And They Call The Left The Nutroots

Yes, Glenn Beck is mad.  As in crazy.  Beck's overly histrionic behavior is deeply indicative of a man with a tenuous hold on reality and in Chinese Medicine he would be diagnosed as shen disturbed.  We use the tongue as a diagnostic tool along with appearance, smell and actions and his tongue has a longitudinal crack down the center and is considered a telltale sign.  It isn't as deep as Marshall Applewhite's but it reveals quite a bit about Beck's personality.  They say the eyes are the window to the soul and Beck's are pretty glassy even without the tears on demand, another sign of mental derangement.  Thinking that he makes sense and has America's best interests at heart is the equivalent of thinking that a spaceship is hiding behind a comet and has come to take you away to a better place.

Speaking of a better place, that would not be Oklahoma.  For a state that is so fond of the only Second Amendment 75 percent of their high school students not only don't know who the first President of the United States was, but only three percent of those surveyed could pass the citizenship test that all those immigrants they love to hate must take to prove they are worthy to become Americans by choice instead of by birth.  Eight years of the No Child Left Behind initiative and these kids would probably be lucky if they could find their state on a map.  Exactly how would the rest of us suffer if the south was to secede?  Other than lowering our national ignorance score to tolerable levels and reducing the public monies that flow into those states and not out of them, how would we know the difference?

If Scalia thinks that current law should favor religion can sharia law be far behind?  Or is that the wrong religion?

Limbaugh wants to return to segregated busing and feels that racism is normal.  All righty then.  The White House can pretend that racism doesn't exist but it doesn't get much more blatant than that.  Actually, segregated busing sounds like a good idea.  Put all the crazies on the bus and drive them to the nearest institution, lock them up and throw away the key.  We wouldn't have to provide healthcare or any other societal benefits they object to and they wouldn't have to pay taxes that they hate.  It's a win win for everyone.

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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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Thursday Morning Quickies

The Supremes surprised me this morning.  I thought the decision on the strip search was going to be 8 to 1, in favor of the school not the girl.  Instead of Ruth Bader Ginsburg being the lone voice of reason, it turns out it was the sexual harasser who was the holdout in favor of humiliating a girl.  Somehow that isn't a surprise.

I agree, Johnny Depp is one cool dude but now the whole world (aka the IRS) knows the waiter made an extra $4000 in tips this year.  It would have been really cool if the poor guy didn't have to pay taxes on it, sort of like the politicians and bankers who manage not to pay their fair share of taxes.

Filling out the paperwork for student loans isn't hard, it's tedious.  Just like college. And unlike college it can be done online, at your leisure.  If the FAFSA has to be simplified for students to understand it, how do they think they are going to understand their classes?  Just wondering.

Senators (the usual suspects) are introducing legislation to insure that the Iranian people are able to evade censorship and Ahmadinejad is complaining that Obama is the one interfering.

Goodbye Farrah, you made many a teenage boy and quite a few older men happy by reviving the pinup poster in the seventies.  Your work after Charlie's Angels revealed a depth of character that had been overlooked and highlighted the issue of abused women.  Thank you for being you and rest in peace, you deserve it.

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Not Dancing Fast Enough

As I'm sure many of you have noticed, I don't post as often as I used to. There are several reasons for this, all negative. I'm tired. Tired of wasting my time pointing out the hypocrisy and stupidity of what passes for politics. Tired of posting about the same issues as very little has changed since I started blogging four years ago and what change there has been has not been for the better. No matter how many times we've been promised "hope and change".

Civil rights are disappearing daily courtesy of a a group of grumpy old men hell bent on returning us to a past where those who aren't like them knew their place. The people's wishes are consistently and constantly ignored by their "representatives" in Congress. Newspapers are disappearing at an alarming rate while so-called reporters piss and moan about a blogger getting to ask the president a question, totally ignoring the fact that reporters haven't done their job in so many years that they have made themselves irrelevant.

Then there is the ex-Vice President who made secrecy his policy while in office, and has used every legal procedure to prevent public knowledge of his activities for the last eight years, is now writing a memoir that will only reflect his point of view and make up facts and ignore the truth to portray the beginning of the 21st century dismemberment of the United States in a glorious light. If he was shorter and his epicanthic folds were different he could be our very own Kim Jong Il but the press likes to ignore those aspects of his character.

