand. The price of food, gas, and clothing have risen more than 36% in 38 years.

The supposed decline of the poor and middle class is exaggerated even more by the dynamics of population growth. When people look at the "poor" in any two years, they think they're looking at the same people. That's rarely true, especially over longer periods of time.

When Lisa Marie Presley (I'm sorry but talent definitely skipped a generation) feels that she can redo one of her father's records and picks In The Ghetto, maybe not all that much has changed for certain segments of the population. And once again, New Orleans is conveniently forgotten.

Being of the new breed of conservative, he brings up immigration.

Since 1998, the U.S. population has increased by over 20 million. Nearly half of that growth has come from immigration, legal and illegal. Overwhelmingly, these immigrants enter at the lowest rungs on the income ladder. Statistically, this immigrant surge not only reduces the income of the "average" household, but also changes the occupants of the lowest income classes.

Overwhelmingly? Well, I live here in Silicon Valley and there is plenty of immigration. From China and India. They have these cute visas and have taken away the well paying jobs from those who have blue eyes and those jobs that are left are either outsourced or pay so little that only illegals who live twenty to a home and don't mind eating rice and beans as their daily meal can afford to live on the salary. Caucasians are in the minority and if blacks aren't driving the buses, garbage and tow trucks, they are nowhere to be seen.

Something similar happens with the distribution of income. People keep entering the distribution line from the bottom. Even though individuals are moving up the line, the middle of the line never seems to move. Hence, an unchanged -- or even receding -- median marker could co-exist with individual advancement. The people who were at the middle marker before have moved up the distribution line. This is the kind of income mobility that has long characterized U.S. income dynamics.

Is that why with a Master's degree both my brother and myself are making less money than we did in the eighties? In reality, we entered from the middle and educated our way to the bottom.

That broad swath of economic advancement shows up in personal consumption. According to the Labor Department, personal consumption spending has risen by $2.5 trillion since 2000. More Americans own homes and new cars today than ever before, despite slowdowns in both industries. Laptop computers, iPhones and flat-panel TVs are fast becoming necessities rather than luxury items.

I live in a mobile home that I don't own and my brother has a house that is worth less than his home loan and he's had that house for over five years. Neither of us have new cars but I do have a flat panel tv. I got it when I wrecked my car and decided that since we were entering the digital age and it didn't look like my income was going to improve any time soon, I might as well bite the bullet and get a small one while it was on sale since going to the movies or a concert is not in my budget. A real vacation or buying new clothes is totally out of the question. So is the iPhone and I hate to break it to you, but a computer isn't a luxury anymore, it's what you need to survive in today's world. They recognize that in developing countries but I guess when you are devolving it just isn't considered important.

I made more money in the eighties on a secretarial salary and it certainly went a lot further than it does now. I lived by myself, had a new car and was able to go out to dinner whenever I wanted. Now my 77 year old mother and I share a trailer. I drive a fourteen year old car that guzzles gas and we go to the Vietnamese soup place every couple of months because it's cheap and I get tired of cooking sometimes. As soon as I get $1500 together, I'll be filing bankruptcy and can take those classes on how to spend money I obviously don't have so I won't get into debt again.

And during the summer, I grow my own vegetables. One, because they taste better and two, because then I can afford meat. Go back to your tenured job where you get to spout this crap and leave the rest of us alone. I can't afford the blood pressure medicines I need after reading your rosy view of your world.

3Bs

The Birthday Girl

Isn't she pretty?

Pugs may be small in stature -- weighing in at 14 to18 pounds -- but their personalities bark "big dog." Although smart, and sometimes stubborn, they're hardly pugnacious. Playful and social, they get along fine with other dogs, children, and even strangers. However, their love for attention and affection can make them a little jealous if they feel overlooked. Pugs prefer a moderate climate and are prone to catching colds, so opt for indoor exercise when the temps drop or get uncomfortably high. Pugs are notorious snorers, so think twice before sharing your bed.

Shai Shai is seven, needs a new picture, weighs about 22 pounds and snores to rival my dad. Which is why she sleeps with my mom, but I can still hear her through the walls.

Happy birthday pug of my life.

Sunday Not So Funnies

A true Bushie, a founding member of the crew without a clue. Poor widdle baby, it's always everyone else's fault. Or maybe it was just a bad plan that was doomed from the start, killed thousands of troops in the middle and now the end looks like it's surging back to the middle.

So women can perform well under fire, which is why she got the Silver Star. And she's alive to receive it. Congratulations, I hope it helps with the nightmares.

Slap another yellow sticker on the car, nothing is too good for our troops in Iraq. Not even water.

Europe got its massive unmanned space truck into orbit to resupply the International Space Station. I hope they get this thing built before it's time to be decommissioned by the end of the next decade.

