Pump Up The Volume

Will I pay to read the NY Times online?  Of course not.  I've been boycotting the Washington Post for a year and to tell the truth, I haven't missed much.  Do the reporters deserve to get paid?  Of course, especially when they do their job.  And let's face it, for the past twenty years they haven't.  They've been going after ratings, not reporting the news. Or, as the saying goes "if it bleeds, it leads".

For some reason the Fourth Estate sold its soul for access.  Not to report the news, but to make the news and they, along with the "candidates" they've chose to "represent" us, have pretty much destroyed everything this country was founded upon and held as a shining beacon of freedom to the world.

Not that I enjoy sounding old, but when I was a kid the remote control was whoever Dad asked to change the channel.  Usually between NBC and CBS until that upstart ABC started to become popular, and if the picture was too snowy you fiddled with the rabbit ears until there was a relatively clear picture.  And if it got snowy when you moved away, you got sent right back to hold it into position until the show was over.  You got to put your arm down during the commercials or if the picture mysteriously got better.  All for the price of the television.

When I was twelve we moved to Lompoc, which received one station and that was from Santa Maria.  Fortunately there was this thing called cable and for about six bucks a month we got much clearer stations and some of them were from Los Angeles which was a couple of hundred miles away.  And they showed most of their stuff in color.  With less roller derby.

Then Showtime came along.  Dad loved it.  He said it released us from the puritanical beliefs of the few who thought that fun was illegal. I think it was because he enjoyed watching those girls(1:48 is when the guys watching start hyperventilating) do the exercises.

Now it costs me thirty dollars just to get the basics on television.  Due to technology and the old television dying, I pay extra for HD because HD televisions look better that way and now that everything is digital they get me for the SyFy channel.  What a racket.

After I left home and joined the Army I lived without television for many years and didn't miss it.  I watch more of it now because it isn't safe to walk at night in most neighborhoods, movies are ten dollars at the theatre and most local libraries have either closed or cut back their hours and their varieties of books.  Which leaves the internet.

I've been using the internet regularly since I got my first computer back in 1996, an IBM Aptiva.  I originally had a 28.8K modem, followed by a 56.6 that I installed later.  I (as in me) upgraded the RAM twice as well as increasing the 75 Pentium processor to a little more than 200.  I was one of the first in San Diego to get cable and couldn't understand why it wasn't available to everyone.  I still remember watching Princess Diana's funeral on cable and marveling that it was only a few seconds behind the broadcast networks.  Then I got the bill.

I now pay $57.99 for internet access and I refuse to pay for Showtime or HBO on television (thank you Netflix!) because I already pay more than enough for the less than ten channels I actually watch, why would I pay more for content that other countries enjoy for much less?

Once I discovered the internet, my interest in books took a back seat.  For years nobody had ever seen me without a book and all of a sudden books were history.  Television news, which was rapidly becoming infotainment was watched rarely, if ever.  The internet had everything and it was much faster with a greater variety than newspapers which left my hands dirty. No more dead tree editions for me.

Online I read Canadian, British, German, French, Israeli and Chinese newspapers, foreign newspapers do have English versions. Even al-Jazeera had been known to print true journalism, unlike some of what passes for newspapers here in the states.  The United States press long ago ceased to be über alles, but the citizens don't know it because news is as censored as if the sixties editors of Pravda were running today's news organizations.

So why would I want to pay to read the NY Times?  Or any other paper online?  I don't, and I won't.  The last time NY went behind a paywall, that experiment didn't last long and cost some of their best writers their readership.  Newspapers are once again getting the stupid idea that if they hide their content behind a paywall that bloggers will disappear and people will start reading the papers again.  I would love to have had some of the drugs they were passing out at those meetings.

Citizen journalism isn't going to disappear, it will be enhanced by people who are actually interested in getting the unfiltered news to a starving public and don't need millions of dollars to do it.  It won't be long before someone starts a channel devoted to news around the world, not what Fox and CNN think are the important news around the world delivered by bobbleheads that can't speak for themselves without a wire attached to their ear.

Will the NY Times miss my money?  Probably not for a while, but just like the Titanic, hubris goes before a fall.  Or obsolescence as the case may be.  Then they'll try to shut down the internet, which I doubt the young people will put up with for longer than a day or two.  Has anybody paid attention to the furor when Twitter goes offline?  Imagine if the the whole internet crashed and it wasn't the result of a war or natural disaster.  Kids may not think that protesting the war, torture, or elimination of the Bill of Rights are important, internet and cell phone access is a whole different kettle of fish.

And to show that this isn't really such a radical idea, Christian Slater long before he was forgotten.

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Pet Centricity

While Shadow might sit through a church service because she likes being with me, Shai Shai never would.  Her need to get love and attention from humans is pretty strong and with her friendly face and wiggling butt (her tail is curled against her back, so her butt moves when she wags her tail) most people can't resist her.  On the other hand she seems to make the people who pet her feel better and they smile more.

Which is why I would never consider eating her.  For any reason, even if I was starving to death.  Robert and Brenda Vale can take their idea and shove it where the sun doesn't shine.  For most people that would be their ass but for them it seems to be the place where their heart should be located.  My dogs don't eat beef, chicken, wheat, corn or soy and the companionship they provide is worth more than gold.  It's one thing to be green and another to be viciously stupid.  Using the argument that dogs are eaten in other countries isn't a good reason, didn't their parents teach them that if your friends jump off a cliff you don't have to follow them?

Not only can a cat has cheeseburger, it can also have H1N1, which directly contradicts the email alert I received two days ago.  There is no reason to panic, the cat caught it from its humans and is recovering nicely.  To prevent your pet from contracting it wash your hands, cover your coughs and don't play with them if you feel like you have the flu.  Duh.

