Circling The Drain

People have been so worried about the United Nations imposing a new world order on the United States, that us imposing a new world order on the rest of the planet has been overlooked by all but true freedom advocates. 

The controversial proposed pact, a "framework agreement" on common data protection principles, is likely to enable the Americans to access the credit card histories, banking details and travel habits of Europeans, although senior officials in Brussels deny US reports that the Americans will also be able to snoop on the internet browsing records of Europeans.

"Everybody's keen on this and sees the benefit of it. The French are very keen to continue the work," said a senior official in Brussels. "There's all sorts of information stored on computers nowadays that may be of interest to law enforcement agencies. If we reach agreement, we may well contemplate turning it into a binding international agreement."

snip

Under separate agreements being negotiated, Washington is insisting on having armed guards on flights from Europe to the US, is introducing a new electronic travel authorisation system where travellers to the US would need to apply online for permission to fly before buying a ticket, and last year the EU yielded to American pressure to supply the US authorities with 19 pieces of information on passengers flying from Europe to America.

Land of the brave?  Geez, what a joke.  Land of the broken income is more like it.  For those who toiled all their lives believing that they were working and saving for retirement,  reality is becoming harder to survive and being told to "ride it out" is as foolish a piece of advice as being told that  plastic sheeting and duct tape will make you safe from airborne pathogens.  Oh well, maybe they can go back to the old standby from the seventies, cat food.

Turns out I regularly eat nine of the eleven best foods recommended for good health, at least while I an afford them.   I'm growing both beets and chard, but I can't afford pomegranate juice and haven't really tried pumpkin seeds.  Canned pumpkin, turmeric, and cinnamon  must be in a recipe somewhere and this one includes dried plum, which is also on the list.  This recipe also includes pomegranate and candied pumpkin seeds to go on top of polenta.  Not too bad for a squash that most people think of as a dessert or Halloween ornament.

Why yes, we have become a rogue nation.  We could be our own little axis of evil, which leads to my favorite quote of the week.  And it's only Monday.

So, if you think we or Israel can attack Iran and not expect retaliation, I'd have to say with regret that you are a moron. If you think we could easily handle Iran in an all-out war, I'd have to promote you to idiot.

We believe in the culture of life only as it applies to preventing abortion.  After one is born, you deserve to die because you were born in the wrong country or to a family that doesn't make enough money to support the parents much less their kids.

My gas budget is $100 a month, so every month I drive less and less.  I use the car to go to the grocery store where I find food  prices higher than they were the week before.   I'm dropping my gym membership because even though it relieves stress, contributes to my health and gives me a little time away from taking care of my mother, I can't afford the gas.  Thanks to the policies of the crew without a clue, seniors who were born during the Depression of the 1930s are going to suffer and die during the Depression of the early 21st Century.  Great reward for all the hard work rebuilding this country after the Second World War.  Hopefully they won't have to suffer through another World War before they get to rest in peace.

BBB

Oldies But Goodies

Oh, to be young again.  The fridge was always full and the rent was always paid.

Blowing In The Wind

Newsflash!  Republican's are in to recycling.   Who knew?  And spoken by the master flip-flopper McCain himself so he can try and distract the populace all the times he's changed his mind in his decades long pursuit of being master of the free world.   According to McCain, a politician's word can't be trusted.   I can't tell you how surprised I...wasn't.  Almost without exception, a politician's goal is to get elected.  Then it's to be reelected and the naive fall for it every time, believing that the the next guy who promises them change will be the "one", when in reality the change the politician is talking about is to turn the power of the position they are campaigning for over to themselves.

But since Obama dispatched Clinton, he has seemed rather more attuned to what the people want to hear or perhaps he has simply traded the wants of a liberal audience for those of a more moderate one. Either way, he is treading that reliably time-worn path every nominee follows to the political centre. And the question for Democrats is whether to applaud Obama as a cunning politician who knows how to win or fret that he's given undecided voters reason to think his 'politics of hope' are just politics as usual.

First, let us count the repositionings. This past week, Obama expressed surprising disagreement with a Supreme Court ruling that outlawed the death penalty for child rapists (he had previously questioned the rationale of capital punishment). He resisted criticising another high court ruling that affirmed gun owners' rights, even though he had previously seemed to support the gun-control measure at issue.

Obama also dropped his once-stern opposition to a Congressional measure, despised on the left, that would legally shield telecommunications companies that co-operated with extra-legal US government eavesdropping. To some, even the contents of Obama's iPod, recently revealed to Rolling Stone, smacked of political calculation, combining as it did Baby Boomer classics (Stones, Springsteen, Dylan) with highbrow jazz (Coltrane, Miles Davis) mindless top 40 pop (Sheryl Crow) and edgy-but-not-too-edgy hip hop (Jay-Z, Ludacris). Perhaps this playlist should be titled 'Majority Coalition'.

I almost feel sorry for the those who have swallowed this election's Kool-Aid.  McCain is dangerous but there is no guarantee that Obama will appoint judges that are beneficial to women.  In this regard he is just like Bush.  All talk (albeit much more intelligently) about changing America for the good, with  no actions to back it up.  In Obama's favor, at he hasn't signed any death warrants, but on the other hand  he isn't willing to defend the Fourth Amendment.   If for no other reason that that he is a black male, he should fight this latest attempt to remove all expectations of privacy in one's home.

The next few months should be pretty interesting as the base who got Obama where he is, is discarded in favor of a center that doesn't exist except to the pollsters.

I'm being brave.  Number one, I've taken a less than popular view on the anointed one and two, I'm trying out some of the new features from Blogger in Draft.

Supremes, Crime, Terrorism And Stupidity

Given their rulings over the last few years, this can't possibly be good. Aquatic life doesn't stand a chance. If mining companies can't take care of the workers, the odds of them protecting marine life are pretty small. Couple that with the Supremes belief corporations über alles, toss in a little gold and the fish are going to, as they used to say "swim with the fishes." Plus, the Supremes don't believe in states rights. Or citizens for that matter.

What is wrong with this story? Thirty six years in solitary for a murder he probably didn't commit and the prosecutors suppressed information that might have helped him, but was found guilty because a guy who had been on death row says he saw him do it. Guy formerly on death row gets a pardon and the former member of the Black Panthers who was serving time for armed robbery, gets solitary becomes one of the Angola Three.

Oh yeah, the Taleban are running for their lives. Not. It seems they feel so comfortable with the non results produced by Operation Enduring Freedom that they can execute those they call American spies in broad daylight. Isn't is wonderful what great allies the Pakistanis make? Unfortunately, it's to the Taleban. Which is probably why CBS has kicked Lara Logan upstairs and the smearing of her reputation by Murdoch owned entities has begun. Can't afford to have the truth on the nightly news at this point.

You know Peggy is desperate when she starts stealing phrases from Aaron Sorkin. Let McCain by McCain? Which one? He's been a major flip-flopper for the last year. He was against torture before he was for it, etc. It sounded better when it was let Bartlett by Bartlett, which was used not because he was trying to cover his mistakes, but because he was timid in implementing his policies. Lil Peggy's excuse is her misconception that poor widdle McCain isn't getting enough positive press as Obama. Give me a break, he's had many years of press and if you feet that sorry for him you should have said something eight years ago when Rove and Bush were savaging him.

