Lowering The Bar

What kind of creep do you have to be to break in to a family's home three days after they were killed in a car crash?  It's bad enough that the parents and two kids were broadsided by a drunk driver who ran a red light at seventy miles an hour as they were returning from a family vacation in Hawaii, but it takes a real lowlife to break into their home and steal their possessions and their car before their bodies have been buried.  Hopefully these morons will plead guilty because it's going to be difficult to find an impartial jury.

Protecting the institution of marriage by banning gays from being married is better than banning divorce, because it would be "impractical" according to the California Family Council. Two people of the same sex pledging their lives to one another is wrong but it's okay for people to get married in a drunken stupor and get divorced three days later.  On the other hand, some people try marriage (and divorce) three times before realizing that they are gay.  How is marriage protected when it can be undone at will?  Maybe the 47.9% of heterosexual marriages that end in divorce should have been prevented?

As if stealing from dead people wasn't bad enough, stealing $100,000 worth of toys and food from an agency that helps the poor is worse.  Scumbags.

I don't accept his apology either.  I'm not his wife or child and it isn't any of my business so I don't need an apology.  He deserves the apology for people intruding on his life.  Everyone is entitled to privacy, even if they are in the public spotlight.  It isn't like he's a Lohan, Hilton or Salahi who seeks fame for fame's sake or someone who sees an opportunity to grub for money.  And since it didn't happen on the golf course, why should it affect his career?  My senator was fooling around with his best friend's wife and he still has a job.

How can a female soldier die from being shot in the back of the head and it not be considered murder?  That is happened on a "secure" base in Iraq is even more mystifying and why is it taking the military so long to solve the case?  Don't they watch NCIS?

If it wasn't for mom's social security deposit, we would be unbanked also.  Three weeks after B of A raided my account for the California government and charged me $100 for the privilege in addition to $105 for not paying my bills, I have yet to receive notification or any official paperwork.  California isn't getting the disputed tax money and my bills aren't paid, but B of A made a couple of hundred dollars at everyone's expense.  I'd rather pay three dollars to Wal-Mart to cash a check and then run around town and pay my bills in cash.  I wonder if Arnold is going to have his bank account raided for his back taxes?  Somehow, I doubt it.

Speaking of the IRS, they are trying to auction off lands that belong to the Crow Creek Indian Reservation using the pretext of back taxes.  There must be undiscovered oil or gold.   Considering that the land originally belonged to them before they were hunted down and forced to exist on land that barely supports insects, this is some real chutzpah. 

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This 'N That

Remember the riddle "who's buried in Grant's tomb?"  Technically the answer is no one since Ulysses and his wife are entombed, but at least people know where they are.  The same can't be said for some of those who are buried at Arlington.  Like the atrocious conditions at Walter Reed revealed a few years ago, this is also a national disgrace.  Why is it so difficult to treat our soldiers with the respect they deserve?  After suffering the ultimate sacrifice how can they be treated so poorly by those who were entrusted to preserve their remains?  It used to be an honor to be buried at Arlington, now it's where's Waldo.

Jeff Huber (wish he'd been my CO but the Navy didn't take me seriously when I tried to enlist in 1974) has his usual insightful observations on the fallacy of thinking we can win the debacle in Afghanistan. The original mission was never accomplished and has been lost to the caskets of history, so of course we must continue to involve ourselves in another fruitless and never ending land war in Asia.  Is it because the Afghans don't look like the Japanese, Vietnamese or Koreans that people don't realize that Afghanistan is in Asia as are Iraq, Iran and Israel?  What the heck are we fighting for?

Regime change in Iraq was discussed before 9/11.  Then why didn't the troops have all the equipment they needed?  Probably for the same reason that they aren't receiving all the help they need once they are injured or discharged.  Because the goal was to topple Saddam and consequences were never considered.  Not to the troops, their families, innocent civilians or the stability of the country.

The phrases "there's nothing new under the sun" and "what's old is new again" have been around for a long time...because they're true.  In If A Man Answers (1962) Sandra Dee's character trains her new husband (Bobby Darin) to be more attentive by using the techniques from a book on dog training.  Today's parents are discovering the Dog Whisperer's techniques also work well on children.  Or, as my baby brother said after a few months of training his dog, "I should have had a dog before I had children."  As is pointed out in the movie and in this article, it's really the trainer who is being trained.  Consistency is the key and my parents excelled at that.  If it was no when I was two, it was no when I was eighteen unless it had been due to a height or age requirement.  I really miss my dad.

Adopted children should be able to find their biological parents after they are old enough to understand the consequences.  For Matthew Roberts those were definitely more than he planned on.  It isn't every day that one discovers that their father is one of the most hated murderers on the planet.  That's really sad.

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Things I Don't Understand

Why should I, or anyone else, care that Nidal Hasan is paralyzed from the nipples down?  There are thirteen people who would be more than happy to trade places with him but they can't because they're dead.  By his hand.  If there was any justice he would have CRPS instead.

The new Air Force commercial.  The tag line is that "it's not science fiction, it's what we do every day".  On what planet?  At approximately 11 seconds in there are two moons on the horizon, how is this not science fiction?  Or a video game?

Why do more Americans attribute a bible saying to Obama than to the Bible?

The Plan.  Mao would be so...honored.  Statistically speaking, Glenn Beck's attempt at destroying America is doomed to fail.  Melanin impaired Americans are becoming a minority and all the ranting, raving, bigotry and hatred are not going to change that.  He can try to co-opt as many national holidays as he wants, he will never be the equal of Martin Luther King.   And so-called "voter education events" are laughable.  Self reliance and community organizing.  I thought he hated ACORN, now I see he's just jealous.

Hypocrisy.  Has the definition changed?  Inconceivable!  What I want to know is, how many Republicans used the abortion benefit before the cat was out of the bag?