BadTux must be so proud that one of his own has had a thirteen year relationship with a human.  Isn't that sweet?

World of Warcraft has virtual pets for sale.  What the heck is a lich?  And why would you want an imitation pet when you can have the real thing?

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Going To The Dogs

Wow!  Republicans really are willing to cut off their nose to spite their face.  The comments are fascinating.  No matter how the NY-23 race turns out the GOP is dissolving from within.  I almost feel sorry for the them but it's their own fault.  They embraced the wackos last year, they tolerated and encouraged the fringe to express their anger, rage and hatred during the campaign and as with any rabid animal, it's biting the hand that feeds them.

They don't need another job, they need to live within their means.  I'm sorry that one can't live comfortably on $93K a year and while I admire the work ethic of getting another job to support your lifestyle instead of doing what the rest of us do which is to cut back or eliminate expenses, taking a minimum wage job that might keep a family on the lower end of the economic spectrum from becoming homeless, is part of why we are in the economic mess we are all suffering through.  Those that have always think they deserve more or that they shouldn't have to sacrifice.  Marie Antoinette would be so impressed.

The kerfuffle about the Obama boy's club amuses me.  I tried warning people that he had little to no respect for women and their opinions, so it doesn't surprise me at all that women are being cockblocked while decisions are being made in circumstances that have no official record.

Somebody has been watching a little too much television.  The story never says why the owner had to steal his dog from the pound under the cover of night instead of picking him up during normal business hours.  It doesn't sound like the dog's behavior was a problem since the animal society released the dog to a friend of the owner.

Speaking of dogs, is this normal sleeping behavior?

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This 'N That

No wonder people have given up looking for work.  They did everything they were supposed to, they got more education so they could get ahead and now their resumes are the first ones discarded by employers looking to hire.  Because they might leave for a better job when times get better.  Like that's going to happen anytime in the near future.

The overwhelming response astonished him. He asked Cheree Seawood, one of his current assistants, to go through the résumés and help pick out several to interview. To make the task easier, he decided they should be even more rigorous in ruling out anyone who appeared even slightly overqualified (emphasis mine).

Key senators are not thwarting President Obama on healthcare, they are thwarting the will of the American people.  And it should be reported that way.  If the senators are worried about survival, perhaps they should vote the way their constituents want instead of pandering to the insurance industry.

Newsday is going to put its content behind a paywall, with access limited to people who subscribe to the print edition, pay for local cable, or you can pony up $5 a week, which is $260 a year.  If people wouldn't pay $50 a year for the NYTimes a few years ago, very few people are going to find Newsday to be worthy of $260 a year or $5 an article when they accidentally print something interesting.

What drugs are these people on?  For eight of the twelve years the Republicans controlled Congress they had a Republican president who claimed he was the Decider and they rammed bills, useless proclamations and tax cuts through to the detriment of the country.  And the spineless Democrats not only helped them, sometimes they gave them more than they asked for.

“We need more voices,” said House Minority Whip Eric Cantor of Virginia, one of the party’s up-and-coming leaders. “Our party’s challenge has been that we need to be more inclusive — we need to attract the middle again. ... When one party controls all the levers of power in Washington, they’re going to try and villainize whoever they can on our side. It gives us an opportunity now to try and harness the energy and point it in a positive direction, so that we can attract the middle of the country to the common-sense conservative views that we have been about as a party.”

As the Bible states (Job 4:8), those who plow evil and those who sow trouble reap it, and by pandering to the lowest common denominator the Republicans coddled a section of society which attacks its own instead of working together.  80 percent of voters do not identify with the Republican party or its ideals and unless there are some major changes in attitude those in the middle will run even further away.

Cheney wants Obama to quit "dithering" on sending more troops to Afghanistan.  Meanwhile, back in the real world, a majority oppose sending more troops off to die in another useless land war in Asia.

Singing for her supper. Or not.The Performance Royal Society caused itself a little bad publicity by telling a woman who sings while she stocks shelves in a grocery store that she needs a performance license. Meanwhile musicians also don't approve of the government using their songs for torture. Britney Spears and Eminem qualify, but the Bee Gees?

Someone is begging for a Darwin Award.  Dennis LeRoy Anderson outfitted is La-Z-Boy with a lawnmower engine, a cup holder and what every pimped out ride needs, a stereo.  One day he rode it to the bar and had eight or nine beers.  He tried to ride it home but a parked vehicle jumped in his way and with a blood alcohol level of .029, besides wrecking his ride, he received a DWI.

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Total Fluff

A long time ago I used to watch soap operas.  Mom was a fan of All My Children and my brothers watched One Life To Live until Meredith was killed off (I told you it was a long time ago) but it remained my favorite for many years.  My ex-husband and I used to race home from school to watch the ABC soaps and when they went to an hour we were ecstatic.  That is not to say that some of the story lines didn't wander in to "what the HECK were you thinking" territory.  Eterna?  Really?  On the other hand,  Ryan Phillipe as the first gay teen in a soap opera and subsequent story displayed the best of daytime television.  As did Ellen Wheeler's portrayal of a woman dying of AIDS in 1988.

Soap operas have been both the training ground (Kevin Bacon, Morgan Freeman, Kathleen Turner, Meg Ryan, Christopher Reeve, Tommy Lee Jones, James Earl Jones, Cicely Tyson, Susan Sarandon) and the final resting place ( Ruth Warrick, Anna Lee) for many a great actor.  When Guiding Light went off the air a few weeks ago I'm sure a few people were surprised at some of the now famous stars who were doctors, lawyers, troublemakers and hearthrobs back in the day.  Judith Light turned in some of the best dramatic performances I've ever seen and did it day after day long before she was known for that stupid comedy.  And while most people know Nathan Fillion from Firefly, I remember him sleeping with his mother's same age mortal enemy.