They can hope all they want, I'm not holding anyone's jockstrap in this election. And as to Obama's "I had to bite my tongue", he could have bitten it clean off and it would have been an improvement. The more he opens his mouth, the more he shows me the arrogance and disdain for women that turned me off twenty years ago.

Not according to John Adams, but Cheney has increased the power of the position way past what the forefathers had planned. Dan Quayle was important because he made George Bush the First look smarter than a stump and the Secret Service didn't have to worry as much about a wackjob trying to kill the president.

The Founding Fathers Go Down In A Hail Of Bullets

All that fighting and dying during the Revolutionary War was for nothing. The new boss is just like the old boss that they risked everything to get rid of.

Amendment One

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. We can complain about being screwed and the Government will stop the bad behavior. Wow, what a cool idea.

Amendment Two

A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed. A militia is no longer necessary, shoot at will. So what if innocents death by gunfire increases? It isn't as if Virginia Tech, Columbine or Charles Whitman were isolated instances. It's much more important that some gap toothed, banjo playing idiots have the right to own a gun even though murder is illegal and very few people hunt for their dinner. You just know they'll be out celebrating and shooting their guns into the air with no concept of gravity.

Amendment Three

No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law. How quaint. I'm sure that the Supremes will find some way around that. Maybe political officers to make sure that you don't complain about the government while in your own home.

Amendment Four

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures , shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized. That's been toast for a while and the new telecom bill will ensure that you are monitored from birth to grave. I guess they won't need those political officers after all.

Amendment Five

No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation. Starting with making kids pee in a cup in school to the political prisoners in Guantanamo, the only part of this amendment that is still valid only useful if you've done something wrong and have to testify before Congress.

Amendment Six

In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence. Unless you are in Guantanamo or have the misfortune to be either brown or poor. Then you're guilty because the prosecutor said so, so there's no need for fair trial.

Amendment Seven

In Suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise re-examined in any Court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law. Since when?

Amendment Eight

Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted. Unless you are a person of color or a child molester. Bobby Jindal could give a flying crap about those who rape women, but he wants to chemically castrate child rapists since the Supremes said you can't kill them.

Amendment Nine

The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people. But 9/11 changed everything, didn't it? Our rights need to be constrained because we need to be protected from the latest bogeyman and the little people would only get in the way of bringing "justice". Besides, if you haven't done anything wrong you have nothing to worry about, do you? And if the government says it's wrong tomorrow, well you should have known better.

Amendment Ten

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people. Unless it imperils the drug companies.

Freedom of speech has been restricted, we practice cruel and unusual punishment, the rights of the people to hold assemblies is being limited, the press rolls over bet than Fido, the government doesn't listen to the people who elected them and the average American neither knows the rights they used to have or why they were written down and ratified in the first place. What a fucked up country we have become.

BBB

Sausalito Summer Night

More people won't be doing this in the near future, it's still a great song.



By Diesel.

Questions And More Questions

Claiming piracy is a little over the top, don't you think? The recording industry is in the process of putting the last nail in its coffin by trying to get Congress to pass legislation that enables them to charge royalties to AM/FM radio. Radio is the place where I hear a song and then download it from iTunes. Generally I'm not fond of today's music and if KFOG wasn't such a good indie station that plays a variety of old and new, I wouldn't choose to listen. There are very few classic rock stations anymore and those that are left somehow manage to play the same 100 songs over and over again. Why is Smooth considered a classic when it isn't even ten years old yet? As if there weren't thousands of other songs to choose from.

Signs of the future. We will see more of this and it will get ugly. On a happier note, it should solve the problem of obesity in this country.

Another nobody could have foreseen situation for the crew without a clue. The administration has no plan to follow up on the surge. Gee, when they were kids did they touch the hot stove over and over or were they too busy banging their heads against the wall?

On the brink of recession? Honey, we went over that cliff last year and are hurtling into a depression. He must mean that the rich are noticing that the dollar isn't buying as much when they go gallivanting around Europe for the weekend. Either that or he had to pick up the tab for his Kopi Luwak.

Surprise! The Justice Department has been using illegal hiring practices to to pack it with conservative attorneys so they can cherry pick which cases they want to prosecute. That's my current government, politics over competence. Ethics aren't a hallmark of this administration, are they?

BBB

Not Into It Today

I miss George Carlin. I first saw him on the Flip Wilson show and had enjoyed him ever since.. Everyone posted the Seven Words you can't say on tv, but my favorite skit was the fractured Nursery Rhymes. Especially the Seven Dwarfs. Thank you for all the years of laughs. Rest in peace George, you will be missed. Greatly.

Eight drugs that doctors in the know never take.

That's the way it works in America.

No job, no prospects, no way to feed the family. Of course the food banks are being overwhelmed.

No child left behind is having serious consequences. According to Time, fewer kids are pursuing tech degrees. That's what you get with rote memorization and continuous testing. People that don't know how to think logically or creatively. The corporations don't care, they can always get someone from India or China to do the job.

Papers please. Plus your fingerprints and first born child.

What Drugs Is This Guy On?

You have got to be kidding me! George Bush will be remembered like Truman instead of Harding? Give me a flipping break! First of all, Hoover was the President who ushered in the Great Depression, Harding had been dead for years with another president (that would be Coolidge) in between. All of them were Republicans. Second of all, Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11 and we had NO REASON TO ATTACK A SOVEREIGN NATION halfway across the world. He lied to get us into the Iraq war, he lied to keep us there, he abandoned the troops in Afghanistan to run to Iraq, and if it takes twenty-five years until Iraq is safe for us to leave, it shows that we, with the most expensive army in the world, had no business being there. Period.

George W Bush will be remembered for his responses to 9/11 in Afghanistan and Iraq, but since neither of those conflicts has yet ended in victory or defeat, it is far too early categorically to assume - as left-wingers, anti-war campaigners and almost all media commentators already do - that his historical reputation will be permanently down in the doldrums next to poor old Warren Harding's.

I suspect that historians of the future will instead see Bush's decision to insist upon a "surge" of reinforcements being sent into Iraq, combined with a complete change of anti-insurgency tactics as configured by General Petraeus, as the moment when the conflict was turned around there, in the West's favour.

Snip

The number of American troops killed and wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan is equivalent to the losses they endured - for a nation only a little over half the size in the mid-Forties - capturing a single island from the Japanese in the Pacific War.

British losses of 103 killed over seven years in Afghanistan bears comparison to a quiet weekend on the Western Front in the Great War, or the numbers the Army loses in traffic accidents in peacetime. History can lend a wider overall perspective to what are nonetheless, of course, immeasurably sad events.

History will also shine an unforgiving light on those ludicrous conspiracy theories that claim that the Iraq War was fought for any other reason than to implement the 14 UN resolutions that Saddam that had been flouting for 13 years.

You can suspect all you want, it won't change the facts. Traffic accidents? Is he serious? Most traffic accidents are because someone wasn't paying attention and made the wrong decision, which is comparable to the decision to invade Iraq, not the equivalent of being a member of the Reserves or National Guard and being forced to go to Iraq. Multiple times. And once again it's the old standby excuse, it's all Clinton's fault. Too bad he was busy fighting impeachment over a blowjob and had a Congress that spent most of its time trying to distract him from doing his job with their petty antics.