Did you know that crime pays? Not for the criminal but for everyone else involved. Especially for private prison management companies. They're doing a great job too. As long as you don't count the murderers who get out and do it again. Why aren't anger management classes required before release? Does it cut into the profit or does it make sure the same people keep ending up behind bars?

You are what you eat. Or drink. Which means that the people we thought were batshit crazy, probably have mad cow disease. When they start falling down for no reason, we'll know for sure. Because it isn't like there is decent government oversight, it got drowned in the bathtub.

You don't have to live in this country to be crazy as well as stupid. What kind of drugs are they on to think that this will help the peace process with the Palestinians? It looks more like the piece by piece process.

Another aspect of the housing crisis that people forgot. Who needs a McMansion when the kids are gone, the housework is overwhelming and there is way too much space to rattle around in?

Oh well, that explains the bad attitude. I was born in Britain. On an Air Force Base which is considered to be United States ground just like the Consulates, so I can still run for President. Just like McCain. Unfortunately.

BBB

Attack Of The Stupids

Hazardous to their character, because being exposed to people with differing viewpoints or things known as facts might cause them to question your perception of reality? Ah yes, by all means let the stupid and uneducated homeschool their children. Please, let us continue to become more fractured and clueless as a society. One that practices even more intolerance and shortsighted thinking without an ounce of logic or the ability to recognize (a run on sentence) that with over six billion people on the planet maybe exposure to different cultures and thinking as opposed to bigotry might help us get ahead in the future. Instead of returning to our puritanical past, the one of scarlet letters and people were burned at the stake as witches.

"The parent-child relationship existed long before any government and makes it the responsibility of the parent to educate the child," he said. That responsibility includes protecting one's children from "things hazardous to the child, emotionally as well as physically," he said.

Long, 54, said he specifically objected to his children being taught in school about evolution and homosexuality.

"I want to keep and protect them until I feel they're mature enough to deal with these issues," he said. "I believe the creator wants us to protect our children from things we believe are hazardous to their character."

I believe that being exposed to stupidity on a daily basis is hazardous to their character and wonder what his opinion of incest is. A game the whole family can play? After a little research I found that the whole case started because one of eight of Mr. Long's homeschooled children complained that it was being mistreated and the juvenile court judge found that the children were poorly educated. What a surprise that isn't.

Yes, there have been children who have excelled by being homeschooled, but that was because they were too smart for a one size fits all education system and their parents had the ability to inspire their children to achieve, as opposed to being taught bigotry, racism and hatred of those who don't share your religious beliefs or just aren't like you.

Meanwhile, the Governator babbles on about every child deserves a quality education and then cuts funding through the bone to the marrow. In a few years not only will we have lost our status as major world economy, but we'll also have the distinction of having some of the world's most undereducated populace. It's absolutely fascinating how much like a third world country we are becoming. Now all we need are the floods, storms and being ignored by the federal government and we can be just like New Orleans or Tennessee.

Was the cost factored in to the economic stimulus plan? $42 million to let the taxpayers know their rebate is coming. Isn't that what the "news" used presidential speeches used to be for?

I didn't weigh in on the Charlotte Allen article since I was too stupid to understand what she was saying since I spent most of my life admiring Marie Curie and her Nobels chemistry and physics instead of reading romance novels that have no possibility of coming true (unlike science fiction, which has) or swooning over a candidate who doesn't have any concrete plans (at least not revealed to those of us little people) to go with his promise of "change". Why, even little Debbie didn't think it was funny and it's been a long time since I thought she was good at her job.

Mirror, mirror on the wall, who's the stupidest President of them all? That would be Mr. Waterboard himself. Don't we wish. Guy can't even swallow a pretzel correctly.

Finally, a good reason for homeschooling. Because we just haven't had enough school shootings, now some states are allowing hunting education classes. As if people actually depended on that skill for their daily meal.

BBB

You Don't Say

A transparent society only works when the balance of power is equal. In other words, watching the watcher watch you only works if you are able to prevent the watcher from using what he watched against you indiscriminately. No wonder everybody who isn't on some kind of watch list wants immunity.

Today I pick up my new phone and I'll find out if the echo is because of the crappy phone or if someone is listening in. I'm betting that it won't make a difference because I've been hearing the same clicks and echoes for the last three phones. And why yes, I do have Verizon.

Officials ignore the will (and the votes) of the people.

Eye contact? Or a new way for the narcissistic to be noticed? I wonder how long it will take for the usual suspects (Britney, Paris, Nicole, Pamela Sue, Jeremy Piven) to participate?

Home foreclosures hit a record high. Again. Unfortunately, records are also being set that include people who are falling behind on their payments. That cliff is getting awful close and the lemmings are headed there full speed ahead.