Which brings me to Hans Gudegast.  Mom was a fan of 12 O'Clock High, Combat, and my personal favorites, the Rat Patrol and Mission Impossible, where he played a not so nice German in all of them.  For the last 29 years he has starred as Victor Newman on the Young and the Restless and due to the economy, irrelevant stories and corporate stupidity, the powers that be have decided that six months into a three year contract and having not violated any of the terms, his contract is no longer valid and want him to take a pay cut.  Like he dropped off the turnip truck this morning.

Sony is willing to cut off its nose to spite its face.  The genre is dying and they are eagerly tapping the last nail in the coffin.  The soap heyday has come and gone.  Luke and Laura are no more, Erica has married everyone in town and Viki doesn't have any more marbles to lose.  Their children have become whiny adults and nobody wants to watch them.  Instead of returning to what made soaps so entertaining, they shove hugely uninteresting characters down the viewer's throats in a vain effort to capture today's ADD (tweet tweet) youth market.  And the slide into
oblivion will continue because once you don't care about the characters the story becomes moot.

Soap operas have killed off many a favorite character (or tried recasting), but Victor is one of the biggies.  You don't get rid of the star of the number one soap opera since 1988 and expect to stay in the top spot without a character that people love to hate.  Or hate to love.  Like most corporate decisions nowadays, it's about the current bottom line with no thought to the future or props to the past.  They think that by cutting salaries and benefits for the workers that the executives will continue to enjoy their outrageous bonuses and the piper will continue to play.  Unfortunately, history has shown that if you don't pay the piper, the music stops and the greedy are usually left without a chair.

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Looney Tunes

What has happened to this country?  People seem to have lost their freaking minds.  The state of Michigan would rather have kids wait outside in the rain and snow (give them an umbrella was one suggestion) for a bus than let them wait inside a neighbor's house.  They have a law on the books that says if a child who isn't related to you is in your house more than 28 days a year while their parents aren't at home you are running an unlicensed daycare center even if you aren't being paid.  It doesn't matter if the kids are there five minutes or five hours.  As one commenter pointed out, if one of those kids was abducted there would be a completely different attitude and people would be wailing about how neighbors don't watch out for each other anymore.  Once again no good deed goes unpunished.

Who's doing the economic projections now?  Condoleeza Rice?  It's not unexpected to me or anyone else I know that consumer confidence would drop.  Money doesn't go as far as it used to and opportunities to increase one's income have become almost nonexistent.  It's only if you live in a bubble that you think things are getting better for the average consumer.  You know people aren't dealing with a full deck when they think that a few hundred people on Wall Street raking in dough is an indicator of a bogus recovery than the reality that hundreds of thousands of people who can't play the stock market, don't have jobs, are losing their homes and dying for lack of health care.  Nobody could have seen that coming.

Many years ago I worked for Home Savings in their signature verify department.  There were three of us whose job it was to match suspicious check signatures to their enrollment card on file.  The other fifteen people in the department had the responsibility of authorizing which checks would be paid from flagged accounts.  They would spend the morning ordering the checks so the bank would make more money on overdraft fees.  That was 1983 and not much has changed other than the fees have been increased.  Like any other business they want more of your money and aren't ashamed to use any means to get it.  Debit card transactions and are one more way to accomplish this.  The mistake most people make with banks is thinking that it's your money.  It was until you put it in the bank, now it's theirs and they decide how you can spend it.

Chopped liver, onions on the side.

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Financial Aid Woes, Insurance Reform And A Musical Observation

Many things should be done to change the student loan situation and foremost should be making sure that the jobs you are able to get after graduating are worth the cost of the loan.

Before I went to acupuncture school the dean said that it would cost approximately $28K to receive my degree.  He lied.  Tuition increased every year, from $128 per unit when I started to $185 a unit when I graduated and they kept increasing the amount of units required to graduate.  Sometimes books were more than a $1K per semester.  We had to pay to work in the clinic.  The patients paid for their treatment and herbs, we paid for the privilege of treating them.  Quite a nice little racket for the school.  Every 18 weeks our schedule changed.  One semester would be day classes, the next might be nights and weekends (I was in class on Easter three out of the four years I was in school), and the following would be a mixture of the two. Employers don't like that which made holding down a job to cover living expenses very difficult.

I graduated with $68K in debt and no way to pay it off.  Despite having done shifts at the San Diego Hospice and some classmates had worked in UCSD clinics, there were no jobs in our profession which meant you had to start a business.  And that is a completely different mindset from being a doctor and was only covered in one three unit class.  Treating patients was no longer the point, paying for office space, advertising, phones and equipment was.  Coming up with $845 a month for my student loan, wasn't.  So, I deferred and consolidated and am now income contingent.  Instead of having the loan paid off it is over $100K and still growing.  I will never earn enough to pay it off.

Was I stupid?  You betcha!  Halfway through school I realized it was a con (not acupuncture but the school itself), but I had already borrowed so much that I couldn't pay it off unless I graduated.  And then I had to hope that I was going to be wildly successful, which I sort of was until Silicon Valley crashed.

I had been in business about a year and was finally making enough to keep a roof over my head and able to budget a loan payment.  In less than a month that thought went the way of the dodo.  Patients disappeared as fast as their jobs did.  Cash patients could no longer afford to come in on a regular basis because they had become the sole breadwinner in their family.  Jobs with insurance benefits became nonexistent and then the great Arnold decided to revamp the worker's compensation system, mainly to the workers detriment.  This was followed by some idiot changing insurance codes to make acupuncture the equivalent of physical therapy and reduced our payments to a little over $20 a treatment, unless you lied to pad your bill or performed unnecessary prcedures.  Which many were forced to do if they wanted to stay in business.