Bush has shredded the meaning of the Constitution, he has let the citizens of a major city suffer for years, as if the initial suffering of Katrina wasn't enough, he has presided over the greatest transfer of wealth from the poor to the rich in generations and this "columnist" thinks he's going to be remembered as a great President. Thank goodness this crap is in a U.K paper. Nobody but bloggers read foreign papers, but I'm sure that Faux News will highlight this line of bull dung. I agree with the commenter Doug Smith who states it very eloquently.

Truman - The Marshall Plan
Bush - Katrina

Truman - Pro Civil Rights and integration of the armed forces.
Bush - Anti-Gay Rights

Truman - Proposed Universal Health Insurance.
Bush - Against covering more children under the children's health insurance program (CHIP). No support for stem cell research.

Truman - Helped create NATO
Bush - Couldn't put together a significant coalition to occupy Iraq.

Truman - Recognized Israel
Bush - The first President in modern history to make no viable effort to help resolve the mideast conflict between Israel and her neighbors.

Truman - Nuremberg War Crimes Trials
Bush - Torture, Guantanamo Bay

Any comparison with Truman is ridiculous and insulting to Truman's legacy and American history.

What is so doggone difficult about doing research before they write articles like these? I have a headache.

3Bs

What Color Is My Mind?

Your Mind is Green

Of all the mind types, yours has the most balance. You are able to see all sides to most problems and are a good problem solver. You need time to work out your thoughts, but you don't get stuck in bad thinking patterns. You tend to spend a lot of time thinking about the future, philosophy, and relationships (both personal and intellectual).

What Color Is Your Mind?

Balanced. Really? At least they didn't say fair since I don't watch Fox what passes for News. And most of the people who know me personally think that I think way too fast.

By way of Mixter's Mix.

The Sky Is Falling

Alert the media. The illusion that they call pulling oneself up by the bootstrap is under attack. From politics to the weather, people have no control. The middle of the country is underwater, the west is on fire and the east's power grid is unstable. A major bridge fell into the water, New Orleans is still under nominal repair, the economy is tanking, the choice between buying food or buying gas so you can get to work before they lay you off is consuming household budgets and now the press is worried. Funny how they don't mention the destruction of the Constitution or the growing disparity between the have nots and have mores.

This probably isn't clear to those who aren't living in Iraq, but after seven years of war, their husbands and children killed arbitrarily, maybe, just maybe, they don't feel like life is worth living.

The opinion pages are busy this morning. Pointing out the obvious. Of course we need to reduce our dependence on oil instead of a stupid plan that will take years to complete and only benefits the oil companies while doing nothing to prepare us for a future without oil. Where were these guys when we were preparing to trudge off to war?

No. Really? I hadn't noticed. Does America dislike black people more than old people? Some days it's hard to tell, they treat both groups with disdain. Overrepresent the interests of African Americans. Are they serious? The only thing Obama is going to overrepresent is himself. His track record for defending the Constitution is pretty weak, so I'm not expecting him to take care of the little guy. Unless it suits his needs at the time.

This would be funny, if it wasn't so sad. Most men like to have sex with women. This means that there must be a somewhat equal supply of women in order to do that. Then they want to marry a virgin, so now women are opting for surgical intervention in an effort to fulfill a male fantasy and to keep from being a spinster or being killed. Totally missing the obvious in that once you have experience, it's pretty hard to hide it. And what is wrong with women having sex? I thought we settled that question in the sixties.

Good grief! How many drugs do you have to do to get emphysema at 24? Heck, I have asthma and still have more lung function. My mom has smoked since she was eleven and still hasn't been officially diagnosed with emphysema, they're calling it COPD instead. Amy Winehouse is going to die like my friend Jill. Neither one of them was able to give up their bad habits and opted to party until the end. And that's just plain sad.

BBB

Saturday Link Fest

If the reaction of some of the blogs on the left to Obama's failure of leadership and willingness to compromise the gutting of the Fourth Amendment is any indication, McCain will come closer than $400,000 in funds raised. I feel sorry for some of them, they feel so betrayed. A politician is a politician, it doesn't matter what party they belong to. In one fell swoop, and a little early at that, he revealed that his true intentions are to get elected, not represent the people who enabled him to be in a position to run for president in the fist place. And Pelosi can kiss her constituency goodbye.

Every day that goes by, every action of the Demowienies for the last two years, reinforces my opinion that this election isn't going to change a darn thing. I'm still seriously doubting that we will have an election, but even if we do, the destruction of the Constitution and our economy will continue. It seems to be in Congress' best interests to ignore the wishes of the people and go their own merry way.

Now I'm really awake. Weren't they cute? I know the early bird is supposed to get the worm, but do all the birds have to wake up and sing at the same time? Every morning around 5:10 it goes from quiet to noisy all at once. It's pretty. And when I'm sleepy, it's pretty annoying. And then a half hour later they suddenly stop. All at once. Very weird.

Hmm, this will be as popular as a fart in church. Somebody besides me thinks that we should face reality and do the right thing. If it isn't too late already. Sooner or later, someone is going to have to pay for us breaking the law and I would prefer if it was the people who authorized it and sent down the orders.

A peaceful camping trip with the family turns into dodging bullets and hiding behind trees and cars. What a nightmare. I believe in the right to bear arms, but do they really need all those bullets?

Why the Santa Clara police would believe that a 75 year old veteran was trying to mix it up with a guy many years younger than him totally baffles me. Knowing the manners of the two generations and not the color of their skin tells me who I am more likely to believe. Even if you thought the 75 year old guy was being offensive, it's no reason to cold-cock him.

Our favorite Klingon representative is going to Asia. I wonder if she's going to buy shoes while she's there. For someone who was constantly in the news, Condi has been really quiet for the last year.

Umm, the only way it would be impossible is if you don't have any nuclear facilities. Audacity is something Israel has in spades. Heck, they spy on us and we're their allies.

It's supposed to be 102 degrees today in San Jose. I like the heat but that's a little extreme so early in the summer. Mom doesn't do well in the heat and yesterday while I was at the store she decided (after I told her not to) to go for a ten minute walk at 3 o'clock. No hat and wearing her bedroom slippers, I thought I was going to have a stroke when my neighbor told me. She was overheated for the rest of the day and now I'm scared to leave her alone. If I take her with me she won't leave the car and that isn't a good idea. I guess I'll go to the store when it opens at 9 and that way I'll be able to keep watch.

I think I'll brine some pork chops and then barbecue them later. Since I have all the ingredients (courtesy of Grocery Outlet), I'm looking forward to making these Blue Cheese Crusted Tomatoes. I'll be really glad when my tomatoes are ready, then I bet the recipe will really rock. If there is any corn at the store I'll grill that too. Add a salad and we're good to go. I can't decide between the Spicy Orange Salad with Green Onions or the Watermelon, Green Onion, and Mint Salad. The watermelon would be a better choice for mom since it's so cooling and mint helps to release heat.

BBB

Which Superhero Am I?

Your results:

You are a wanderer with amazing strength.