I'm tired of taking care of my mother. I have had little to no help and no time off for the last nine years. Unfortunately, she still recognizes me so I'm still holding up my side of the bargain but it becomes more difficult by the minute. Eight years ago I had a thriving practice, could afford to buy a car, go on vacation and pay my rent. Today I wonder how to afford toilet paper because food stamps will cover potato chips but not personal toiletries. I was so broke I sold the car but the person can only make payments so now I'm still destitute but have no transportation. And I still have to pay car insurance until the car is fully paid off but I can't take the dogs to the dog park. The first of the month is going to be a disaster of titanic proportions and I have no resources to ameliorate the situation.

I've tried leaving her for a few hours at a time but the stress isn't worth it. Shopping has become a hit and run affair. The dogs get out, burners are left on high on the stove, she totters around the neighborhood making everybody nervous because they think she is going to fall and if I take her out she deliberately wanders off if I go to the bathroom. Even if I take her to the same place all the time her sense of direction is so impaired that she can't find her way to the front door by herself. I can't put her in a home until I find a job and I can't find a job until I put her in a home.

I'm tired and losing hope faster than Afghani civilians during a surgical air strike. It shames me that the average American citizen won't stand up for their rights as they disappear into the ether yet can cheer on the Tiananmen tank protester or cry for Neda while turning their back on their fellow Americans in trouble as they occupy their time worrying about the latest celebrity divorce or who is going to win the current reality show du jour.



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Friday Quickie

All I know about empathy I learned from Star Trek TOS.  Speaking of which, some of the Republicans bagging on Sotomayor definitely remind me of the Vians.  Add a couple of consonants and they could be villains since they are definitely no gems and certainly are not gentlemen.  Thanks to these bozos and their spiteful comments about activist judges, being a judge has become a dangerous occupation.

Ever since we walked on the moon I've been asking myself "when is the future going to get here?"  I grew up reading science fiction and truly believed that we would be vacationing on the moon and traveling to Mars by the year 2000.  It's 2009 and we can't even get across the country reliably or quickly, even more so if it's snowing.

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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Freakin' Unbelievable!

The out of touch with reality old fogies have struck again.  My take on the Supreme Court determination that the FCC can fine television stations for unplanned "fleeting expletives"?  Fuck 'em!  I hardly ever curse on this blog but I do in real life.  As do most people, especially those under pressure or who have had a little too much to drink.  And have you heard the kids of today?  They learned those words at home, not from watching broadcast television and if they are watching cable that's a parental problem, isn't it?  Hearing the F or S word does not make me think about sex or using the bathroom, they make me think the person was either really surprised or really upset.

"It suffices to know that children mimic the behavior they observe -- or at least the behavior that is presented to them as normal and appropriate," Scalia wrote. "Programming replete with one-word indecent expletives will tend to produce children who use (at least) one-word indecent expletives."

Deadwood was not the issue, Cher and Nicole Ritchie were.  I guess frak" isn't allowed either.  A one off is not a show replete with one word expletives and if children are mimicking the behavior they see on television, then shows such as Survivor, 24, and the Power Rangers shouldn't be allowed.  Or maybe their parents could pay more attention to them and what they're watching so they can explain that it isn't real and life doesn't really work that way.

So, it's okay to penalize a station for unplanned speech by an individual they can't control but not okay to penalize a station for inciting to riot, deliberately spreading falsehoods, encouraging intolerance towards others or lowering the IQ of the nation under the guise of "fair and balanced" news?  What's next boys, strip searching 13 year old girls for Advil without their parents being notified?  That smacks more of pedophiliac sexual tendencies on the part of those who think it's okay than expecting an accidental curse on live television to affect children for the rest of their lives.  Big Brother, indeed.

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Is Racism Dead In America?

Not if yesterday was any indication. I told my mom a story about two kids where the melanin impaired had stolen from the melanin enriched child. The melanin enriched child doesn't get a public apology for her privacy being invaded or that her money was stolen. All of the adults are to get one and the melanin impaired child must work off chores in her own home to repay the melanin enriched child. Mom, who is very melanin impaired, agreed with me and thought that it was poorly handled and sends the wrong signal to the girl whose money was stolen.

I pointed this out to my friend that this wasnt exactly fair and that the melanin enriched child who was the one who suffered the invasion of privacy was being shown that she didnt matter as an individual. And that's when my friend snapped my head off and said she was tired of hearing me talk about racism and that everything is racist to me. I was also told that since the melanin enriched child's other home was full of melanin enriched people that it wasn't like she was isolated or anything. Heaven forbid that it should have crossed someone's mind that when you are the only melanin enriched person in a room and that when harm is done to you that you should have to swallow it until surrounded by other melanin enriched people because it is more important that the other child learn a lesson than for you to get a public apology for being wronged. What a fucking crock of shit that was. Yes, I cussed.