A treatment typically takes about 45 minutes.  We do an intake which is at least ten minutes longer than the 18 seconds you normally get at a doctor's office, and we leave the room so the patient can remove one or two items of clothing and lay down on the table.  We insert the needles and if we've been in practice for twenty years or don't care about needle location or the comfort of the patient this can be done in two to three minutes but it usually takes five or six.  Then the patient rests for 10 to 20 minutes before you remove the needles.

Most acupuncturists have a single room office when they start out which means that if they are completely booked in an eight hour day (don't they wish) and if the patients have insurance they aren't going to make more than $200 a day unless they aren't honest.  This might sound like a good wage to some people but they forget about the expenses since that isn't a salary.  You still have two rents to pay, two electric bills, telephone, required schooling to keep your license, food, transportation, advertising, needles and other equipment and other assorted living expenses.  Like health insurance that you really can't afford.  You do your own reports and billing since you obviously can't afford a secretary or billing service.  Very few acupuncturists see forty patients a week and certainly not ones who are starting their own business.   I lasted almost two years before I quit practicing.  And I still have the loan but it's much larger now.

I never wanted to run a business, I wanted to be a doctor.  Technical schools count on this.  People want to be fashion designers, medical or computer technicians, auto mechanics, acupuncturists, chiropractors, etc. and these schools promise you that it's possible.  They take the money that you have to borrow to attend their school (if you had money or skills you wouldn't consider them a viable option but you're desperate to change your situation) and in return you get a degree that isn't worth the paper it's printed on.  And a huge loan that you can't pay back.

I understand why traditional doctors are frustrated with the insurance system as it currently stands.  They may graduate with more debt than I did but most of them have jobs waiting when they're eligible.
As long as they stay in a hospital environment they don't have to deal with the majority of the insurance issues but heaven forbid if they go into private practice.  In order to survive they have to see so many patients that they can't give any of them quality time, then they spend hours charting and justifying their decisions to people who may never have attended medical school or whose personality precludes them from seeing actual patients.  Why would anyone ever want to be a primary practitioner when they spend less time treating their patients than they do filling out the paperwork to justify their treatment decisions?

Both our education and medical systems are broken.  One is expensive and rarely prepares you for the real world, the other is even more expensive and prevents you from receiving quality healthcare.  Both of them cost money that those who aren't rich don't have.  And requiring people to purchase health insurance that they can't afford and won't cover them when they need it won't solve the health care problem just like bogus technical schools won't produce an educated populace capable of repaying those loans on a consistent basis.

I love music.  While classic rock is my favorite I enjoy all kinds with the exception of opera, country and rap. Some guy named Jay-Z, who I have only seen in commercials or in the tabloids, has more number one albums than Elvis.  Mariah Carey has almost as many singles as the Beatles, but I couldn't sing or tell you one song that they have done whereas with Elvis and the Fab Four I can think of quite a few.  Word for word.  And Madonna?  She may be a brilliant businesswoman but I honestly don't think I've listened to a complete song of hers more than once. Elvis and the Beatles have had their music covered by many bands in many cultures, Weird Al becoming famous as he makes fun of you isn't quite the same.

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Monday Morning WTFs

It isn't the President who termed it "torture", it was society.  And the law.  Many years before the Bush administration started using it on people they deemed less than human we had prosecuted and executed people for using those same procedures.

Panetta was reportedly upset over plans by Attorney General Eric Holder to open a criminal investigation of allegations that CIA officers broke the law in carrying out certain interrogation techniques that President Obama has termed "torture."

Oh good grief!  No wonder America is becoming dumber by the minute.  Name a holiday that isn't about selling or buying.  If it isn't sheets, furniture or clothes, it's candy and/or diamonds.  While Roman holidays seemed to be about debauchery, American holidays are about money and shopping.  December 7th is barely remembered and April 19th quickly became a mote in the dustbin of history so why should September 11th be any different?

As most sane people know, a good majority of Freepers are off their rocker.  Well, the Freepers are not only rocking to a different beat, they are rocking on a whole different planet.  The "birther" fringe is now preoccupied with whether or not Obama has been circumcised.  The General found this so you don't have to.

hoosiermama:
The only other thing that hit me was that Sinclair said BO was not circumcised. When my son was born in a hospital that was done as a matter of routine without even consulting us. Would the same be for Hawaii? OTOH People born at home or in some other cultures are not circumcised.

Okay, they aren't on another planet, they are occupying a whole different universe. Bizarroland.

I accidentally got bit a few years ago when Shai was playing with another pug.  They were between the couch and the coffee table and got under my legs while they were play nipping at each other and Jack caught me in the back of the knee.  He didn't break the skin but I had a four inch wide bruise for more than two weeks.  And it hurt.

The CDC says adults with two or more dogs at home are five times more likely to get bitten than people with dog-free households.

Please tell me that they didn't spend money to figure that out.

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Guns, Cuts, Tax Credits And War Crimes

Okay, I'm breaking down and buying myself a pistol.  Three of them to be exact, all strategically placed within the house.  And unlike the people from the right wing fringe who strut around using their Second Amendment "right" to intimidate people into not using their First Amendment right to free speech to express an opposing viewpoint (Arthur Frommer is trying to decide if he should recommend a travel boycott of Arizona but he personally has canceled all his trips), I'm going to be using mine to try and stop Shadow from barking at everything that happens outside in the parking lot.  Of course I will be using water instead of bullets and neither the President nor innocent bystanders can be affected by my actions.