---

Hulk	70%
Green Lantern		70%
Superman		55%
Iron Man		55%
Wonder Woman		48%
Robin		48%
Spider-Man		45%
Batman		40%
Supergirl		38%
The Flash		35%
Catwoman		35%

Click here to take the "Which Superhero am I?" quiz...


Via Shakesville

We Should Be Ashamed Of Ourselves

What a major load of crap. Someone needs to grow a pair. Only despots and dictators imprison people and deny them the right to a fair trial and the opportunity to prove their innocence. We are supposedly a nation of laws, not frightened little children afraid of the bogeyman.

As Benjamin Franklin so artfully stated,

Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.

While I may be accused of having a pre-9/11 mindset for my views on equality and justice, at least I'm not quaking in my boots at the thought of my country being destroyed by outside forces. I reserve that for watching my country being destroyed by crybabies and bedwetters on the inside. But then I'm a veteran and having volunteered to give my life in service to my country probably gives me a different perspective. One that is based on pride, not fear.

The United States is the third largest country in the world and is located on the North American continent. It is bracketed by two large bodies of water on the east and west and by Canada and Mexico to the north and south. While we might lose a city or two, mainly due to incompetence, this country is in no danger of being destroyed by external enemies. It isn't like we are the size of Vatican City, Monaco or Lichtenstein, all of which could be destroyed in an instant with very little effort on the part of the aggressor. Lichtenstein doesn't even have an army and they have managed to survive while world wars were raging around them.

We need to find our "stones" and reattach them lest we be known as the country that became emasculated by the threat of men wearing beards and turbans thousands of miles away.

Live free or die; death is not the worst of all evils. Tyranny is.

3Bs

Gutting The Fourth Amendment

Wow! Just watched the first two episodes of John Adams from the HBO miniseries. My, how far we have fallen. And how disappointed he would be at how willingly we have given up everything he and his compatriots fought, and were willing to die, for.

The acting was good, but the speeches were phenomenal. Culled from the history records. Now all we have is a shrub with a poor command of the English language and an inability to use it without sounding like an idiot. Every. Single. Time. He. Speaks.

If it was up to the current generations, we wouldn't be a Republic. Oops, my bad, we no longer are. I guess the truths are no longer self evident. Interesting how people are so adamant about protecting the Second Amendment and the other Amendments are just additions to an old piece of paper.

I'm reordering my Netflix queue so that I get the rest of the episodes as soon as possible.

3Bs

Thursday Morning Ramblings

George Bush doesn't care about wet people. Sad and funny, but still true.

It's all about the Benjamins, which is about what it takes to fill my car. At the moment. I would rather see more public transportation options and smaller cars that get better gas mileage than see a string of oil derricks surrounding the coasts. But then I live in California, not Florida. Heaven forbid that we learn to conserve, that we walk a mile or two to get groceries or other items (which would make us skinnier and healthier as an extra benefit), or that we recycle instead of using things once and throwing them away. Nope, its much better to spend money on destroying the environment in a useless effort to stave off the inevitable so the oil companies can have more profits. As if they weren't already obscene as it is. How about they lower the price of gas themselves and take a little less profit? Now that's California Dreamin.

Good tips for eating healthy on a budget.

The election is like watching a slow motion train wreck. You know it's going to end badly, but you just can't stop watching.

America is rapidly becoming irrelevant.

Flip-flopping is becoming a Democratic condition. Be careful what you wish for, you just might get it. And it might not be in the form you had envisioned.

Okay to discriminate against women in the workplace, not okay to discriminate against people over forty. Sometimes the Supreme Court almost baffles me. I wonder who didn't vote.

The Demowienies cave. Again.

Health, Wealth And Stealth

The title of the article (Doctors offer to treat dying Winnipeg man after colleagues refuse) implies that some doctors aren't doing their job, then you read the story and one has to wonder which doctors were being the most compassionate. And whether or not the family can deal with reality and let their father go with dignity.

When I was in high school our gym teacher said that the most effective way to lose weight was to eat breakfast like a king, lunch like prince and dinner like a pauper. Looks like she was right.

Of course there's a floor in the never ending effort of corporations to make as much money for themselves as possible. It's called slavery.

The willful incompetency displayed in our dealings with Pakistan just never stops. I wonder where those helicopter engines went to?

Sympathetic my ass. Can we say patronizing? A period of adjustment? Maybe she's tired, maybe she's getting surgery to remove the knives from her back, maybe she doesn't want to be any more of a hypocrite and be involved in providing telecom immunity. Maybe she's so disgusted that people fell for the promise of change that she knew wasn't coming, that she decided to let everyone see exactly what they are going to get. It's been less than two weeks since she dropped out and already he's pandering to the center by cutting corporate taxes, something that was never mentioned before. I am so not surprised. Maybe she just needed a vacation.

Will this man ever shut up? Very few Americans care what he thinks. Nobody wants to look at oil derricks at the beach. Except for the oil companies, which is probably why he wants it.

BBB

Rambling Thoughts

Man's inhumanity towards man is one thing, directed at a child is another. Unlike most recent police shootings, this one was totally, absolutely justified. I may not have seen the preceding events, but my imagination is good enough that the image will probably never leave my mind. Thank goodness I wasn't there, I would have probably tried to run him over with my car. Rabid animals are dangerous.

Cheez'n'rice! What has to happen before America gets a clue and realizes that we aren't wearing white hats anymore?

Bush and his imagination are no where near reality. I guess insanity is a better defense than incompetence. Or stupidity.

They're coming to take me away, ha haa, hee hee. Except it isn't to the funny farm where life is beautiful all the time.

No? Really? I wish I could be surprised and outraged, but I'm not. It's the cost of doing business nowadays. Just not for the little guy.

Monkey see, monkey do.

3Bs

Internet Access

I will have spotty internet access for the next week. I was sharing with my neighbor but Earthlink discontinued service in our area on Friday afternoon, which was all the warning I got. I'm at the coffee shop with a friend's laptop. As much as I love my iMac, I wish I another laptop. I should have bought the MacBook and hooked it up to a bigger monitor when I was at home. Then I could have had the benefits of both. Anybody got a MacAir they're willing to part with?

I accidentally heard Kid Rock's new song. New lyrics to an old song that I never liked. I'll try not to hear it again since I'm not really fond of Werewolves of London.

Almost Halfway Through The Year

The older you get, the shorter the year seems. Christmas decorations should be out soon. June has always been an interesting month for me. We arrived in California on the 31st of May, 1968 and spent a few nights in a hotel in Santa Maria before we moved into temporary housing on Vandenberg AFB. That would have been June 5th. On the morning of the 6th, I picked up the newspaper to discover Robert Kennedy had been shot. I was twelve and thought that the guy who shot him was wacko, Rosey Grier was a hero (now he knits and does needlepoint) and couldn't believe that Rose Kennedy had lost her first three sons due to violence before she died. My heart went out to her, Jackie, Ethel and all those kids they had. Sirhan Sirhan was dismissed as a raving lunatic and no real investigation into his political motives was ever rationally considered. Stephen Kinzer tries to link Sirhan to the Palestinian situation and he may have some valid points, though I doubt we'll ever know.