If it had been the other way around, it would have been determined that the melanin enriched child would have had to make a public apology so that she would be so embarrassed that she wouldn't do it again. You know, to teach her a valuable lesson.

I have spent my life ignoring racism (and manage the first 18 years of my life without every uttering the word) but over the last few years I've noticed that people indulge in it much more often and in very subtle ways. Yes, all of the elders have psychology degrees of some type but none of them understands what it's like to be all alone in a room full of people that don't look like you and that you only see on a monthly basis. And pointing it out doesn't mean than I look for racist actions, it means that I with 52 years of experience living thourgh the same situations, know what it feels like inside and that maybe someone should have considered the victim's feelings. If a child of eight can be charged with murder then a child of nine should have to understand and publicly apologize for stealing from your friend and that you knew it was wrong and shouldn't be tolerated under any circumstances. Most kids learn not to take other people's toys by the time they hit kindergarten.

Then today I learned that the Supreme Court has determined that there has to be at least 51% of a minority in order to help elet minorities that reflect their point of view. So, all it takes is for a few brave souls to move into poor neighborhoods and all of a sudden...less minority candidates.

Thank goodness women make up 51% of the population or we would never get to vote and it certainly would make it harder for women to be elected to national office. Not that it's happened yet.

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Waah, Waah, Waah

She can believe whatever she wants but just like every other Republican taking the blame herself is not an option.  It's always someone else's fault with "those people".  Maybe if Palin hadn't said so many obviously stupid things, the media wouldn't have made such an issue of them.  She can't see Russia from her front door, she didn't have the vaguest idea of what the Vice President job was and she butchered the English language at every opportunity, just to name a few.  Tina Fey did her image more harm than Charlie Gibson and Katie Couric combined.  Like any good caricature the skits were based on the truth, the sad part was that they didn't have to change anything she said to get a laugh.  Glasses, hair and twang were all that were needed as they repeated verbatim her latest verbal faux pas.  If you can't stand the heat, get out of politics.  And yes, unbalanced media is a threat to democracy, the last eight years proved that.

Speaking of biased media, in their latest hatchet job CNN never mentions that it was the Republicans who refused to cooperate and that Obama did try to include them in the stimulus process.  They decided not to participate and then decried the lack of bipartisanship.  Through the eight years of the recent Bush presidency the Democrats, unfortunately, never voted lockstep against any of his proposals.  Seven Democrats in the House voted against the stimulus and I don't hear them crying about being left out in the cold.  Funny how the people who voted against the stimulus are all too willing to take the money.  Republicans, always willing to take not so willing to give.

I'm not particularly fond of quite a few of the recent Supreme Court Decisions but this proposal sounds messy and removes the judicial branch from its coequal status.  The not subtle dig at Justice Ginsburg sounds like it came straight from Senator Bunning's office.

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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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Is Stupidity Stranger Than Fiction?

Sometimes people's names reflect their personality.  Michael Savage is one of them.  Instead of taking on the attributes of his angelic first name, he prefers reveling in the negative qualities of his last.   The safest place for him is Arkham Asylum.

SAVAGE: Then we got into the dominatrix (he wishes!) issue. I don't understand that part of it. I truly don't understand it because any heterosexual woman today over the age of 25 who grew up in America is basically a dominatrix. You ask any heterosexual guy. Within a short period of time -- what do you think it's going to last? Ehhh -- 90 days and after that you're living with a dominatrix anyway, so what's the difference? Why do they have to go to a professional? What does a professional dominatrix do that an ordinary woman doesn't do in America today? Half the women look like post-op transvestites to begin with, trying to look like they're gay or keeping up with the mores of the society. You ever see what they look like? They thin themselves down, they're on some kind of diet pill. The lipstick looks like it was applied by, what's her name, Joan Rivers when she was high. They all have a mouth on them, and the guy is, like, pushed into the background. It's any wonder I'm in talk radio. The safest place for a man to be today is in talk radio and listening to it.

Perhaps a little time reading the wisdom of Abraham Lincoln, a name that has been tossed around quite a bit lately, would help him on his so far fruitless quest for humanity.

Better to be silent and thought a fool than to open one's mouth and remove all doubt.

But that would require reading, knowledge of history and logical thinking and those qualities do not go very well with the diarrhea of the mouth that Savage, and his companion toddler Limbaugh, spew when their gags diapers are removed.  The sad part is that these two burbled and babbled about how civility is practically nonexistent in the Democratic party.   As opposed to being completely nonexistent from the last remnants of the I need my daddy to make it all better party.