And so it begins.  The closing of for profit nursing homes due to budget cuts.  88 elderly people, many who don't have families and all who are on Medi-Cal,  are being forced from their nursing facility into whatever dump can be found for them.  And the seniors have to hope that their new home doesn't end up closing due to the asinine budget cuts the Governator has determined must be done in his ongoing effort to balance the budget on the backs of the poor and the elderly.  While the rest of the country worries about end-of-life counseling nonexistent death panels, these defenseless members of society have become pawns in the California budget power game.  Isn't that just great?  The generation that lived through the Great Depression and the Second World War get to end their lives in urine scented dormitories with the same sad eyed compatriots.  Until they are moved to different facilities that can warehouse them for ten cents less a person.

The 47 million uninsured and the 30 million underinsured in this country don't need and can't use tax credits.  When making rent is an issue, when feeding the kids and keeping the lights on consumes your budget then money later on is not going to help.  Simply put, what people need is to be able to access medical, dental and eye care when they need them, not when their budget says they can afford to.  If you don't have $50 for a doctor's visit you either hope the problem goes away on its own, that you don't have to go to the emergency room or that you learn to live with the issue.  None of those are optimal health care options and not only do they directly affect the quality of life, they also affect the quantity of life.  Maybe if we were a healthier country we wouldn't be so angry.

I almost feel sorry for him but then I remember I have two Article 15s for disobeying a lawful order and know he had a choice and he took the coward's way out.  And now, many more years later than it should have taken, he's sorry about it.  Interesting how he served three years under house arrest for the deaths of 500 people and Charles Graner got ten years in Leavenworth for abuse, conspiracy and assault.  From a government that condoned torture.

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A Conspiracy For Dummies

After the 2000 election I thought the United States intellectual capital had reached bottom, but I was wrong.  The aftermath of 9/11 and the furious attempt to make someone, anyone pay for the tragedy proved that.  First it was innocent civilians in the country that harbored the soon to be forgotten Osama bin Laden.  But that wasn't enough to soothe the national psyche and so the military and the press were mobilized to attack and invade a country that had nothing to do with 9/11, that had no weapons of mass destruction (but did turn out to be the weapon of mass distraction) and no need for us to disrupt the fragile balance of power that was preventing internecine warfare.  And more innocent civilians paid the price.  To the average American with their yellow bumper sticker that was acceptable for more years than it should have been.

During the Clinton years what passed for public discourse took a serious right turn.  Into the gutter.  With the help of Fox News and a rotund drug addled pundit we were well on our way to becoming a hate nation.  Getting a blowjob from a consenting woman who isn't your wife is front page news for months.  Fraternizing with underage pages of the same sex, consorting with prostitutes while wearing a diaper, carrying on an affair in another country or while living in a Christian enclave, and soliciting other men in bathroom stalls while claiming to have the moral high ground is nothing to be ashamed of or investigated with the same zeal.  As long as you are a Republican.    Unfortunately for the GOP, one Republican did lose his political career over his sexual antics and is indirectly responsible for the president we now have in office. Very few people remember Jack Ryan (not the Tom Clancy guy) and his wishes to have sex with his now ex-wife Jeri Ryan in a public venue.

Having read all of the aforementioned Tom Clancy novels I can say I love a good conspiracy.  I still think there is more to the Kennedy assassination and while I don't believe that George Bush was behind 9/11, I do believe that the arrogance of the crew without a clue contributed to the success.  Underestimating your enemy is a good way for them to succeed.  So does ignoring presidential memos titled "Bin Laden determined to attack in US".  But this latest conspiracy is one I can't even entertain without a grimace and wondering how gullible and desperate some people can be.

 

Joe Heller

When I was in the Army I went to see a JAG lawyer about my citizenship.  I was born in England in a USAF base hospital as it states on the birth certificate I can no longer find but my passport states that I am and American citizen.  My mother was not a citizen at the time (she became one two years later) and I was concerned.  The lawyer assured me that I was a natural born citizen and could run for president if I wanted because my father was a citizen and I was born on American soil even if it was located in England. 

Obama's mother was a US citizen and that should be the end of the matter.  But it isn't.  The State of Hawaii has certified his birth and explained why they release the documents they do and that should be the end of the matter.  But it isn't.  There were birth notices in two Hawaii newspapers two weeks after his birth forty years ago and that should be the end of the matter.  But it isn't.  Obama has traveled on a US passport in and out of the country several times before becoming president and that should be the end of the matter.  But it isn't.  Hilary Clinton didn't find anything and that should be the end of the matter.  But it isn't.  The US Supreme Court has refused to hear the lawsuit and that should be the end of the matter.  But it isn't.  Numerous newspapers and fact finding organizations have found the birther questions to be without merit and that should be the end of the matter.  But it isn't.

No matter what documents get produced, no matter if someone comes forward that attended his birth and attests to his being born in Hawaii, no matter what information is released, there will be no satisfying those people who rabidly believe that Obama was born in Kenya.  Because in the back of their minds there is no way America could produce a black man who could grow up to be president.  They are supposed to be singing, dancing, acting or in jail.  And that's it.  Anything more and they must be one of them foreigners.

We are on our way to becoming a nation of whiners, crying for do overs.  Don't like the governor of California?  Spend millions of dollars the state doesn't have and recall him.  Don't like the current President of the United States?  Make up spurious claims in the hope that he resigns in disgrace, gets impeached with evidence that isn't there (instead of impeaching the previous occupant with evidence that did and still does exist), or hope that someone you don't know enacts the Tiller solution.  Anything but face the truth.  A majority of Americans elected Obama as the lesser of two evils.

Those of us who had to suffer through eight years of a presidency that we thought was stolen know how you feel and you are going to have to do just what we did.  Wait for election day.  November 6, 2012 is your next opportunity to set things "right".  Until then, quit demeaning yourselves by ranting and raving about an issue that has no merit.  And no proof.