Below the fold and several days late (AF Times), was the obituary of Helen Keller. That devastated me. She had been an inspiration to a little girl who was ostracized by most of the people around her because she wasn't like them and at that time there were very few positive female influences in the media. Not only did she help found the ACLU, she was a suffragist (like Frank Baum) and believed in women's equality. Women weren't in the news much at that time unless they did something in the entertainment or fashion world or were murdered like Kitty Genovese and Sharon Tate. Things started looking up in the seventies with Billie Jean King, Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova.

I graduated in June of 1974 and ran off and joined the Army on June 10th. I started basic training in Fort Jackson, SC on the 20th. That was an interesting summer. On August 9th (mom's birthday) while Nixon was resigning, I was graduating basic and on my way to Redstone Arsenal, AL to start my advanced individual training where I learned to repair the guidance control systems on four different missiles. I can hardly believe it's been 34 years. since I willingly raised my right hand and swore an oath to obey orders and defend this country. I wasn't too good at the first but my heart was in the right place. The Vietnam war was almost over but the all volunteer Army was just getting started.

June 14th has always been Flag Day for me, maybe because I lived on military bases for most of my life and it was celebrated like a mini Fourth of July. Please treat your flags with respect and if they are dirty or tattered find a Boy Scout troop to dispose of them properly. And please, please, don't leave it out in the rain or overnight. It's disrespectful.

The last time I saw my father was on the 16th of June 1991. I had come home for Father's Day and we had our usual great time of drinking really strong margaritas to go with the fiery hot wings I made before dinner. Even when I said goodbye to him I thought something was wrong and went back and gave him one more kiss. He died of a heart attack on the Fourth of July at 5:25 in the morning. He was only 60.

The rest of June has always been pretty quiet for me and for that I am grateful. OMG! I just noticed it was Friday the 13th and that means KFOG is playing Hits from Hell and they've started with William Shatner (he came in first of the worst and is doing It Was a Very Good Year. He said it was because he admired Frank Sinatra. If he really admired him, he wouldn't have done it. At least this time they didn't play MacArthur Park. Oh noes, now it's Terry Jack's Seasons In The Sun and I recognized it from the first note. Achy Break Heart? I'm sort of enjoying my fellow Fogheads choices, I've tried to forget most of these songs. Disco Duck? Why am I recognizing these songs on the first note? We Built This City and now it's You Light Up My Life. Four more to go, how bad will it get?

BBB

Meanwhile, We Watch And Do Nothing

It is past time for Mugabe to go. Preferably to hell. He and his supporters make Saddam Hussein look like a school boy and considering how he was demonized... Cutting off an opponents wife's feet and a hand and then burning her alive is so far past cruel that I can't believe it really happened. But it did and it wasn't the first time. The week before they burnt a 21 year old pregnant woman to death because her husband dared to stand up to the regime. Harassment by the police is making it difficult for anyone to oppose Mugabe's government, especially if you keep getting arrested for running.

Our lovely Pakistani allies executed a woman they accused of being both a US spy and a prostitute. They say it was the Taliban but after seven years why are there any still around, much less in another country that is supposed to be on our side?

The envy, oh the envy. Other countries get to execute minors and you know the death penalty proponents are jealous. Albeit too soon to use it for the election and won't be considered the least bit hypocritical. If McCain, Kristol, Bush and Cheney have their way, all of Iran will pay for their crimes. As if the crew without a clue needed an excuse to step in and bomb Iran back to the Stone Age. I thought that was what was supposed to happen in Afghanistan, but it got forgotten along with Osama bin Laden. Not enough oil.

Laura Bush is pledging $10.2B for Afghanistan. Was this at the behest of the House of Representatives or has something else been changed in our Constitution without the hassle of being amended? I guess the people of New Orleans should move to Afghanistan if they expect to get any help instead of living under a bridge while supplies get stored in a warehouse at the cost of $1 million a year. And are then given away to states other than Louisiana. Because FEMA didn't think that New Orleans needed any more help. I guess selling one's home at a loss because you can't get back is standard operating procedure. So much for an ownership society. Or a Christian nation.

3Bs

Wednesday Wanderings

I quit reading MoDo almost two years ago. I used to really like her, but her schtick never changes. For years she has hated the Clintons, now she has decided to go after Michelle Obama. A woman I do not like, but in no way does she deserve violence. Real or implied. When I clicked on the link, Mincing up Michelle, I was hoping it was going to be about Malkin. Instead it turned out to be a hatchet job on Michelle Obama. Turns out I wasn't the only one disgusted with the title, or the author. Unlike some other brave souls, I wasn't tempted to read it. She used to be funny, now she's just the wicked witch of the east. Where's Dorothy when you need her? Since MoDo can't resist painful strategies.

When I was married we lived in a tiny town called Reutti, which was a little southeast of Neu-Ulm in Germany. It was really cool. Out our living room window we could see a castle in the distance and in the fourteen months we lived there, there was only one light we could ever see, the rest of the castle was always dark. Across a field was a farm with real animals. So cool. The fact that the grocery store was on the other side never bothered me. It had killer cold cuts, wonderful breads and cheeses and lettuce that never got crisp. Even when frozen. And the Gasthaus made some of the best spaetzle and Jagerschnitzel I've ever had. More people should visit the country.

Of course it is. And at the rate the oil companies are making obscene profits and not having to account for their actions, it will cost over $5 a gallon by the end of the summer, if not more. It already costs me $4.52. But I'm getting a bus pass and will use it as often as possible. Or until the VTA runs out of money.

I feel sorry for gay and lesbian people and not because they have a different sexual preference than mine. It's because they are always being used as pawns instead of as people who deserve the same respect as anyone else on the planet. The only time they get decent notice is just before an election and then once the candidates they support have been elected, they're ignored until the next time they're needed.

Do you know your Walkscore? It lets you know about restaurants, grocery stores, pharmacies, etc. that are within walking distance of your address. Too bad there are only 7-Elevens and Starbuck's (3!) within walking distance. Fresh vegetables and meat are out of the question, they're nine miles away.

BBB

McCain, Starring Roles He Would Rather Forget

Courtesy of YouTube, more Repubican macaca moments. While I won't vote for Obama, I will never vote for this bigoted, sexist idiot who after all these years in politics, can't tell the difference between Iraq and Iran. Sort of like push and pull, they start with the same letters, maybe that's why he's so confused.



And how does he feel about women's reproductive rights?


And his meal ticket, I mean wife.


BBB

Programs, Programs Programs

Another program to "help" disadvantaged youth avoid crime. Partisan politics at work again. Proving once more that it's who you know (the current occupant of the White House's father), not how important or how well a program is likely to work. Oh yeah, they have so many golf courses in the ghettos and poor neighborhoods and the the kids all have transportation to the better parts of town where of course they'll be allowed to play golf. As if the country clubs of America want another Tiger Woods. It was forty two years between Althea Gibson and Serena Williams winning the U.S. Open in tennis and no other black woman besides Althea has won the LPGA since. No wonder Republican are so certain that government doesn't work. They keep authorizing money for their cronies under the guise of helping out the little man. The usual ABC commenters show their true colors. Defend, defend, defend. An administration so corrupt that we'll never find out how much of the taxpayer's money they've pissed away on programs that only benefit the people at the top.