Every once in a while the Supremes remember what their job is supposed to be (clue, they're not kingmakers) and refusing to review Obama's birth is one of them.   Accidents of birth happen all the time.  Let's use Paris Hilton as an example.  She may have been born into wealth on American soil but anyone with half a brain knows she isn't qualified to be President much less a garbage collector.  I, and my two brothers, were not born in the contiguous United States.  We were, however, born on American ground while my father served his country when we still had bases that were located outside the continental US to protect us from the Red Menace, by virtue of being born in a United States hospital and are considered natural born citizens. Period. McCain was born while his father was overseas defending his country and that should not be considered a penalty.  Obama was born in Hawaii after it became a state and that should be the end of the matter.  At least it would be for thinking people, but it appears others escaped Arkham along with the potty mouths.

Over the last few weeks my friends have been having a difficult time and I've tried to support them as much as possible.  My friend, we'll call her Lin, ruptured the maxillary artery on the left side of her face.  It started as a simple nosebleed and with Kaiser's wonderful efficiency they sent her home twice in one day.  On the third trip to the ER, one of the ER people finally noticed that the blood was spurting and not leaking.  By the time they had admitted her she had lost half of her blood volume and it was five days before she was strong enough to survive the surgery to repair the aneurysm.  This vibrant woman, who hapens to be a psychiatric nurse, lost over 20 pounds and a lot of the oomph from her personality.

My next door neighbor, we'll call him Dale, had his beloved dog die the other night.  I would have a picture of Tycho but it was scheduled for the day after he was gone.  All the dogs in the neighborhood knew something was up.  Losing one's best friend is devastating,  Especially for those of us who treat our dogs as our surrogate children.

On an even stranger note, every since Sarah Palin hit the airwaves my keyboard keeps dropping the g.  Very frustratin.

Oh yeah, are we human or are we dancer?  I must be old because I don't know what that means, but my signs are still vital and my hands are warm.

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Almost Having Fun

Better late than never.  This is what happens when legislatures rush to push through a bill without considering the consequences.  Not everyone is a good parent and just because you can have a baby doesn't mean that you are emotionally or financially capable of handling the responsibility.  Meanwhile, the kids who have been abandoned have to live the rest of their lives knowing that their parents didn't want them.

OMG!  Talk about creating a need where one shouldn't exist.  Lift and separate those manboobs.  Now men can wear bras to go along with all the other women's products that have been co opted in recent years.  I'm afraid to see what they will think of next.

Speaking of bras, Nipplegate is on its way to the Supreme Court.  It's nice to know that with all the wrongdoing that has occurred over the last eight years that the Supremes are finally going to tackle something important to us as a nation.  Boobies! 

What do my dogs say about me?  I have a purebred black pug and a terrier chihuahua mix.  Hmm, I must be slightly demented, have a good sense of humor, love food and like to chase my tail for no good reason.  Sounds about right.

Big Brass Blog

A Spoonful Of Sugar

Is supposed to help the medicine go down and the medicine must be pretty bad if the Democratic convention is any indication. 

I used to read about 182 feeds a day (can we say info junkie?) and geek that I am, I've been tracking my Google Reader Trends and can honestly say that in the past few weeks I've gone from a 100% reader completion rate down to less than 70%.  Which seems to reflect my attitude about the hype that most around the blogosphere lives for.  The same old stories, told over and over again.  Ad nauseum.  The only Olympics I watched were when I was at someone else's house and Michael Phelps was on for the few minutes I was there.  The same will probably hold true for the Demolympics and the Repubolympics the following week.  Almost like the Truman show except the buck never stops being passed around.    Though the pictures of our Commander in Chief trying to raise the roof or having to be helped from his seat by several men were pretty entertaining.

Fortunately the Dark Wraith (Ron Paul had the same reasoning of why Republicans should have voted for Kerry in 2004 and wasn't afraid to say so) published Ted Kennedy's speech (courtesy of YouTube) over at the Big Brass Blog so I didn't have to suffer through the constant inane twitter of the Dan Rather, Chet Huntley, Walter Cronkite and David Brinkley wannabes.  If today's"newsmen" had the talent of their predecessors, half their gravitas and any ability to research their own sources of information instead of reading a daily transcript handed to them from whichever contact person is in charge, we wouldn't be in the mess we are now.  Seriously, since when did an Obama child swinging the gavel and making the press corps laugh, become news?  Trust me, it's nowhere near the equivalent of JFK Jr saluting his father's casket as it went past.  Not even close.  And you can't make it so.

