Coincidence rules the world. How many times have we all ended up in the wrong place at the wrong time, or even the right place at the right time. Coincidence right....When it’s a good thing we’re happy. We go on. But if it’s a bad thing, well then your life may take a turn and you may end up in the middle of a Karma smack down.
Which brings me around to good ole boy Senator Larry Craig who, if you believe his version, heard the call of nature while changing planes and went into a restroom at the airport. Much as luck would have it, he chose to squat in a stall next to an undercover policeman out to trap gay men who like anonymous sex in bathrooms.
The officer was on stakeout looking for illegal activity. He was there because of numerous complaints about this particular restroom. In fact, this particular restroom is listed on the internets as a good place for sex if you happen to be in Minneapolis.
Well, poor unsuspecting Senator Craig, apparently made some strange gestures with his hands like dangling his fingers under the stall wall and bumping the policeman’s foot with his own foot, again under the stall wall and got arrested for disorderly conduct. He was not charged with soliciting, but in his statement after his arrest, Craig accused the officer of soliciting him and entrapping him.
Later, Craig quietly pleaded guilty to reduced charges, paid a fine. He did all of this by mail a couple of months after the incident. He even signed a statement saying he understood the allegations. I believe him, after all, isn’t he a United States Senator? Aren’t these the guys who write our laws....so he must have understood what he signed, right?
Now that the story has come out the Senator is claiming he is innocent.......”I AM NOT GAY” he said in a news conference with his wife fixed firmly to his side, proving that he is a straight man.
At least I think she was a woman, drag queens don’t usually look so dowdy, so she must have been real. But, “I AM NOT GAY!” Ranks right up there with ‘I AM NOT A CROOK!” or “I DID NOT HAVE SEX WITH THAT WOMAN!”
Craig has long been rumored to be gay. The talk keeps coming back every time the very conservative Senator votes against legislation affecting gays and lesbians.
I don’t know what he is, and I don’t really care.
I just think it’s yucky to touch bathroom walls and stalls. And I certainly don’t want to talk to anyone while I’m trying to do the doo. It’s hard to grunt, push and expel while holding a conversation.
But then maybe I’m not as talented as the Senator from Idaho. Judging from the way his fellow republicans are acting, I guess they can’t talk and shit at the same time either.
8.28.2007
The Question of Michael Vick
Let me say right up front that I have a problem with dumb jocks. Before I start calling names I have to tell you that back in the day and even now, I’m a jock. I like sports. I love sports. I breathe sports. But I have always had a problem with guys and women who feel that because they can dunk a basketball, score a touchdown or slam a ball where ever the hell they want, that the rest of us should bow down and kiss their ass, or look the other way...just because...
I revel in their athletic ability, and like the fact that they can cash in on their talent and get rich and support their families. But that doesn’t give them the right to live above the law, or the moral boundaries that bind us as a society.
Michael Vick, that beautiful, graceful, talented man....is a dumb jock. He is stupid. So wrapped up in his “I am the world” that he failed to see the lessons of the past.....the lesson....”what the man giveth...the man will taketh away...if you screw up...” And he screwed up.
In this country....you don’t mess with his women and you don’t mess with dogs. OJ committed the first sin, Vick committed the second.
It’s okay to sin against your fellow athletes, jock sniffers and other fans...Pete Rose did it and lied about it...Ray Lewis did it..Packman Jones makes a habit of it, Chris Henry flaunts it and is serving an eight game suspension when the season starts. Screw up and you will be docked some money, but you will still get to play.....unless you do the dirty or carry the lie to infinity like Pete Rose.
Vick bankrolled dog fighting. Americans love their pets. I love my dogs. I have three of them. I abhor dog fighting. I can’t even watch that movie with Jet Li where he plays a man trained to be an attack dog.
Vick got caught and after a little hesitation, has pleaded guilty, will probably do some jail time and lose a whole lot of money. He was contrite and even said he found God.... Bull crap...everybody finds God when it serves their purpose. Keeping God in your life is the trick. Vick needs to work on that one a little. But after watching his off the cuff mea culpa, he does seem to have located his manhood hiding behind the dumb jock peter pan who never quite grew up.