No job, no house payment. That's usually how it works, unless you inherit money from parents and grandparents that worked so you can play at being a celebutante. The F.H.A should have known that. As well as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. It was more like a well orchestrated plan to relieve the low end of the middle class of their money under the guise of home ownership. And just like I told all the people who weren't making a $110K a year, miss a house payment and you'll find out just who owns it.

Cupertino, we have a problem and I am really confused. The new Apple 8-gigabyte 3G iPhone will retail for $199, and that's a good thing. It would be better if it was on Verizon, but it's still a nice price. Meanwhile, an 8 gigabyte iTouch is $299 and it doesn't make phone calls or have GPS. Are they going to eliminate the smaller iTouch and force us to go with a larger model so they can justify the difference in price? Or are we being forced to into helping AT&T become a bigger monopoly than they were in the early seventies?

What about walking? Isn't that a weight bearing exercise? How about the elliptical machine for those of us with bad knees? Mom is 77, has walked most of her life, has smoked for 66 of the 77 years but she does like to sit outside. Is it the Vitamin D from the sun that has given her protection from her frequent falls, because she still hasn't broken a bone (thank goodness) and she falls more often than I'd like.

Why do I think that this program is going to increase crime against older people? Considering that one doesn't have to show ID to use a debit card and they rarely check ID when you use a credit card, I foresee the usual problems. Ooh, ooh, do you suppose it will be used as an ID card for seniors?

Oh, I thought they had learned to use poles and bait.

Yeah, well my tomatoes (since stores are pulling them off the shelves) aren't going to be ripe by Saturday and I needed some of them to make my tomato tart for the PartyLite soiree that I'm having. And since today is Tuesday, weren't they really talking about yesterday's high?

BBB

Food, Hopes, Money, More Food And Fun

As is usual with most people who can't read a complete article but still feel the need to express their uninformed and partisan opinion, what most of the commenters seemed to get from the article about the Senate dining room losing money for the last forty years, is that it's all the Democrats fault or that government can't do its jog. More likely it was all the lobbyist paid for junkets. As if Howard Baker, Bob Dole, Trent Lott and Bill Frist weren't in charge for most of the last fifteen of those years and had no problem privatizing the rest of America while they were in power. And like most people, if the food isn't good in one place, they go to another. The House cafeteria, which was privatized by a Democratically controlled Congress twenty years ago.

In the past 10 years, only 20 new items have been added to the Senate menus. So rare are new entrees that last year's arrival of daily fresh-made sushi was treated in some senatorial quarters as if a new Nobu had opened in the Capitol dining room.

Even revenue in the once-profitable catering division has been decimated, as senators have increasingly sought waivers to bring in outside food for special events with constituents and private groups.

Operation of the House cafeterias was privatized in the 1980s by a Democratic-controlled Congress. Restaurant Associates of New York, the current House contractor, would take over the Senate facilities this fall. The company wins high praise from most staffers and lawmakers, who say they are pleased with the wide variety of new items offered every few months.

Perhaps the chefs need to learn how to prepare the basics, like fish sticks, before adding things like sushi and Osso Bucco to the menu. Senators make enough money to pay for a decent meal or they can brown bag it like the rest of us. It's the Democrats, led by Dianne Feinstein (Chief DINO), who are actively doing something to lower the cost and improve the service. By doing what used to be the Republican thing. Force the people on the lower end of the scale to take a cut in pay and benefits while they serve their betters.

Can't wait until he does it here. Except that I don't care if we ever see or hear from him again. Better times. Indeed.

So the core U.S. economy is in better shape than it was in the 70s. Baloney! I owned a house in the 70s, vacationed at Disneyland and Magic Mountain and was able to visit the Sycamores Springs Hot Tubs in Avila Beach on a regular basis. Now I live in a mobilehome, haven't had a vacation in at least six years and haven't come into contact with a spa or outdoor hot tub in more years than I can remember. In the seventies I had the G.I. Bill to get me started, now I have a Masters and can barely pay attention much less pay my bills. Yup, things are better. From a demographic standpoint, not a day to day reality position.

Thank goodness I'm growing my own tomatoes so I shouldn't have to worry about salmonella. Even though Shadow has been trying to dig them up while I'm not here. I'm extremely grateful she can't lift her leg.

The Apple store is down, which is a good sign. I can hardly wait for ten o'clock and what El Jobso has in store for us this time. Supposedly Microsoft is going to try and one up him at nine o'clock by announcing that some player they have is going to play Blu-Ray. Remember when Microsoft was the king? Not anymore, now people prefer things that work and look good at the same time. If only I was Stephen Colbert and people sent me everything I asked for.

BBB

Cooking Deal Breakers

I have a few and they usually include phrases like one I found in In the Kitchen with Rosie. It was in one of those side boxes and it said "do not be intimidated by the price of the duck." I lived in Lompoc at the time and not only would the Vons have had to special order duck in general, the butcher had never heard of Muscovy duck. I've had it since, courtesy of Trader Joe's, but the biggest deal breaker for me is when I have to buy special ingredients that cost a lot of money and are only used in that recipe, by the tablespoon. At one time, I had fourteen different vinegars, which is more than a little excessive. Believe it or not, I had to go out and buy plain white vinegar because it was the only one I didn't have and I needed it for something.

Other deal breakers fall into the special equipment category. By the time I've assembled my mandoline I could have chopped most of the vegetables by using my trusty 10 inch chef's knife. Ever since I saw Wolfgang Puck peel a tiny vegetable with his 12 inch, I moved up from my 8 inch and have been quite very happy with the results. I also have a 6 1/2 inch Santoku that I use for slicing veggies and a paring knife that gets used about once a month. All by Wusthof, the classic version because it fits my hand better. The lovely Cuisinart sits in the corner gathering dust until the holidays when I tend to get fancier than usual. I rarely use the blender unless I'm making something cold, otherwise I use the stick. Much more convenient.

Since I rarely know what I'm hungry for until the day of, I'm not too good at marinating food 24 to 36 hours ahead. I like Sauerbraten and mom is German by birth so you would think I would make it more than once every ten years.

The question of how far is too far is often pondered in the test kitchens of Gourmet, which built its reputation on recipes that took all weekend and a small bank loan to produce.

That's the truth.

I only bake if I have to. It's not that it's too hard for me and it isn't that I don't suffer from wanting the trains to run on time, but it's too precise to do on a regular basis. I was really good in chemistry lab, but I prefer a freer hand when it comes to my taste buds and baking doesn't always allow for that. It probably helps that I don't have much of a sweet tooth.

Up until recently, I haven't had any food issues. Since shellfish seems to interfere with my breathing, I'm a little more careful about items with mixed ingredients. Most particularly, Asian food. They like to use dried shrimp in a lot of their bases. Before I developed this problem, one New Year's Eve I made a very fancy recipe involving lobster and a few other pricey ingredients ($200 worth, obviously back in the days when I was earning more than a living wage) and took one bite and discovered that I couldn't eat it. I hate chervil. With a freaking purple passion. Didn't know it at the time, but I figured it out when all I could think of was how to politely dispose of it in my napkin. I tried another and then had to give up. What a waste of time, energy and money. I thought I disliked mackerel, but I was able to try that four different ways before I gave up.