Purity oaths?  The Republicans might find candidates who fulfill the requirements, but  they won't find a majority of voters who agree with them.  Sometimes young people are a little savvier than they are given credit for and more than likely won't vote against their own best interests.  They'll leave that job to the old people.

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Eight Years On

The Second World War lasted six years and long before it was over the American people had built airplanes, ships, tanks, bombs, guns and bullets to support the troops.  No effort was spared.  Rationing of sugar, butter, meat, milk, gasoline and rubber were endured by the citizenry (rich and poor alike) so that the troops could have what they needed to ensure a successful outcome as well as spreading the pain equally among the populace.

It's been twenty years since we had a president with direct experience on the battlefield and it shows.   Once you've had to dodge a few bullets or your plane has been shot out of the air you tend to appreciate your equipment and hope that it is the best there is.  Unfortunately, the troops of today don't have that confidence and haven't for many years.

Eisenhower warned about the military complex in his farewell speech to the nation while also pointing out their responsibility to the country.  Somehow the military complex has grown without holding up its share of the bargain.

A vital element in keeping the peace is our military establishment. Our arms must be mighty, ready for instant action, so that no potential aggressor may be tempted to risk his own destruction.

When I was in basic training they ran us through a simulated firefight using tracer ammunition. Even though I knew I wasn't going to be harmed it was still a terrifying experience.

We were on a night march and bombs started going off and there was incoming "fire". We were supposed to return "fire" while trying to make it to a safe outpost. Things were going okay until about five minutes into the firefight when my M16 jammed.  It's amazing what you can do when you're scared.  I cleared my weapon while on the run and after firing a few more rounds, it jammed again.  Thirty five years later and the troops in Afghanistan are having the same problems with their weapons except this is not a training exercise.  The M4 jams under duress and during last year's battle at Wanat, during a critical time in the battle, many of their weapons were rendered unusable due to jamming under heavy use and nine US soldiers lost their lives.

As I've stated before, the longer you are at war the more the enemy learns about tactics and the more willing they are to employ them.  In 2006 the Taliban pinned down a group of Green Berets, they repeated it in Wanat and once again this past week.  The absolute least, and I mean least, we could do for our troops is provide them with weaponry that works when they need them.  Every time.  A rifle is meant to be fired, not used as a club and it shouldn't get so hot that you are unable to clear a jam.  If shuttle tiles can be built to withstand the heat of orbital reentry, weapons designed for war should be able to withstand sustained usage under the conditions they are supposedly manufactured for.

Eight years on and our troops are still going to war with inferior equipment.  Mullah Omar may have retreated eight years ago but he's back now with experience under his robes and willing to use it.  No one has ever successfully invaded Afghanistan and we aren't going to succeed using equipment that doesn't do its primary job.  That we haven't learned that painful lesson is the second error of historic proportions and sending in 40,000 more troops with shoddy equipment isn't going to change anything except our troops increasing body count.

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Of War And Death

Surprise, surprise, surprise.  Not.  Our ignorance, and mind boggling arrogance, has killed quite a few of our own soldiers and now it seems that we, the taxpayer, footed the bill and installed the mines before some of these poor kids were even born.  How's that for irony?

In the article, British journalist Kate Clark quoted an unnamed Taliban commander as saying, "There's a kind of landmine called a Dragon. Iran's sending it. It's directional and it causes heavy casualties." The commander said the new mine would "destroy" large tanks "completely", whereas "ordinary" anti-tank mines had only caused "minor damage".

If true, the revelation that an improved Iranian anti-tank weapon had been killing US and NATO troops in larger numbers would have been a major development in the war in Afghanistan. Roadside bomb attacks are acknowledged by US and NATO officials to be the cause of most of the casualties and deaths of foreign troops in the country.

The rapid rise in casualties over the past two years is attributed in part to the increased lethality of the Taliban mines.

But according to the Pentagon agency responsible for combating roadside bombs in Iraq and Afghanistan, the increased Taliban threat to US and NATO vehicles comes not from any new technology from Iran but from Italian-made mines left over from the US Central Intelligence Agency's military assistance to the anti-Soviet jihadists in the 1980s. (Emphasis mine)

Ah yes, the mujahideen and the Reagan Doctrine.  Can't say that worked out real well for us.  Now our soldiers are paying the price for a policy most people have forgotten.  That still doesn't give us the right to burst into hospitals, tie up staff and visitors, and force patients from their beds.

As tragic as Corporal Bernard's death is, the highly disputed AP photo is only showing the consequences, the true reality (he died on the operating table) of war.  Soldiers are real people and they are really dying and in horrible ways.  Being outraged over a photo, instead of how the young man came to be in that condition, is the real travesty.  And as sorry as I am for the family, I am even sorrier for his teammates who have those moments and many more like them seared into their brains forever.  If we can't handle looking at a photo then how do we expect our troops to function after seeing people die violently on an all too frequent basis?

I'm against the death penalty on principle, several of them if you want to be picky. One of the principles is that it isn't uniformly applied.  In Kentucky Steven Green gets five life sentences for raping a teenage girl he and his friends had been stalking, killing her, her parents and her six year old sister, then setting fire to the lower half of her body to cover it up.  Meanwhile in Florida, the death penalty is being recommended for Michael King who killed a young mother of two.  If one crime is more heinous than the other wouldn't you think that what Steven King did was the most evil?  Hopefully there is a no pizza provision as part of his sentence.

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Random Musings

Eight years into the war in Afghanistan and all we have to show for it is that we are stuck in another land war in Asia.  Osama bin Laden hasn't been accounted for, our troops are dying at the highest rates (more have died from March to now than in the first three years) since the war started and the Taliban are freely reimposing harsh penalties on Afghani citizens for participating in democracy.  Next thing you know, they'll be talking to a Sicilian.