I tried to read the transcript of Michelle Obama's speech but found the reaction to be overhyped as well.  Letter perfect?   In whose language?  The Obamas are not the Second Coming and if the people who consistently ignored all the signs, portents, Katrina, extremely conservative Supreme Court judges, Executive Orders, an inept Attorney General, a politicized Justice Department, the Patriot Act and the Military Commissions Act until it was too late are now excited because they smell some sort of change in the air, they should check their diapers.  Because they are full of it.

Our country is in deep doodoo and instead of pointing out how, where, when, what, and why, we get...the promise of change.  No concrete plan, no pointing out the perpetrators of the country's downfall so people can see why there is going to be a difference between a Republican and a Democrat administration other than a somewhat historic black candidate.   Because there isn't one.  The Democrats enabled Bush and his crew without a clue and can't afford to point it out.  The Republicans won't miss that opportunity to point out the obvious next week.  Nope, instead we got a touchy feely opening, we are just like you speech.  I'm surprised she didn't say I feel your pain.

Obama has been so busy backpedaling, reversing promises he made to the progressives who helped him to get where he is, that he can't be trusted.  I don't believe a word he says, not that I ever really believe politicians.  For Obama, his FISA vote was an excellent example of him looking toward the future and making sure that there would be that much more power to grab than it was about standing up for the Fourth Amendment and what this country used to stand for.  There is not one guarantee other than his word that changes with the Republican wind, that we won't end up with more conservative judges and the elimination of the little that's left of the Bill of Rights.

Shirley Chisholm must be turning in her grave.

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Supremes, Crime, Terrorism And Stupidity

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Founding Fathers Go Down In A Hail Of Bullets

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

Amendment One

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

Amendment Two

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

Amendment Three

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

Amendment Four

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

Amendment Five

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

Amendment Six

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

Amendment Seven

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

Amendment Eight

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

Amendment Nine

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

Amendment Ten

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

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

BBB

Thursday Morning Ramblings

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

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

Good tips for eating healthy on a budget.

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

America is rapidly becoming irrelevant.

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

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

The Demowienies cave. Again.

Reaping What We've Sown

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

3Bs

Random Thoughts

Who cares? That's not the point. We were promised dead or alive and so far we have neither. Which is typical of the crew without a clue, never finish a job while you can make excuses for why it doesn't need to be done. They must think we are stupid as they are deceitful.

Haloscan is having issues. Or maybe it's Blogger. Methinks it's Haloscan.

No kidding. Military tribunals aren't working? JAG has only been off the air for a few years, but these show trials have never been about justice, they've been about revenge. Against people who have already met their maker so there must be someone who pays.

Like this guy. Poor schmuck might as well be at Gitmo for all the justice he isn't getting. Wow, prosecutors can openly defy the Supreme Court and that bastion of conservatism seems to think he's innocent. The prosecutors are determined to have him die in jail, that way they won't have to find the real killer.

Waterpipe tobacco smoking isn't safer than smoking cigarettes. Are they sure the kids were smoking tobacco? That isn't the usual drug of choice for a bong waterpipe. Or at least it wasn't when I was that age.

Oh boy, another smoking gun. Too bad it isn't on an episode of CSI or Law and Order because someone would be going to jail. A lot of someones. I guess the big house is only for the little people.

Gee, I'm not alone. Being multi-racial is the way of the future, only designer babies will have all the recessive genes. While the almost never right worries about illegal immigrants, the natives are changing the landscape to a more colorful version.

Our Priorities Are Out Of Whack

It's official. We are a barbaric nation, not civilized at all. Not only are we a nation that tortures, but we treat our animals with more respect than we do humans. The three drug cocktail used in lethal injections continues to be approved. The Supreme Court, by a 7-2 margin, is allowing a practice that is illegal in most states when putting your animal to sleep. But what can you expect from a court whose sole purpose is to rubber stamp as many atrocities recommended by the Bush administration as possible. We have no right to comment on the human rights abuses committed by China or anywhere else.

What is wrong with this sentence?

Downtrodden automakers — Ford and General Motors — were especially dogged in securing a tax break that would let them collect alternative minimum tax credits, also known as the A.M.T., that would otherwise be out of reach because they did not pay enough taxes in recent years to claim a rebate.

But it was okay to try and eliminate seniors from "the supposed to save the economy tax rebate" who had paid into the system all their lives and are now collecting Social Security. And what about the homeowners themselves? Will they get help? If the Republicans have their way, no.

My how times have changed. Imagine if John Kennedy had made as much of a fuss over the Pope. Newspapers and pundits would be going crazy with conspiracy theories and the mixing of religion with government.

Monday Morning Blues

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

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

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

We can't fund programs helping our veterans.

We can't fund programs that give children insurance.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

3Bs