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Penny Wise And Pound Foolish

The California Dream has become a nightmare for a good proportion of its citizens. The Governator continues his policy of balancing the budget on the backs of the poor because the poor can't contribute to his coffers or buy him cigars and they must be punished until they miraculously find a way to improve their situation and their salaries. Without education or viable job opportunities of course. His solutions to the California budget crises is too take from the poor and give discounts to the corporations and the rich.  As a result emergency rooms will become even more crowded, elderly people with dementia will have little to no support and for $8 an hour will have very few competent people to help take care of them, and going to the park or beach for recreation is on its way to becoming a thing of the past.

The Golden State no longer gleams unless you're rich, in which case the immediate future looks quite bright.  It's only a matter of time before the worker bees find somewhere else where their minimum wage will go farther and they won't have to live in tent cites or parking lots that let them park their RV for the night.  And these aren't illegals, they are electricians and truck drivers.  Who will probably be joined by other middle class workers that worked for the state and couldn't afford to lose 14 percent of their pay.  And the best part?  Schwarzenegger and crew believe that the same amount of tax revenue can be brought in even if there are fewer employees to do it.

As part of budget-cutting measures, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has ordered most state employees to take off three days each month without pay, including the staff of the Franchise Tax Board.

Despite objections from the board, the governor ordered employees to take two days off each month starting in February and a third beginning this month. The board estimated that the loss of work time already had cut income tax revenue by $177.4 million for the spending year that ended June 30.

If the furloughs continue, the board said the backlog of dealing with tax disputes and late collections would contribute to a net loss of another $372 million over the two years after that.

This isn't about balancing the budget, it's about revenge and punishing people for working for the state.

The board collects both the personal and corporate income tax, which bankrolls about 70% of the state's $85-billion general fund. The estimated tax collections lost through furloughs represent about 1% of all state income taxes paid in the state.

Forcing about 5,000 people at the board to take furloughs essentially reduces an already streamlined workforce by about 15%. But the productivity losses don't stop there. An additional 289 staffers have received notices that they could be laid off in the fall.

The reductions in personnel immediately translate into lost revenue for a state that's trying to dig itself out of a $24-billion hole with an austerity budget that the governor signed into law Tuesday.

"As a department, whose only product is revenue -- voluntary and involuntary -- cuts in our operations do impact our final revenue output," Franchise Tax Board Executive Officer Selvi Stanislaus wrote on June 30 to Schwarzenegger's finance director, Mike Genest.

The state would save about $60 million in salaries by furloughing all board workers for three days per month, the board said. But cumulative revenue losses would be as much as nine times that amount.

It looks like I really did get out in time even though there are three things I don't like about living in Reno.  One, the cigarette smoke.  It's everywhere.  I didn't realize how few people smoked in California until I started dodging the smoke clouds that hang in the most unusual places.  Two, they don't recycle here and I feel guilty not sorting my trash or returning my bottles.  Third and most important, I traded Dianne (I don't care what my constituents want) Feinstein for Harry (what are cojones and why do I need them) Reid.  Good grief, his hands off approach has made sure that nothing gets done in a timely manner except whatever is good for corporations and banks.  We the people are treated more like silly children instead of taxpaying citizens who deserve equal representation.

What the heck is wrong with this country when a family forgets one of their kids in a taxi and the taxi driver gets the reprimand instead of the parents?  Twenty years ago I had a friend who left his five year old at the grocery store.  For four hours.  He finally noticed the kid was missing and went back and found him tapping his foot with his hands on hips.  I never let an opportunity pass to tease this guy.  He may have been cute but he certainly wasn't responsible.  And neither was the taxi driver.

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Saturday Morning Observations

That is kind of the point, isnt't it?  Schwarzenegger is California's version of hurricane Katrina.  Get rid of the poor, elderly and disabled by any means necessary, let them die if he has to and California will be the Golden State once again.  Completely missing the point that the people who actually do the work, the ones that clean the buildings, pick the fruits and vegetables, serve the food in restaurants or other such "lowly" jobs can no longer afford to live there and that eventually there won't be anyone to give the rich their due.

"It does not look like rich people are leaving California in order to avoid income taxes," Kolko said.

Tax critics often claim the state's high cost of living and tax structure drive high-income earners out.

The study found that the rich — those in the top 20 percent of income earners — leave California at only a slightly higher rate than those who arrive. For those with incomes above $200,0000, the departure rate is only 1.09 households for every one household that arrives, the report said.

Meanwhile, 1.73 households with annual incomes of $22,000 or less depart California each year for every one out-of-state arrival.

And yes, one of the factors in my decision to move to Nevada is that they have no state income tax.  I don't mind paying taxes, as long as they are used to benefit the public not just a select few.

The older I get, the less geek cred I have.  Along with not having any interest because I think we're in a technological holding pattern at the moment and I'm waiting for something a little more interesting than Twitter.

The problem with Texas having a known creationist in charge of the state Board of Education is that Texas has great influence on textbook printings.  Publishers are as cash strapped as any other business and can only afford to print a select number of books.  If Texas wants to teach creationism as part of its curriculum then a lot of other states (and children) will be exposed to the same nonsense.

The New York Times is considering charging for access.  Again.  Good luck with that.  All it did the last time was take themselves out of my reading rotation.  I don't pay for Wikipedia and the Times version of information sharing isn't much more accurate.

The Quit bull (love that term!) is still babbling.  So she chose not to play "their game".  What game would that be?  The one where you have to cross the finish line in order to collect your reward?

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Another Dumb, Biased Ruling

It's time to leave.  I thought I was ashamed of my country because of torture, now I'm terrified that I live in a police state that has no rules or regulations to protect me from people who are already known to coerce confessions out of innocent people.