The NFL is trying to disavow him and take back the spotlight that has made him and them so much money. His shoe company has dumped him.
The Atlanta Falcons, it seems are trying to “undraft” him, by demanding he give back his signing bonus..
I don’t agree...he earned that money. He should be allowed to keep it, just as he should be allowed to play ball, if he can make it back into the league once he serves his time and pays his fines.
Punishment shouldn’t go on forever, unless you manage to get away with murder. Vick is like every other one of us....we all deserve a second chance and usually get it.
Michael Vick should be allowed a second chance, too.
I revel in their athletic ability, and like the fact that they can cash in on their talent and get rich and support their families. But that doesn’t give them the right to live above the law, or the moral boundaries that bind us as a society.
Michael Vick, that beautiful, graceful, talented man....is a dumb jock. He is stupid. So wrapped up in his “I am the world” that he failed to see the lessons of the past.....the lesson....”what the man giveth...the man will taketh away...if you screw up...” And he screwed up.
In this country....you don’t mess with his women and you don’t mess with dogs. OJ committed the first sin, Vick committed the second.
It’s okay to sin against your fellow athletes, jock sniffers and other fans...Pete Rose did it and lied about it...Ray Lewis did it..Packman Jones makes a habit of it, Chris Henry flaunts it and is serving an eight game suspension when the season starts. Screw up and you will be docked some money, but you will still get to play.....unless you do the dirty or carry the lie to infinity like Pete Rose.
Vick bankrolled dog fighting. Americans love their pets. I love my dogs. I have three of them. I abhor dog fighting. I can’t even watch that movie with Jet Li where he plays a man trained to be an attack dog.
Vick got caught and after a little hesitation, has pleaded guilty, will probably do some jail time and lose a whole lot of money. He was contrite and even said he found God.... Bull crap...everybody finds God when it serves their purpose. Keeping God in your life is the trick. Vick needs to work on that one a little. But after watching his off the cuff mea culpa, he does seem to have located his manhood hiding behind the dumb jock peter pan who never quite grew up.
The NFL is trying to disavow him and take back the spotlight that has made him and them so much money. His shoe company has dumped him.
The Atlanta Falcons, it seems are trying to “undraft” him, by demanding he give back his signing bonus..
I don’t agree...he earned that money. He should be allowed to keep it, just as he should be allowed to play ball, if he can make it back into the league once he serves his time and pays his fines.
Punishment shouldn’t go on forever, unless you manage to get away with murder. Vick is like every other one of us....we all deserve a second chance and usually get it.
Michael Vick should be allowed a second chance, too.
8.21.2007
Reality Bites
PUT THE PHONE DOWN!......texting while walking can get you run over by a train...an 18 year old Elmwood Place youth was apparently so busy letting his fingers do the walking that he literally walked in front of a train yesterday...Luckily he lived to tell about it. Witnesses said he was knocked some 50 feet, landed and was unconscious for a while, but woke up. He is hospitalized with some bumps and bruises and a helluva story to tell his grandkids...if he lives that long....
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Another indication that Dubya screwed up by taking us into an unprovoked war with Iraq...We’re apparently running out of bullets...our police that is...I guess we only have finite ammunition and that it’s being used up in Iraq...hmmmmmm....That goes along with not enough manpower for the surge...not enough troops to continue fighting or securing a country....not enough troops to secure America...if the war happens to come to our shores...
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Money is another thing running out in America...we keep borrowing from China to make ends meet as a country...deficit is through the roof and circling Mars...
Now comes word, yet again, that the richest 1 percent are getting all the pay raises while the rest of us are forced to live on pre 2000 salaries...
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Beloit College has released a list of things that the class of 2011 knows...IE...the word “lame” means stupid rather than someone who walks with a limp....or that rap music has always been main stream..The complete list is in USA TODAY...