Umm, eff u? Or how about this oldie but goodie, we got ours we don't care about you?

If corporations such as subsidiaries of Halliburton manage not to pay Medicare or Social Security taxes, among others, what makes anyone think that they are going to use their part of the economic stimulus package here in the US? All that money is going to be spent and the US economy won't see a dime.

Gotta go, I have a 10 am meeting with a lawyer to declare bankruptcy while I qualify for Chapter 7. The ambulance bill was the last straw, so I'm going to try the preemptive strike strategy. Beat everyone else to the courtroom.

3Bs

My Sentiments Exactly

Courtesy of Reader Rick. What a great guy!

To my friends who enjoy a glass of wine… And those who don't.

As Ben Franklin said: In wine there is wisdom, in beer there is freedom, in water there is bacteria. In a number of carefully controlled trials, scientists have demonstrated that if we drink 1 liter of water each day, at the end of the year we would have absorbed more than 1 kilo of Escherichia coli, (E. Coli) - bacteria found in feces. In other words, we are consuming 1 kilo of poop.

However, we do NOT run that risk when drinking wine & beer (or tequila, rum, whiskey or other liquor) because alcohol has to go through a purification process of boiling, filtering and/or fermenting.

Remember: Water = Poop, Wine = Health

Therefore, it's better to drink wine and talk stupid, than to drink water and be full of shit.

There is no need to thank me for this valuable information: I'm doing it as a public service.

Snowblind Friend

Brilliant lyrics and still topical after all this time, which goes to show how well the war on drugs has succeeded.

He said he wanted heaven, but praying was too slow so he bought a one way ticket on an airline made of snow.

Lying on the pavement with the misery on his brain,

Sort of like the people who wrote Clinton off yesterday.

3Bs

Almost Funny

China is becoming the world's shipyard. The land that has recently given us lead toys, tainted animal food and other assorted unhealthy goods, is now poised to become the leader in seagoing transportation. One certainly hopes they have better quality assurance programs than they do for their airplanes.

For anybody who is not familiar with a jet engine, a jet fan blade should be perfectly smooth.
A pilot for a Chinese carrier requested permission and landed at FRA (Frankfurt,Germany) for an unscheduled refueling stop. The reason became soon apparent to the ground crew: The Number 3 engine had been shutdown previously because of excessive vibration, and because it didn't look too good. It had apparently been no problem for the tough guys back in China: as they took some sturdy straps and wrapped them around two of the fan blades and the structures behind, thus stopping any unwanted wind-milling (engine spinning by itself due to airflow passing thru the blades during flight) and associated uncomfortable vibration caused by the suboptimal fan.

Note that the straps are seat-belts....how resourceful! After making the "repairs", off they went into the wild blue yonder with another revenue-making flight on only three engines! With the increased fuel consumption, they got a bit low on fuel, and just set it down at the closest airport (FRA) for a quick refill.
That's when the problems started: The Germans, who are kind of picky about this stuff, inspected the malfunctioning engine and immediately grounded the aircraft. (Besides the seat-belts, notice the appalling condition of the fan blades.) The airline operator had to send a chunk of money to get the first engine replaced (took about 10 days). The repair contractor decided to do some impromptu inspection work on the other engines, none of which looked all that great either. The result: a total of 3 engines were eventually changed on this plane before it was permitted to fly again.

I checked with Snopes and the status is still undetermined but it does make you think. And no, I don't think the seat belts were there during flight, it's probably to hold them together during the inspection.

Still, it makes for a different conspiracy theory than 9/11 or whether or not martial law will be declared before the presidential elections.

Monday Morning Observations

One of the things that I hated about being a military kid were the school transfers. When I was six, we moved back from France and I went to finished first grade in Spokane, WA. Which was only for four weeks and then summer vacation started and we moved on base. So for second grade I went to school on base. I started fourth grade in Puerto Rico and seventh in Lompoc and when we were supposed to move for my junior year, I had had enough and threatened to drop out of school, so I graduated from Cabrillo. Every time we moved it was the same thing all over again and I see that many (many) years later, it continues to happen. Kids shouldn't have to suffer because their parents are serving in the military.

How many of these obsolete skills do you have? I had more than my share, one of which was a specialty when I was a child. Getting up to change the channel on the tv. Unlike the kids of tomorrow, doing it with a blink of the eye.

20 ways to live on almost nothing. Professional caretaker? Naah, I'd feel too much like Kato Katlin.

Last night we watched part of the Dexter DVD that I got from Netflix and then caught the tail end of an extremely edited version on CBS in HD. Wow, what a difference! The DVD was good but HD was definitely clearer. Makes me wonder how long it's going to take before Blu-Ray players come down to reasonable levels.