Scalia, who read the opinion from the bench, said their decision will have a "minimal" effects on criminal defendants. "Because of the protections created by this court in Miranda and related cases, there is little if any chance that a defendant will be badgered into waiving his right to have counsel present during interrogation," Scalia said.

What kind of drugs is he on if he thinks that cops won't badger people?  Hell, they tase sleeping naked people.  I may know my rights but a lot of people don't and if cops tell a suspect, and you know they will, that they have no right to an attorney they will be able to force confessions out of innocent people.  They've done it before and now it will become standard practice.  As if the Sotomayer pick is going to change anything.  Too little, too late.

Banana Republic?  Yes we are.  The average American is so screwed.

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Entertainment Only

I am ever so glad I don't watch America Idol.  I've seen a few minutes of it here and there when it ran long and interfered with Lie To Me or Fringe.  I saw Adam Lambert's rendition of the Tears For Fears/Gary Jules song Mad World and it brought out the goosebumps.  I also got to see his Robert Plant performance and being a Led Zeppelin fan I have to say I was impressed.  The other guy, not so much.  Every time I saw him he was either screeching or hit a flat note.  Last night's decision ensures that I will never watch the show because it isn't about talent and whether or not I would buy their music in the future, it's about the story.  Kris Allen can follow all the other winners into boring oblivion and Adam Lambert can front a rock band that I would be interested in listening to because his voice is great.  Hopefully Adam can use Jennifer Hudson as inspiration and Kris will follow the path of Clay Aiken and Taylor Hicks.  To nowhere.

Since I'm on the subject of entertainment how about those upfronts?  Network television is going to be so bad next year that they are going to be ripe to be replaced by TNT and USA.  The Closer, Leverage, In Plain Sight and Burn Notice could make a killing against the network offerings.

ABC couldn't do much damage to itself because there were very few shows that I watched after they canceled Life On Mars.  I like Castle (Nathan Fillion, yum) and they picked that up but they didn't renew The Unusuals, a very quirky show that I enjoyed very much.  I might watch Flash Forward and the reincarnation of V (Alan Tudyk, another yum) then ABC runs out of things to watch.

NBC is almost toast.  Jay Leno five nights a week at ten o'clock?  Not on my tv.  Heroes at 8 and Chuck isn't back until after the Winter Olympics which means late February or early March.  And they literally have nothing else to offer me since I don't watch sitcoms.  I might catch Law and Order on Friday night but it's at 8, how much fun can that be?

The CBS schedule also has major problems.  Other than 60 Minutes, The Mentalist, Numb3rs and the alphabet shows they also have nothing.  And seriously, how many procedurals can one watch?  Medium and Ghost Whisperer (aren't they the same show?) before Numb3rs, what were they thinking?

Fox held up the best but that isn't really saying much.  They canceled the Sarah Connor Chronicles (no more Summer Glau, you might think I was a Firefly fan or something) and replaced it with comedy before Dollhouse.  There's a match made in heaven.  Not.  Lie to Me (only 13 episodes so far) and Fringe (without Kirk Acevedo) will be back, no mention of 24 and then they run out of things I'm interested in.

Does anybody watch the CW?  Melrose Place?  I didn't watch the first version. Once they canceled Everwood and Veronica Mars the CW dropped off my radar.  Seriously, this is the weakest schedule I have ever seen.  Netflix is going to hate me next year, usually I only watch a couple of videos a month, next year looks like five or six per week.

Yup, it's looking pretty sad, no wonder they are bleeding viewers.  A few years ago there were conflicts almost every night of the week, this year I won't need a dual DVR unless TNT and USA schedule extra episodes to take advantage of the lack of competition.

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Like A Rock

I was trolling around Craigslist looking for cheap furniture yesterday and came across an ad for a brand new futon in the box.  I drove out to pick it up and the best thing I can say about the purchase is that since the sales tax in Reno is only 7.75% it saved me money over purchasing it in California.

The mattress itself was wafer thin and I could feel every one of the metal parts that took me two hours and some cursing to put together.  It was so uncomfortable that I got up in the middle of the night and retrieved the air mattress.  Proving once again that you get what you pay for.  In this case $49.99 plus tax equals $53.78.  I'm heading out to look for something to make it a little more comfy.

And I thought my back hurt yesterday.  Sheesh, will I ever learn?

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So Screwed

Just got this email.

Debra,

I've tried to reach you by phone but haven't had any luck. I was going to try to call you last night but was so fucking sick I couldn't stay up that late.

We have a problem. My son, Heath, called me Monday to inform me that he had been laid off from his job at the Railroad. He asked if he and the kids (my grandchildren) could move back in with me until he can find work.

I can't tell him no, Debra. I hope you understand why.

How long they will be here is any one's guess.I know this is going to be a low blow for you and your mother, and I'm so sorry, but what else can I do? Even though we can't get you two out here right now, there's nothing to stop us once Heath finds work and gets back on his own two feet.

My response and it unfortunately, happens to be true.  I'm sick to my stomach, I'm shaking and I have no idea what to do now.  None, nada, zilch.

Vicki,

I am so totally screwed.  I canceled the lawyers, have told everyone I'm leaving and promised the landlord we would be out of here by the 21st.  I wouldn't have done that if you hadn't suggested it.   I have no where else to go.  No where.  We are now homeless and worse off than we were a week ago.

We are totally screwed.

D

I've known something was up since Monday but I thought I would have found out earlier if it was this bad.  Now, I'm crying.  No matter what I do, I just make my situation worse.

Out Of Their Minds

OMG! WTF?  First of all, he divorced her.  Second of all, and most importantly, when one is murdered one has not broken their lease and they certainly shouldn't be accused of giving "insufficient notice to vacate". 