Eight years in and the military in Afghanistan have very few hi tech hospitals.  How can this crap still be happening?  I understand about going to war with the army you have, but shouldn't the army have weapons, armor and decent medical care by now?  70 minutes to get to a decent hospital after you've been involved in a roadside bombing doesn't sound very efficient.  Or lifesaving.

Science doesn't seem to be a big thing in Texas.  If the fire marshal had training instead of strutting around like Fire Marshal Bill, Cameron Todd Willingham might have been exonerated instead of spending the next thirteen years before he was put to death trying to get people to believe he was innocent.  Just because he wasn't an angel doesn't mean he was a devil.  Further prof that the death penalty process is barbaric and an in your face example of cruel and inhuman treatment.  Even more so if you're innocent.

Do you ever think about what you're thinking about?  I know I'm strange and I've known for a long time.  I'm not autistic but it would be a good bet that my baby brother and I have more than a touch of Asperger's.  As a small example I really don't like bright lights or loud noises.  During my last year of school I wore sunglasses and a hat (at night) because I couldn't take the fluorescent lights anymore.  And the hum was a constant that grated on my nerves.  As a child I could spend hours watching the dust motes in the light or follow patterns in the ceiling and I still do.  As an adult I catch myself doing long division when I'm not actively paying attention to something else.  And now there is an application that will let me expand my mathematics skill, such as it may be.  Now if only I could convince myself that washing dishes was a repetitive action that I enjoyed...

Rest in peace Senator Kennedy.  Thank you for all you did and I hope that there will be someone who can take up the liberal torch.  Not liberal by the conservative standard, but liberal in the truest sense of the word.

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Monday Morning Musings

How much more study is needed before the soldiers get the help they need?  When ten guys from one unit have been accused of murder, attempted murder, and manslaughter, maybe more study isn't needed and the next step should be admitting there is a problem and doing something to change it for the better.

Almost all those soldiers were kids, too young to buy a beer, when they volunteered for one of the most dangerous jobs in the world. Almost none had serious criminal backgrounds. Many were awarded medals for good conduct.

Obviously the military brass learned nothing from the aftermath of the Vietnam War.   What these kids were asked to do time after time against a dehumanized enemy will affect them and everyone around them for the rest of their lives.  And with the loyalty that the chickenhawks don't have, these kids will be he recipients of the next "we must be tough on crime" wave and spend the rest of their lives in a physical prison to go along with the prison of their minds.

I've been a Cincinnati Reds fan for most of my life.  I started with the Big Red Machine because I had a crush on Johnny Bench and thought that Joe Morgan, Ken Griffey, Tony Perez and Dave Concepcion were the best teammates in the world.  And Tom Seaver was pretty darn cute.  For the record, I never liked Pete Rose and that had nothing to due with his abilities.  It had to do with the sneer he always seemed to have, not very attractive.  While I may not like him personally, he was a great ball player and deserves to be in the Hall of Fame.  Gambling had nothing to do with his skills or performance and he should be recognized for them.  Considering the antics of what passes for a star nowadays, maybe it's time for the Hall of Shame to be reviewed.

Cocktails!  I'm seeing something from the Star Trek Universe.  A sleek black tablet with a touchscreen and the ability to look up information, play music and relay messages sounds like a good start.

As the saying goes, if all you is a hammer, the whole world looks like a nail.  One of the problems with letting everyone have guns, is that everyone has guns.  Even people with known anger problems.  And this has a tendency to end in the deaths of police officers.  While I may think that the police have strayed from their mission of "to protect and serve", they don't deserve to die serving a warrant.

Of course he is.  Opposing Roberts and Alito was portrayed as partisan and being a bad sport, but opposing Sotomayor is okay because he has concerns about her positions on gun rights and white firefighters who like to sue their employers.  Sessions needs a session with mental health care provider.

My personal favorite of the beer labels banned in Maine is the last one.  Nut-Browned Ale sounds a little toasty, doesn't it?


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It Must Be Thursday

If you can't stand the heat maybe you shouldn't be in the kitchen.  Sarah Palin wants to be president (or does she?) and she can't take a little humor about her family?  Good grief, they are one whiny bunch.  I don't remember Republicans doing anything but laughing when 13 year old Chelsea Clinton was described by Rush Limbaugh as ugly because her father was Janet Reno.  And having read the joke about A-Rod knocking up a Palin, it sounded more like a slam on A-Rod than a dig at Willow or Bristol because in A-Rod's steroid induced haze he'd hit Amy Winehouse if she could stay away from her drugs for an hour.  Though he does seem to have a penchant for older women with kids which is why Sarah pretends to be so upset, she thought she was going to be the punchline.

Speaking of beauty queens that can't do their job, Miss California has finally been replaced by someone willing to represent California and not herself or her fake agenda.  Carrie Prejean was given more chances than Tom Sizemore and just like him she couldn't stay out of trouble or follow the terms of their probation.

Does the internet have a short attention span?  Of course it does.  Too much press about torture photos? Announce a Supreme Court nominee and poof! the photos go the way of the dodo bird.  Hopefully the same thing won't happen to the Inspector General report that's been hidden for five years.  Shooting an abortion doctor in a church provides a little too much heat and shows the hypocrisy of the Pro-Life or right wing extremist movement?  Poof!  Tase a 72 year old grandma for obnoxiously refusing to sign a traffic ticket.  I remember when cops used to be able to do their job without resorting to tasers or high speed chases that result in the deaths of innocent people.  Heaven forbid that the police do detective work and arrest them the old fashioned way.