Got me thinking about my younger relatives....My six year old nephew...born in the year 2000..once asked me what kind of video games I played when I was little. I told him I didn’t have video games when I was little...He then asked me...if I was “poor” when I was little...He couldn’t grasp the idea that video games did not exist and that it was a matter of not having enough money rather than no one had thought it up yet....His older siblings...teenagers, born in the early 1990's...once learned that just because the microwave is broken....doesn’t mean you have no way to pop popcorn...you can take it out of the bag...add a little oil to a pan and do it the old fashion way....NEAT!
Other things I grew up with.....party lines...black and white TV...in fact, my grandfather went out and bought a color TV so we could watch the Wonderful World of Disney on Sunday nights...WWD was the first show to go all color on TV....We weren’t allowed to use calculators in school...got you a failing grade and charges of cheating..We didn’t even know what a laptop was....no cell phones...and the windows in cars...well they roll down...you didn’t push a button....
So...what’s your reality growing up?
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Another indication that Dubya screwed up by taking us into an unprovoked war with Iraq...We’re apparently running out of bullets...our police that is...I guess we only have finite ammunition and that it’s being used up in Iraq...hmmmmmm....That goes along with not enough manpower for the surge...not enough troops to continue fighting or securing a country....not enough troops to secure America...if the war happens to come to our shores...
*****
Money is another thing running out in America...we keep borrowing from China to make ends meet as a country...deficit is through the roof and circling Mars...
Now comes word, yet again, that the richest 1 percent are getting all the pay raises while the rest of us are forced to live on pre 2000 salaries...
******
Beloit College has released a list of things that the class of 2011 knows...IE...the word “lame” means stupid rather than someone who walks with a limp....or that rap music has always been main stream..The complete list is in USA TODAY...
Got me thinking about my younger relatives....My six year old nephew...born in the year 2000..once asked me what kind of video games I played when I was little. I told him I didn’t have video games when I was little...He then asked me...if I was “poor” when I was little...He couldn’t grasp the idea that video games did not exist and that it was a matter of not having enough money rather than no one had thought it up yet....His older siblings...teenagers, born in the early 1990's...once learned that just because the microwave is broken....doesn’t mean you have no way to pop popcorn...you can take it out of the bag...add a little oil to a pan and do it the old fashion way....NEAT!
Other things I grew up with.....party lines...black and white TV...in fact, my grandfather went out and bought a color TV so we could watch the Wonderful World of Disney on Sunday nights...WWD was the first show to go all color on TV....We weren’t allowed to use calculators in school...got you a failing grade and charges of cheating..We didn’t even know what a laptop was....no cell phones...and the windows in cars...well they roll down...you didn’t push a button....
So...what’s your reality growing up?
8.20.2007
Movie Star Prez and Trophy Wife
Are we ready for yet another movie star in the White House? Apparently some are, if you believe the hype around the maybe presidential run of Fred Dalton Thompson, former congressman, lobbyist and sometime movie and television actor.
He looks good, is tall, speaks well, has a deep voice...all the things that Americans like in their presidents. He also likes blondes. He even married his latest trophy and she reportedly plays a big role in his maybe campaign. Is middle America ready for another bossy blonde female in the White House? Or does she know that her place is really in the great man’s shadow, quietly clutching his hand while whispering orders once the bedroom door is closed.
She has political experience. She was one of Thompson’s campaign assistants when he was in congress, when he was married to wife number two, I think. Thompson’s had several wives. It’s kind of hard to gauge his time line, he’s been in and out of marriage so often. But his penchant for marriage shouldn’t hinder his moral stance, should it? I mean at least he marries em after he beds em. Any blow jobs in the White House would be legal, unless they involved interns.
The no nonsense make believe prosecutor is having trouble raising money, but word is he will jump into the ring anyway. He hasn’t debated yet, but has taken a stance on Roe v Wade and gay and lesbian civil rights.
I don’t know what his stand is on Iraq, but I would guess that it mirrors our current president’s
view. In fact, Thompson and his wife seem pretty, pretty conservative despite their Hollywood lifestyle.
Makes me think he’s more of the same.....”do as I say....not as I do.”
I like him in his day job on Law and Order...but there is no way in hell I’d vote for him..even if he declares...even if he wins the nomination....no way...no how...