My landlord is holding fast to evicting mom and me, will not budge on the issue.  Even though I have broken no rules, am current on the rent (I paid January's rent before Christmas) and literally have nowhere else to go, he wants us out.  Still no reason given.  And thanks to the Governator and the obstructionist Republicans who won't vote on the budget unless it includes all cuts and no tax hikes to get the state out of debt, I don't know if I will even receive a paycheck for taking care of mom.  I contacted Zoe Lofgren, my supposed Representative in Washington, and her staff blew me off with some phone numbers that just went to answering machines.  They can kiss my vote goodbye.  I haven't slept in two days and am in a permanent anxiety state.  I guess catching a break is not my thing.

A Black Manhattan recipe.  The King of Zembla (dude, it's time for a new post)  introduced me to Manhattans and the variation sounds interesting.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg has pancreatic cancer.  What a shame.  Somehow I doubt she will do as well as Patrick Swayze.  I tried to watch The Beast but it didn't interest me.

How can they be broke?  They charged me so much in fees last year that I know I paid someone's bonus.  They are just trying to avoid paying the Closson settlement over the ATM fees.  It was a stupid move to buy Countrywide.  Very stupid.  Buying Merrill Lynch wasn't very smart either.  Becoming a monopoly isn't as easy as it looks.

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It's All About The Benjamins, Again

As the axe continues to fall on Californians, the suggestions for stopping the line to the chopping block become more ridiculous and dangerous at the same time.  While crossing guards earn minimum wage, what they contribute is vitally important.  Both mom (wish I could find the picture of her on the front of the Lompoc Record shepherding kids across the street in a really bad rainstorm) and I have held the job and we can both tell you stories of how dangerous it is.  If cities can put in cameras to catch red light runners in downtown areas, what makes them think that people don't run stop signs around schools?  Most people treat crosswalks like they're yellow lights.

I watched you very carefully. Red light stop, green light go, yellow light go very fast.

As the economy continues its death spiral it's nice to know that today's "upper class" are more determined to protect themselves than they are in helping the economy to survive.  I'm sure that tax cuts will solve anything, they've done so well so far haven't they?  Yes, I know the AMT is not a fair tax at the moment, but one of the comments was priceless.

"We are witnessing the beginning of the end of the private sector in this country as we know it "

Thank God for that. I can't take anymore Exxon Mobile record profits and 18 billion dollar bonus payouts while paying several dollars for apples.

What I find interesting in this whole mess is is that while most of the homes in the 9th Ward had been paid off for generations, Katrina ensured that those families became renters or homeless by way of a mismanaged disaster of a major city, homelessness has generously been extended to the middle class everywhere by way of foreclosures and job losses.  After you've been laid off I guess it doesn't really matter if your company closed or shipped the jobs offshore.  Either way, a large part of the tax base disappears.  It's so much fun watching everyone rearrange the deck chairs on the Titanic, isn't it?  Most of those companies that thought they were making money by closing factories in the United States ended up closing themselves.   Duh!  Chinese Medicine refers to that as running on evil qi.

Umm, I hated Bush but I am in no way euphoric about Obama.  All things considered, there is no way that Obama can do a worse job than Bush did.  He doesn't have a surplus to lose, he can't start any more wars until the military is replenished and he's not a babbling about nonexistent WMDs like the village idiot.  Other than that the only skills I see from Obama so far have been a good deal of luck and having the right people help him out.  Which actually gives him the same start Bush had, except for the difference in IQ and that will probably keep Obama from doing as much harm as his predecessor.

BBB

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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After, After

Did the Wall Street Journal just call Gore smart?  It's amazing how when you don't like someone new you can wax poetical about someone you disliked many years ago.

Mr. Obama's troops palpitate with excitement at the prospect of $1 trillion in "stimulus," though any net benefit to the economy likely will be incidental. Al Gore has thrown out the window any unpopular carbon taxes in favor of direct subsidies to his green energy investments. He sees the moment for what it is -- alarm about global warming has degenerated into a pretext. Billions will be diverted from useful purposes to create "green jobs" that deliver no meaningful impact on climate or the accumulation of atmospheric carbon.

And Malkin said that Bush allowed the subprime crisis to fester on national Fox TV?  The world is definitely changing if these two examples are any example.  See what happens when you stop drinking the Kool-Aid?  If only it had been sooner.   Like eight years ago.  Unfortunately,  it's more likely they changed the flavor for the new guy.

Coincidence?  I think not.  Sales are up to 75% off and 75% of the American populace are glad to see Bush go.  And not a moment too soon.   Too bad it isn't off to jail for crimes against humanity, but there's always some sort of hope.  Even the futile

I have always loved Eartha Kitt.  From the first time I saw her playing Catwoman on Batman to hearing her sing "Santa Baby", she was always a favorite of mine.  I even used to have part of "Santa Baby" as my outgoing answering machine message durin the holidays, at least until Madonna screwed it up.  Eartha you had a long life, if not a particularly happy one, but I will miss you and your talent.  If I could sing I would say you were my inspiration.  Rest in peace and thank you for all the happy memories.

Pull a prank, get sent to jail.  That's where kids now get to learn the really good stuff like how to steal cars, break into homes and how to set up a successful street drug operation.   Just as every crime is not the same, neither is every criminal.  And now states that didn't want the rich to suffer by paying a few taxes that they wouldn't even notice, we will all suffer the results of kids learning to be hard core criminals instead of learning how to compete in the global market.  As if there was nothing wrong with the economy that a little jail time couldn't fix.  But those criminals are too busy spending their bailouts on things that will do nothing to improve the economy of the have nots and much more to insulate themselves as the have mores.

Gee, I hope it isn't the same group that determined the air was safe in New York after 9/11.  Just because all the fish are dead is no reason to worry.

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