The AMA opposes a government sponsored health plan for everyone.  Why would anyone be surprised by that?  When I was in school we had this elderly acupuncturist from China.  He talked about how he loved MRIs but the problem was you needed a whole building to use it and it didn't treat anything.  He also told a story about going to the doctor, he called them note givers.  You enter the office and the doctor doesn't even look up.  You start to tell him your problem and seventeen seconds later he has made his decision and either hands you a prescription, paperwork for a blood or urine test or sends you for X-rays.  You go back two weeks later and if you aren't better he gives you one of the the papers you didn't get the first time.  On your third visit he might look up from his desk, mainly because he wants to see who is causing him all this paperwork.  Chances are he hasn't touched you, which used to be known as palpation, because his assistant has done that for him.  You go home, still not feeling well so now you are on anti-depressants, and the bills start arriving.  Great system for the doctor, not so great for the patient.

There are mistakes and then there are MISTAKES.  No matter how much money this family receives, it will never replace the memories or the possessions.  It should be the law that when a house is going to be demolished that paperwork should be plastered on the doors, the mailbox and there should be an actual address, not just GPS coordinates.  A little common sense from the demolition company wouldn't have hurt either.  Such as the house was in good condition and there were valuables inside.  A few questions would have gone a long way in preventing this tragedy.

I would have had to have net worth for this statistic to directly affect me.  As it is I can't fix my broken tooth, mom broke her glasses this morning and I have no way to replace them which leaves her almost blind and even though I've dropped the price on my car by $1000 the only offers I've received have been obvious scams.  And the best part?  Due to a mixup Social Security is going to adjust mom's check by $300 in July.  And by adjust, I mean down not up.  Unless I sell the car for less than it's worth or a miracle happens, mom and I are going to be homeless.  Oh to be sixteen again, the fridge was always full and the rent was always paid.  As long as I'm dreaming, a fairy godmother would be really cool.  And nowadays it doesn't even have to be a woman.

Thirty five years ago yesterday at 4:55 pm  I raised my right hand and swore to defend this country by serving in the US Army.  Back then the enemy was Vietnam and communism.  Now we're falling apart from the inside.  Who would have ever guessed?

Disrespecting The Troops

As if sending the men and women of our Armed Forces, Reserves and National Guard to fight a war under false pretenses wasn't disrespectful enough.  As if sending those same troops to fight without the proper armor, intel or decent working equipment and then telling them that you go to war with what you have when you had been planning to go to war all along wasn't disrespectful enough.  As if hiding the troops who have fallen fighting this war and sneaking their bodies back in the dark of night wasn't disrespectful enough.  As if forcing the wounded to recover in hospitals that were falling down around their ears wasn't disrespectful enough.  As if the veterans weren't homeless and joblesss after returning from active duty wasn't disrespectful enough.  As if all the lies about the friendly fire deaths wasn't disrespectful enough.  As if the troops being forced to live and work in 90,000 substandard and dangerous facilities in Iraq wasn't disrespectful enough.

As if all of those weren't disrespectful enough, Salon has confirmed (with audio for the doubting Thomases of the 101st Fighting Keyboarders) what those of us who really support the troops have suspected for some time.  That the previous administration regarded injured troops as pieces of equipment that should be thrown away unmended as often as possible.  If this soldier hadn't carried a tape recorder because of his PTSD and traumatic brain injury induced CRS (can't remember shit) disease we might still be waiting for the truth to come out.  Again.

But what Sgt. X wants to tell a reporter about is one doctor's appointment at Fort Carson that his wife did not witness. When she couldn't accompany him to an appointment with psychologist Douglas McNinch last June, Sgt. X tucked a recording device into his pocket and set it on voice-activation so it would capture what the doctor said. Sgt. X had no idea that the little machine in his pocket was about to capture recorded evidence of something wounded soldiers and their advocates have long suspected -- that the military does not want Iraq veterans to be diagnosed with PTSD, a condition that obligates the military to provide expensive, intensive long-term care, including the possibility of lifetime disability payments. And, as Salon will explore in a second article Thursday, after the Army became aware of the tape, the Senate Armed Services Committee declined to investigate its implications, despite prodding from a senator who is not on the committee. The Army then conducted its own internal investigation -- and cleared itself of any wrongdoing.

snip

McNinch added that he also received pressure not to properly diagnose traumatic brain injury, Sgt. X's other medical problem. "When I got there I was told I was overdiagnosing brain injuries and now everybody is finding out that, yes, there are brain injuries," he recalled. McNinch said he argued, "'What are we going to do about treatment?' And they said, 'Oh, we are just counting people. We don't plan on treating them.'" McNinch replied, "'You are bringing a generation of brain-damaged individuals back here. You have got to get a game plan together for this public health crisis.'"

When McNinch learned he would be quoted in a Salon article, he cut off further questions. He also said he would deny the interview took place. Salon, however, had recorded the conversation.

Hmm, they must have learned that trick from all the wiretapping stories.

As a taxpayer I am concerned that my dollars aren't good enough for the troops but are good enough to bailout highly paid and incompetent banking and insurance executives.  As a veteran my heart is breaking that those who served faithfully under trying circumstances are being discarded as if they were trash.  As an American I am flabbergasted that the troops are being treated this way after the Walter Reed scandal.  As a human being I am disappointed by the inhumanity of it all.

Our troops and veterans deserve the best that we can give them, no matter what the cost.  After all, isn't that what we ask of them?

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Four Years And Eleven Days Ago

I wrote my first post and here it is.

My first blog. Prior to this moment I have ventured into the online literary world twice. These were very brief posts on Dkos after the recent "National" election.

My interests are varied, but I have a few favorites that occupy a good percentage of my thinking time. Depending on my mood I can focus on politics (the stuff that gets glossed over on the national infotainment that describes itself as news), things that fall into the geek category (science, electronics, etc.), cooking/nutrition (from recipes to the latest health news) and anything else that strikes my fancy.