I don't like recipes that require you to make another recipe that's to be used in it. I do it occasionally, but I don't enjoy it. I hate cooking breakfast, it is the one meal that I prefer to either eat out or have someone make it for me. What a pain, everything has to be done at the same time or the quality deteriorates. I like both my eggs and my toast to be hot.

Excuse me while I go turn the lamb chops (my guest kicked in for dinner) that are marinating for a few hours before they hit the grill. Plus I need to go pick up some basmati, cashews, oyster sauce and a mango.

BBB

Saturday Morning Musings

No more thrill of victory or the agony of defeat for Jim McKay. He passed away today at the grand old age of 86. I will never forget the work that he and Howard Cosell did at the Munich Olympics after everything went so wrong. Rest in peace and thank you for a job well done. I'm a little confused, ABC had to find out from ESPN? What's up with that?

And this is a surprise because? Reagan must be spinning in his grave. Bush and the rest of the crew without a clue must be so proud of what they've accomplished. The destruction of the economy and the rise of Russia as a world power. Again.

I used to take the Amtrak from Los Angeles to Las Vegas on a pretty frequent basis and if there was one thing it wasn't, it was empty. Sometimes it would be standing room only on the way back from Vegas and when they canceled it, it ruined my mini-vacations. So Bush, the man who doesn't want veterans to have a decent G.I. Bill to reward them for the sacrifices he's never made, has signed a 45 million dollar bill for a Maglev between Disneyland and Las Vegas. I guess going from one playground to another is okay, going to college isn't.

Video of the B-2 Stealth Bomber crash from last February.

Well, on the bright side, global warming will do us in before the magnetic field weakens. Recent experiments have revealed that the field has been steadily weakening since 1845 and is predicted to be gone in 500 years.

3Bs

The Ostrich Mentality

If it costs too much now, it's going to cost even more later. It will also require more effort and more suffering by those who will be affected the most. The Republican response to solving global warming is too put it off as long as possible. With every vote, filibuster, and action, the Republicans show they don't care about the future of man. Or women. Or children. All are expendable since they don't seem to plan on being here and could care less if their descendants have a decent place to live. Bootstraps aren't going to help if you're six feet under water, the fish have died, the crops won't grow and each new storm or tornado is worse than the last.

The powers that be thought it wouldn't happen to them, layoffs are only for little people.

The US jobs data showed that there were substantial job losses last month in construction industries, where 34,000 cuts were made, in manufacturing, where 26,000 jobs were lost, and among providers of professional services, where 39,000 jobs went.

Foreclosures? Not in our neighborhood. Oops, it's happening there too. I wonder if someone will bring him a check from Publisher's Clearing House. Probably not.

Of course, there's always jail. Wasn't that where they put debtors before sending them to colonize the New World? I wonder what they have in store for the 2.3 million people currently occupying jail cells in America. Maybe they can grow crops on Mars.

The Grand Illusion

I don't care anymore. I am neither elated nor incredulous. What I am is disheartened and depressed to know that once again we are going to have a Republican president. Just the way Rove and the crew without a clue wanted. While everyone basks in the false afterglow of love, the true agenda of the almost never right party will reveal itself. Slowly, surely and to the detriment of this country. Me? I'm going to start buying lotto tickets so that I can join the stars in France, Italy or maybe to the place I was born, England. On an Air Force Base so I am just as much a citizen of the US as McCain.

For the young women of today that disregarded and dismissed everything that the previous generation of women worked so hard for, I say you deserve what you are going to get. Back of the bus status with babymaking duties. Have a good time, you deserve it.

After suffering through attacks on several different blogs because I won't support a candidate I don't believe in (last time I checked it was my vote, not the country's or a certain party), after talking with women who are older than me and hearing why they won't support him either, I've decided that election coverage on my blog will drop to almost nil. I can't say I won't comment on things that happen, mainly because I believe this campaign is going to get down and dirty (not that it wasn't already) and some of it will be too good to pass up, but the election is over for me.

When I was younger I got into a discussion about whether I was discriminated against more because I was black or because I was a woman. My answer hasn't changed in over thirty years. Sexism rules this country and it is going to get worse, not better, as the economy deteriorates. The level of rancor and the headlines about Hillary quitting now, what's she going to do (why didn't people ask Kerry and Lieberman the same things?) blah, blah, blah has finally after over 45 years of being interested in politics made me completely uninterested in what happens from here on out. We would have to be invaded from outer space before I would be willing to defend this country and its so called morals again.

To say that I despise Obama would be putting it mildly. I have the exact same reaction to seeing him or hearing his voice as I do to the current occupant of the White House. Puke city. And the Democratic party is so stupid they haven't even tried to portray McCain as the flip flopper he is. He's changed his opinions so many times that he makes Kerry look like the Rock of Gibraltar.

Whatever. Once the candidate that the press has anointed starts to reveal his true colors and agendas, the gloves will probably come off and they will do their best to knock him to his knees so his head falls forward onto the guillotine that has been hiding in the background.

I'm culling my Google Reader of some of the 190 (now down to 170 and still looking to get rid of more, I'll keep the science and geeky ones, but politics and certain blogs are going to be slashed to the bare bones) feeds that I used to read (or at least glance through) every day because they aren't going to change the end result, even though they think they are. Our country is on a track that is going nowhere, the engine is out of fuel and everybody thinks the conductor will save them.

From vitriol to gloating is more than I am willing to put up with. If something interesting happens, Stewart and Colbert will let me know. Meanwhile, I have a life to live, a mother to take care of, a garden to enjoy and dogs to play with. You won't miss me, there's more kool-aid in the refrigerator when you start to have doubts about which way we're headed. It's worked for the last eight years, I'm not expecting it to stop now.



3Bs

Reaping What We've Sown

Justice in America. What a joke, and a sad one at that. This case didn't need a judge or a jury since the defendant's lawyer had already decided that he deserved the death penalty. At no time could Curtis Osborne ever be considered to have had competent legal representation and for the Georgia Supreme Court to uphold his conviction makes a mockery of a justice system that is already in tatters. But then what else would you expect for a black defendant in Georgia. He's lucky they didn't find a tree and a couple of Klansmen. Or did they?

And then there is the matter of Mostiler's alleged racism and how it might have affected his defense of Osborne. The most explosive evidence of racial bias is contained in an affidavit by one Gerald Steven Huey, a client of Mostiler's. In addition to the quote Judge Fletcher cites, Huey says Mostiler made it clear that he would not be spending much money on Osborne's defense because "that little nigger deserves the chair." Huey also charges that Mostiler was offered a plea bargain under which Osborne would have received a life sentence in exchange for a guilty plea, but that the lawyer said he "would never tell Mr. Osborne about it because he deserved to die."

Meanwhile, on a national scale we have the shame of not just Abu Ghraib or Guantanamo, now we floating prison ships with prisoners that nobody knows about. What I'm wondering is exactly what is the definition of a war crime? I don't think it means what it used to mean. It's certainly not the way Captain Whaley described the rules when I was a lowly private back in 1974. I always thought humanity would become more humane as time went on, obviously I was wrong. Very wrong.

My answer is: The Prime Directive. Until we progress from killing each other, forcing the less fortunate to live in poverty with no hope of ever escaping or get our space program going well enough that we accidentally bump into them, they are avoiding us like the plague.