I am an Acupuncturist by trade, a borderline geek by nature and a home cook by intention. Almost any problem can be solved or defused by food. Whether you are hunting/gathering (shopping), prepping, cooking , presenting, eating or digesting, your mind should be focused on what you are doing. The above activities can be creative and relaxing with the reward being you get to eat the results. Digesting usually makes most people calm and sleepy. Thanksgiving springs to mind. National eating holiday.

People usually know how to drink water, come in out of the rain, find sexual companionship, but cooking intimidates the most adventurous person. As Lao Tzu is reported to have said, "The journey of a 1000 miles begins with one step". So I just might write about the wonders of the dark leafy greens that Americans avoid with such creativity while embracing the statins and colonoscopy in their stead.

I had hoped there would be more Wil Wheaton on CSI last night. Oh well, there are two other CSI's. The way they have been recycling plot twists, he could easily get a better gig. Maybe one where we can see his face. They used a fingernail clipping as the key piece of evidence on LV and NY in the same week! He's better than a clipping. Maybe he could have a recurring role?

A few days later I wrote this one.

People are looking outside California for places to live. Number one reason is a better quality of life. Not for their kids, but for themselves. They want houses they can place a king size bed and furniture in the same bedroom. They don't want to look into their neighbors kitchen, living room or backyard. They really don't want their neighbors to have the ability to do it either. They want to be able to afford something else besides their house. Traffic, taxes, politics, watching what they work for count for nothing.

In the last week two different households decided to check out our neighbor to the immediate north. For right now that means Oregon, but both of them are capable of relocating outside the US. A woman who shares my birthday is moving to Arizona, she bought over the w/e and is now checking into her pension plan, plans to be gone in a year. As soon as her new house is completed. Arizona? I would rather go somewhere a little more green.

My only hope to get out of this state is to accidentally get roped into marriage or have there be national recognition of the CA Acupuncture license and I can move to another state. Zip, zilch, nada, a snowball's chance in the nether regions springs to mind for both those options. Since I no longer take insurance, staying here isn't required. Just a compatible scope of practice.

Someplace green with old trees and very little traffic would be great. A really good grocery store would rock. Of course, it is a little difficult to make money when you are isolated. Hmmm, will have to think on that.

Well, I didn't get roped and there isn't national recognition of the CA Acupuncture license but I'm finally moving.  And with the most exquisite timing in the world, a reader named G. who reads me via the Feedburner Flare (thank you!) sent me this encouraging message.

Regarding your acupuncture license being good only in California - Reno is right on the border of California and Nevada, so you should be able to work in California while living in Nevada.  You should be able to find people interested in your services around Lake Tahoe.  I think you should give it a try!  I wish you all the luck in your journey.

Thank you so much for your wishes and for your fresh idea.  I like it except for a couple of things.  One, I would probably still have to pay CA taxes while receiving only the benefit of not having wasted the last fourteen years, which now that I've written it sounds pretty stupid and two, I would need special dispensation from the Board while I try and get all the CEU's I'm behind on and aren't in the budget.  I will check on that tomorrow.  I haven't been able to leave mom alone but the complex we are supposedly moving to has quite a few senior citizens and maybe I'll be able to find someone to watch her while I'm gone all day.  However you look at it, it's an idea worth trying.  Once again, thank you.

It wasn't until August that the blogging fire really took hold.  I was picking up speed, having finally recovered from the previous election disappointments and then there was Katrina.  From before the storm hit to the inhumane treatment during and after, I went on a tear.  I ranted and railed about how it wasn't all incompetence, that it was deliberate and time marched on while the victims were forgotten.

The rest of the year was occupied by Harriet Miers, various blog redesigns, plenty of jokes, posts about the troops getting screwed, the most popular post I ever wrote, how the Democrats couldn't roll over and play dead any more than they already were, and ended the year with the attempted bullying of John Ashcroft by Andy Card and Alberto Gonzales.

It's sad seeing how much I've changed and the world hasn't.  I don't do as many jokes or find as many feel good stories and while evil still rules it no longer looks like a certain ex VP (I love how they use his trademark snarl to show contempt and arrogance on Lie To Me). The little people still pay the price and get blamed for it not only being so high but that without any outside positive changes in their lives they still haven't achieved the American Dream that is shown nonstop on television so it's really their fault and they aren't worthy of any help. Government is still clueless as to what the taxpayers really need and some Republicans are willing to punish their constituents for a future principle (running for national office) while those same constituents and their children are suffering right this moment.

For the last six months my personal drama has ruled my life and my posting, hopefully I'm making a change for the better.  Like a good Netflix queue, I hope that the drama becomes an adventure comedy and I can return to my original goals.  A mixture of politics, humor, cooking, science, space, and whatever else tickles my fancy at the moment.

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Well, Isn't That Special?

So far my student loan for my Master's in Chinese Medicine is $99,515 and I can't afford to either practice, set up an office or get any small business loans to help me out.  After four years of school that was located nowhere near where I was living before I realized that acupuncture worked and that I didn't have to go all the way to China to learn it, it's nice to know that the military thinks acupuncture is beneficial.

Ultimately, Niemtzow would like troops to learn acupuncture so they can treat each other while out on missions. For now, the Air Force program is limited to training physicians.

He says it's "remarkable" for the military, a "conservative institution," to incorporate acupuncture.

"The history of military medicine is rich in development," he said, "and a lot of people say that if the military is using it, then it must be good for the civilian world."

Nope, I can't practice my profession without a license but some doctor who thinks he's found a new technique in a medicine that is thousands of years old and is going to teach his version to troops who can do more damage with a little training of one minor form of acupuncture than the benefit is going to be worth.   Or as the saying goes, a little knowledge can be a dangerous thing.

Why not get them battle armor that does the job correctly (Newsflash:  money doesn't help dead people) instead and leave the administering of acupuncture to people who have had more training in both theory and practice?

No wonder I'm depressed.

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1055 Dead, The Majority Were Not Soldiers

I am not an anti-Semite.  Some of my best friends are Jewish, (I've always wanted to use some line just like that), but what I am is anti war.  I don't care  how you dress it up, when you invade another country and the kill rate is 40% women and children as collateral damage, that's not antisemitism and it certainly isn't pikuach nefesh, that's an attempt at genocide.  White phosphorus bombs?  After the napalm photo from Vietnam there is no excuse for using such weapons.  Against any one, including the UN.  But the part in the Bible about turning the other cheek must be in the New Testament and only apply to people who really believe in Jesus' teachings.  Wars don't demonstrate who's right or wrong, but who's left standing.  In other words, history is written by the winners.

Palestine had democratic elections as the world demanded and they mistakenly elected a party the powers that rule the world didn't approve of, therefore that party isn't legitimate and it's okay to indiscriminately kill people until they change their evil ways.  Too bad the world didn't use that same logic against, Bush, Mugabe or Chavez. Chavez at the moment is relatively insulated against being invaded by the US in its pursuit for oil so the rich don't have to change their lifestyle.  And to Elizabeth Wurtzel, all I have to say is waah, waah, waah.  You can't dress up killing civilians on a regular basis and not be compared to a regime that did the same.  Behave like an advanced human instead of an angry monkey and maybe "normal" people might think you have a valid point.

But to communicate with anyone I think of as right-minded (and left-leaning) in any other part of the world is to experience the purest antisemitism since the Nazi era. In fact, in Europe right now, it is de rigueur to liken the current regime in Israel with the Nazi party, and to view the experience of the Palestinians as a form of ethnic cleansing. Hamas and Hezbollah are thought by the French and British to be social welfare organizations, and Israel is viewed as a terrorist state. Here, we honor the linguistic discoveries of Noam Chomsky and otherwise experience him as a quaintly brilliant crank, but in the bookstores in London there are entire sections devoted to his political thought – and he is read as if the distinctions between Leninist and Trotskyite philosophy had genuine consequence in today's world.

And if you don't want to go to Europe because of the negative feelings towards Americans since the Iraq war, imagine how angry Europeans are right now with this even larger injustice building in their back yard.  Perhaps, just maybe, God should have chosen the Jewish homeland and not some politicians from Great Britain and the United States who didn't think about the results of displacing the Palestinians who had lived there for thousands of years since God kicked the Jewish people out the last time for disrespecting his rules. Or whatever reason God determined they should wander homeless.

Any way you look at it, killing children only breeds more generational hatred and hasn't there been enough of that in the world?  And please tell me that the goal was not to have Osama been Forgotten to declare a holy war over Gaza.  2012 will be here soon enough.

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They Can't Be Serious

Honestly, every time I think the Bush regime has done as much damage as it's going to, more atrocities are revealed.  As a veteran myself, I have taken special interest in how active military and veterans are being treated by the crew without a clue.  When I first read the story of soldiers injured in Iraq and Afghanistan being denied benefits because their injuries were determined not to be combat related, I had to hold my head tight to keep it from exploding.  Since when is being injured in a land mine explosion or mortars pelting the area you are stationed in, considered not to be combat related?  This last March would be the answer.  Because everybody knows those kinds of injuries happen at home all the time.  Once again the people who have paid the the most are the ones that are getting screwed.

And if that wasn't enough to raise my blood pressure, the GAO has found that Bush loyalists were once again cooking the books to make themselves look better.  Competitive outsourcing is a bad policy that has had real world ramifications and demeans the people who have done the job successfully for many years.  What's really interesting is that all of the people let go were African American.  Color me not surprised.

Good grief!  Let the kids have a little fun, they're in kindergarten and this is their introduction to US history.  They will grow up soon enough and discover that most o fwhat they have been taught is a lie, why hurry the process?  If they can't dress up as Pilgrims and Indians, dressing up as angels and a little drummer boy next month are going to be out of the question.

Did you know that women are allowed to drive in Iran?  They can even have their own business as taxi drivers.  Now that Iraq has been reduced to a fundamentalist prison, at least it is from a woman's point of view,  Iran has more democratic freedoms than other Muslim countries.  Imagine that.

More banks are failing and the ranks of the destitute are growing quickly.  Destitute is worse than poor. You can be poor and still have a leaky roof over your head, when you are destitute you have nothing.  Which is what happens when you lose your job, house and self respect.  Food stamps only help if you have a place to store and cook the food and while a family of four making less than $21,000 is considered to be below the poverty level, it's still more money than being unemployed and homeless.

Unfortunately, I know the problem a little too well.  Fortunately, my landlord has relented for the moment and has agreed to let us stay until February.  Work Comp has made me an offer, albeit a very small one, so mom and I will have a roof over our heads for a few more months and I'm trying to find a regular job.  Mom really can't be left alone for very long, she does weird things and doesn't remember doing them and now adult protective services wants her watched at all times, so I would prefer to work from home.  Unfortunately all those offers have turned out to be scams. Oh well, tomorrow is another day.

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Friday News Blues

How can you tax something that no longer exists? People who believed that saving for retirement with a 401K have watched the steady decline of their investments in the train wreck that is the stock market. Over the last few months the value of their "investment" has decreased from fifty to seventy five percent and left them very little to retire on. At this point social security is the only stable plan for retirement in existence and the Republicans keep trying to destroy that too. For the small investor to believe they are going to make enough money in the stock market to retire on is like me going to the casino thinking that I will hit a royal flush and win the jackpot. Not likely under the best of circumstances but conservatives think that everyone should gamble with their money and the stock market fits that requirement. Unfortunately some people fell for the scheme and now that their 401K is worth next to nothing they have had to reenter the work force or delay their retirement by several years. And how the heck can Exxon Mobil's pension fund be underfunded by 1.4 billion when the company just posted record profits. Again.