All of my tomato plants have at least one growing among the leaves and the Early Girl has over 20. Now if will just get warm enough at night for them to start ripening. I can hardly wait and the thought of buying tomatoes at the store leaves me cold. As in I would rather wait until mine ripen.

Social Services should be here soon about getting me some help with Mom, I can definitely use it. I should have asked sooner but I was trying not to be a burden on society, but this is a hard job for just one person and I need to pay the bills.

For some odd reason I could give a flying crap about the elections. I can wait until the next frigging idiot screws the nation even more. In the name of democracy, but not the spirit. Of all the things I've heard this campaign season, none of it involved bringing manufacturing jobs back into the United States. And until we start making something besides headlines and thirty second sound bites, the economy isn't going to change for the better. I don't care what any of the candidates do at this point since none of them are getting my vote, but I do wish the pundits would stop speculating, they've done enough damage to the process as it is. And Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi can blow it out their rear orifices. At no time in the last two years (they couldn't take care of the kids or the troops with a President who only has a 28% approval level) have they done anything that the people elected them to do so why should I care what they want? I've officially registered as an Independent. Neither a dime nor my time will be spent on the national elections from now on.

3Bs

This 'N That

At noon on January 20, 2009, Obama might declare victory, until then he's just having Bush moments such as Mission Accomplished and Bring It On and we all know how well those turned out.

The digital age has seriously arrived. At the Kremlin. Our media, while deficient in way too many respects, has at least had token coverage of opposing points of view, in Russia, not so much. While some people in America put little gaffe they can find on YouTube, the media in Russia does the exact opposite. You so know that Bush and Cheney would love to be able to do the same thing. Erase their opponents from the media. Completely. Not just what they said, but their images too. Along with his parental issues, now he's probably got a serious case of Putin envy. One can only hope that Bush and Cheney don't discover some political Viagra before January 20, 2009.

I addressed this yesterday but Time does it better. I've been getting my news from various sources for all of my life and by no stretch of earthly imagination can I be considered young. It's called research and it used to be required in order to graduate from high school. But I guess when you can buy your term papers off the web it removes the necessity of finding different sources that say the same thing, but in a different way. It also lessens the ability to think through and sort information into retainable categories and realize when you've read the same thing before so that you don't get confused.

I love BART. In San Jose we have the Light Rail but it isn't very convenient to get to or to get somewhere useful. Like Fremont. If we had decent public transportation, I would use it as much as possible. When I hang out with the BARBarians, I take the bullet CalTrain to Millbrae and then switch to the BART. If we meet on the Oakland side, I have to drive to Fremont and then take the BART. Not as much fun. And while ridership is increasing by leaps and bounds due to the encouragement of the high price of gas, Schwarzenegger's response is to take money away from public transportation in an effort to balance a budget that needs money coming in, not just cutbacks. I guess he isn't as much of an environmentalist as he says. But the Hummer and the cigars told us that a long time ago.

Chavez has Bush envy, now Venezuelans have as little protection from illegal spying done by the government as US citizens do. Boy, that Patriot Act sure comes in useful when you want to control the population. Welcome to the Americas, the new Russian wannabes.

Where there is CONTROL, there must be KAOS. Please let Get Smart be as funny as the original, since the trailer was pretty good. I wonder what Maxwell is going to drive since they don't make the Opel GT anymore. My brother had one and he gave it to me. Crunchy was a great car. Oops, my bad. There's a new one! And it looks really cool. Interesting commercial, the woman's fantasy shows you more of the car, the man's is all about speed. I want one.

3Bs

Monday Morning Quickie

The chimpleton in chief has been so worried about his "legacy" that he hasn't noticed what historians will see immediately. First six years in office, one veto. Democratic majority, nine vetoes and threats of vetoes in less than two years. From children to poor people to vetoing supporting the troops, it's obvious that a uniter he isn't. Unless it's for his cronies. He did love those Executive Orders though, didn't he?

Great. The thirty second sound bite is too much for the younger generation, especially if they have to read it. And the updates! Too much for them to process while they read email, text their friends, or Twitter their bathroom break. Must be made simpler for comprehension. They call it multitasking, I call it ignoring everything unless it affects them personally.

Bye Bo, thanks for setting my generation up to produce some great rock. Rest in peace.

I saw Sex in the City before Yves St. Laurent died. Do people actually wear that stuff? I'm standing in line to buy my ticket and this couple comes up behind me. The wife says, "we can see Sex in the City!" and he says "No, you can see that with your sister, I don't do chick flicks. Why don't we see Indiana Jones or Iron Man (I've seen both) instead?" I couldn't help it, I turned around and said "You won't see a chick flick but you want her to see a dick flick?" If men knew how much sex was in it with naked bodies that show something other than the standard position, they might reconsider what a chick flick was. I guess they miss the violence of watching women get hurt instead of women enjoying themselves having sex.

BBB

No More Clocktower

Now that's a bummer. One of the jobs I had at Universal Studios was as the secretary in the electrical department on the back lot and one of the projects that was being worked on at the time was King Kong. One of the biggest problems was getting the banana breath just right. In the morning it would knock you over and in the afternoon it was nonexistent.

Back To The Future's Main Street is gone too. At least I have some really good memories from that time, now you'll have to go to Florida to see it. So sad.

Gee, I wonder who's going to profit?

BBB

Sunday, Bloody Sunday

Fundamentalists are the same the world over. Nuttier than fruitcakes and more than willing to molest children. Specifically (unless it's in the Catholic church), young girls. From the FLDS compound in Texas to the moral Haredim in Israel to murdering daughters and mothers as an "honor" killing in Iraq, women are treated as something less than a man. Something to be used, abused, hidden and then thrown out with the trash because she is no longer pure. All under the guise of religion. god must be so proud. If most abusers learn from their parents, does that mean that God abuses us?

Not quite as good as three fifths. Bush, Cheney and McCain are so disappointed that they won't have to pull an October surprise in order to maintain control of the country, the Democrats are going to give it to them as a gift. ON the bright side, innocent U.S. citizens won't have to die in a convenient terrorist attack. Hopefully.

Abstinence education is doomed to failure. By biology. Teens are going to have sex, whether adults like it or not. Get over it. It would be infinitely preferable if they knew how to do it safely, that they do it with people in their own age group and at their own discretion rather than have it forced on them by an adult that they trusted. Correct information is valuable so they know how their bodies work and where babies really come from. Along with communicable diseases if they aren't careful. Parents tend to forget that teenagers won't be teenagers all their lives and sooner or later they need to know the truth. When it comes to sex, sooner is better. And more effective. For a country that uses sex to sell everything, we certainly are repressed in real life.

He could leave the country and I wouldn't care. Pastors come and go but the congregation usually stays. What makes him think that the members of his church are going to vote for him now that he's decided they aren't good enough to pray with? Quick answer? There aren't enough of them to matter. He's definitely a politician, anything to get elected. And everybody is falling for it.

Greek mythology told us that. Hera, Artemis and Aphrodite were not gods that people messed with. Zeus and Apollo may have gotten all the attention for their sexual conquests but the women were not second class citizens of Olympus. Or Greece.