His prerogative. Get over it. The right didn't seem to mind when Bush or McCain did the same thing. But with different newspapers.

Did she really mean to say this or was it a slip of the tongue?

"There is research going on, and my hope is that women are finally going to have some options when it comes to sexual disorder treatments," Kingsberg said. "Right now, there are very limited options, but I think it's coming."

Double standard? You betcha. If the threats had been about McCain, the plotters would have been charged and convicted immediately. But what can you expect from someone who got their job under suspect circumstances.

Typical. Stevens has his very own version of reality. If he was a black male who had robbed a candy store, he would be behind bars already.

Almost unbelievable, until you remember that the Air Force flew nuclear warheads over the US a few months ago and didn't know that either.

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I Am Sorrow

Seven years and two wars later and they are going to try new efforts to find the forgotten one.  I will be almost amazed when they find Osama bin Laden just before the election.  There will be celebrations, ticker tape confetti and dancing in the street.  News anchors will have tears of joy in their eyes and all but a few of us will realize that this could have been accomplished seven years ago, but they didn't need the political capital then.  The American people are easily mesmerized by shiny objects and artificial intelligence, aren't they?

Speaking of War Games, mom and I were watching War Games: The Dead Code and I wondered why they didn't bring back John Wood as the original Dr. Stephen Falken. John was responsible for uttering one of my favorite lines as the Bishop of Aquila (there were a few) in one of my favorite movies.  Ladyhawke, one of the most romantic action movies ever made.  I heartily recommend it.  Alfred Molina has a bit part, one just a little bigger than his part in Raiders of the Lost Ark. These lines came straight from the Bishop's mouth right after he watches his mistress dance and Marquet gives his report.

We live in difficult times Marquet.  The famine has prevented the people from paying their proper tribute to the Church.  I raise their taxes only to be told there is nothing left for me to tax.  Imagine.

Gee, that sounds just like today except the church has been traded for corporations. 

Wow, I just found out I could watch a movie and blog at the same time.  I really should explore more of the capabilities of my Mac.  Speaking of which, even though I can't pay for rent or gas, I want the new iTouch.

Obviously, I am a true American.

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Shattered Dreams

Yippee! Life is coming back. I really enjoyed the show. It was as quirky as Dexter, but not as violent. Why ABC is touting it instead of NBC, the network it's really on, is beyond me. Whatever it takes to bring it more viewers attention is okay by me.

In the it's about time category, the Hubbard Act has been amended so that it doesn't punish the sole veteran survivors for the last 65 years. And Bush signed it without a veto threat, what a concept.

In regards to this experience to be President thing.  The only candidates that run for office and have the experience to do the job, are called incumbents.  Every single President has had to learn on the job.  Every single one, from George Washington to George Bush.  Nobody has a clue until they start doing the job.  Let's move on from a lack of experience to a lack of substance.  That applies to all the candidates.  Anyone who wants to be President, should be disqualified immediately.  I've known people who aren't in politics that could do a better job than the crop we've been saddled with since 1980.  Although I'm willing to admit that my life circumstances were so much better under Clinton.  Heck, I was living better than I am now when Carter was President.  I was even able to buy a house in California and make the payments.

Turns out mom had a slight fracture of her hip but the orthopedist didn't feel like doing anything about it (not even call and tell her to stay off of her leg, which I was already making her do) and when we went for mom's follow up with her primary care idiot, I had to beg for a walker for her.  We're on our way to get one now.    Pain medication was nonexistent for her and if it wasn't for a good friend who had some Lidocaine patches, she wouldn't have been able to function at all.  It doesn't matter if you have insurance or not, they just don't care about the patient anymore.  It's a good thing I have a medical degree or she would be toast.  Her doctor hates me and it doesn't bother me at all.  If I didn't speak up, they would just let her die.  Painfully.

How about a little music for the morning?  Back to the eighties with Johnny Hates Jazz.


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Jaw Dropping Crap

Asking if  Congress deserves a vacation is like waking up and smoking a joint to decide if you want to smoke a joint.  Shouldn't they have to do some work first?  At least occasionally?  In the never ending run for the White House, how many votes have McCain and Obama missed while they were running for another office because the one they're in isn't good enough?  And please, using the example that the Demowienies don't want to cave in to the Republicans is foolish since there are more than enough examples to go around.  Fortunately 472 of them are up for reelection this year, maybe they'll get a surprise at the polls.

Things are getting better all the time.  Pretty soon the only people employed in America will be those who provide personal luxury services to our overlords.

The police are sticking with their story that the kid with the broken back and foot tried to get up and walk into traffic so that's why they had to taser him 19 times.  Do they drug test cops?  Because if they don't, they should.  On a daily basis.  Especially hallucinogens.

Hmm, I see the cojone missing stormtroopers have struck again.  What possible excuse (other than revenge) could there be for placing a compromising package (you know they did it), bursting into the mayor's home and then shooting his two Labrador Retrievers, one of whom was hunted while running away, to death?  No arrests were made.

I joined the Army in 1974 and I can honestly say that other than a few bawdy jokes (that I enjoyed because they were funny) and the occasional "accidental" brush against my tits, only one person ever harassed me and he ended up at Leavenworth doing hard time for a few years. Hhis conviction ostensibly had nothing to do with me since my First Sergeant wouldn't take me seriously, but I knew something else that caused his incarceration and had no hesitation about making sure the MPs found out about it.   Other than that, my troop mates were my friends and they treated me just like the other guys.  Now it seems that a woman serving in the military is as likely to be assaulted by the people who are supposed to be watching her back as she is to be killed or wounded by a terrorist.  I thought it was supposed to be you were more likely to be killed by a terrorist as to get married after forty?  Methinks that order in the military isn't what it used to be.

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One More Instance Of GOP Hypocrisy

Support the troops!  Unless you're a member of the GOP and think that 25 million is too much to spend on paralyzed veterans.  A bridge to nowhere is okay, helping people who can't walk or pee without assistance is not.  And then to add insult to injury the GOP tries to use the issue to accuse the Demowienies of avoiding dealing with high gas prices.  Otherwise known as offshore drilling for their corporate buddies.

Republicans blasted the bill as an attempt to bait them and distract from measures to deal with high gas prices.

"They're using every trick to get us away from dealing with high gas prices," said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY).

Let's recap the GOP support of the troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.  Bad armor, insufficiently armored vehicles, no plan other than shock and awe, multiple tours, poor medical care if they get back to the United States in less than pristine condition, ignoring the emotional costs of war in veterans, closing brain injury units as the incidences of brain injuries in the troops was increasing due to the IEDs that nobody "could have foreseen", obstruction of the GI Bill and now willing to let injured veterans be forever hostage to other people for help.  

The best part?  Tom Coburn has the nerve to consider himself a doctor. Unlike recently departed Randy Pasuch, not the kind that helps people.

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What A Crock!

Only because they aren't looking in the right places.   This is just like when they redefined hunger as food insecurity.  In less than half a mile on Seventh Street in San Jose there are currently 11 motor homes or 5th wheels currently parked and being lived in.  Then there are the side streets with one or two vehicles that are also occupied.  In the Bush economy it is possible to have a job and not have a home or a drug problem.

“It affirms the very significant change in policy shift that took place over the in the last six years,” said Mr. Culhane, who studies homelessness trends and policy, of the decline in the numbers of chronically homeless. “We’re moving in the right direction, without a doubt.”

I'll just bet everything is going according to plan.  The plan to transfer everything of value from the have nots to the have mores.

I just want to be your stepping stone.  So much for the myth of serving the public.  It's always about the benjamins, isn't it?

Major tactical error.  He should have gone to see the troops by himself, they deserved it.  But then you would have to have spent some lonely time in a hospital bed to understand that.  CNN gets interviews and soundbites all the time, these guys are still suffering the initial shock of being wounded.

Great, just great.  275 minutes a week.

Why aren't Republicans looking for another candidate?  Melanoma of the head and face are the most fatal of skin cancers and McCain has had more than one occurrence.  Between this and his encroaching senility, the odds of him finishing his term as Senator, much less President, is seriously in doubt.

The Food Network, the one that used to show you how to cook but now mainly shows you people eating at places you can't get to, has replaced the disgraced Robert Irvine with the Giggler on Dinner Impossible.  Instead of letting the ripped off John Besh handle the duties, they are forcing Michael Symon down our throats.  Well, I'm not swallowing.  And I'm not watching either.  Bring back Robert Irvine or let Besh do it. Who cares if Irvine stretched his resume, he did the job he was hired to do.  If Symon is the Iron Chef for the week, I skip it and now it looks like Dinner Impossible has become Dinner Unwatchable.  The giggle and the soul patch are just the tip of the iceberg. I miss the old Food Network, the one that gave me ideas for dinner, not dining out.

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Education, Energy, Healthcare And Honoring The Troops

I admit it, I'm confused.  What exactly did she do wrong?  This isn't the Bible belt and mentioning a German study that finds a link between maternal stress and homosexuality falls into the category of proper discussion in a Biology class.  Doesn't it?

The controversy centers on an incident in June 2007, when Sheldon was asked by a student in a human heredity class about heredity's impact on "homosexual behavior in males and females." Among other references, Sheldon noted a German study demonstrating some link between maternal stress and homosexual behavior in males, according to the lawsuit.

Rep. John Peterson (R-PA) speaks some common sense on energy policy, how very few people are thrilled with the current candidates and Phil Gramm's disconnect with the average American.

Peterson: Well, Phil Gramm is a very smart guy and he knows the economy well, but Phil Gramm doesn’t know the people I know. Phil Gramm must be insulated from the working poor. If he was around the working poor, he would have never said it. The working poor are struggling. This is not a recession in their mind. This is a difficult time where they are struggling to pay their bills. ... He thinks that’s not going on out in America; he just hasn’t been out there. He must come from a pretty affluent neighborhood and a pretty affluent family. ...

Sometimes the people who whine have more and are just angry they have to spend more. The whiners I know aren’t poor. 

And I thought the ABC commenters were lacking in intellectual ability. They have nothing on the Politico commenters. Heaven forbid that they should actually discuss the points of the article on energy, they're too busy getting lost on the nuances of whether the press is too liberal and giving Obama a pass and some guy defending Cheney by saying he was only in the oil business for five years. Absolutely fascinating how the 28%s are determined to stay in fantasyland.  At the expense of the country.

For years Cuba has been made out to be a backward country, but if I get breast or bum cancer that's where I'm going to wish I was.  Did you know that the food is pretty tasty there too?

Pat Tillman wasn't a friendly fire death, it was deliberate murder and the government is doing its best to cover it up.    And being shot by the people on your side isn't friendly, it's gross negligence.

Unlike the crew without a clue and their military advisers,  the troops knew they were probably going to die on Hamburger Hill  their mission in Wanat, Afghanistan.  If only our leaders had the courage that our overworked, overburdened and underprotected troops have.  If they aren't being shot or blown up, they're being electrocuted back at the base.  Meanwhile, the brass thinks the powers that be deserve to travel in style.  Why is it that Reserves, National Guard and regular troops are considered so expendable?


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