He looks good, is tall, speaks well, has a deep voice...all the things that Americans like in their presidents. He also likes blondes. He even married his latest trophy and she reportedly plays a big role in his maybe campaign. Is middle America ready for another bossy blonde female in the White House? Or does she know that her place is really in the great man’s shadow, quietly clutching his hand while whispering orders once the bedroom door is closed.
She has political experience. She was one of Thompson’s campaign assistants when he was in congress, when he was married to wife number two, I think. Thompson’s had several wives. It’s kind of hard to gauge his time line, he’s been in and out of marriage so often. But his penchant for marriage shouldn’t hinder his moral stance, should it? I mean at least he marries em after he beds em. Any blow jobs in the White House would be legal, unless they involved interns.
The no nonsense make believe prosecutor is having trouble raising money, but word is he will jump into the ring anyway. He hasn’t debated yet, but has taken a stance on Roe v Wade and gay and lesbian civil rights.
I don’t know what his stand is on Iraq, but I would guess that it mirrors our current president’s
view. In fact, Thompson and his wife seem pretty, pretty conservative despite their Hollywood lifestyle.
Makes me think he’s more of the same.....”do as I say....not as I do.”
I like him in his day job on Law and Order...but there is no way in hell I’d vote for him..even if he declares...even if he wins the nomination....no way...no how...
8.13.2007
Monday Headlines
Bush loses brain...so what else is new....didn’t know he had one to lose in the first place. Really, now, Karl Rove is resigning effective August 31st. The architect of this most recent political disaster is stepping down to pursue other adventures. Probably going to hook up with Fred Dalton Thompson for a presidential run...
Found out something new today...Rove never graduated from college...any college. Gee, wonder how far the rest of us would get in this world without a diploma or without the sponsorship of one of the scions of America’s first family....always separate and never equal when it comes to the masters of the universe...
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Anyone seen Condi lately? Just asking...She hasn’t been heard from for a while...now I guess it is no longer necessary for her to be seen either since we all now know that Dubya’s “compassionate conservatism” was a sham from jump street....
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Mitt Romney won the straw vote in Iowa this past weekend....He got a whopping 3500 votes with Huckabee coming in second and Brownback coming third....any minorities cast votes....any women other than GOP stepford wives? Just asking....
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Interesting report out this past weekend talking about the least trusted industries in America...the bottom of the barrel.....health insurance industry...the oil industry....the airline industry....
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Tiger won another major....I was glad that the other golfers, specifically Ernie Els and Woodie Austin didn’t fold down the stretch and actually made a run at Young Eldrick...It’s good to know that some golfers are finally finding their balls someplace other than the bottom of their golf bag.
He needs the competition...We need the competition...I’m tired of the parades of adoration...If golf is a sport...then let the combatants act like it for a change....
Found out something new today...Rove never graduated from college...any college. Gee, wonder how far the rest of us would get in this world without a diploma or without the sponsorship of one of the scions of America’s first family....always separate and never equal when it comes to the masters of the universe...
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Anyone seen Condi lately? Just asking...She hasn’t been heard from for a while...now I guess it is no longer necessary for her to be seen either since we all now know that Dubya’s “compassionate conservatism” was a sham from jump street....
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Mitt Romney won the straw vote in Iowa this past weekend....He got a whopping 3500 votes with Huckabee coming in second and Brownback coming third....any minorities cast votes....any women other than GOP stepford wives? Just asking....
*********
Interesting report out this past weekend talking about the least trusted industries in America...the bottom of the barrel.....health insurance industry...the oil industry....the airline industry....
*******
Tiger won another major....I was glad that the other golfers, specifically Ernie Els and Woodie Austin didn’t fold down the stretch and actually made a run at Young Eldrick...It’s good to know that some golfers are finally finding their balls someplace other than the bottom of their golf bag.
He needs the competition...We need the competition...I’m tired of the parades of adoration...If golf is a sport...then let the combatants act like it for a change....
8.10.2007
No Respect, No Love for Life
Another report from the Justice Department confirms once again that “we” are our own worst enemy. The report deals with the latest increases in crime and basically tells us what we already know...that black people kill black people and white people kill white people.
What is so disheartening about this report is that it claims that most black murder victims..93% in fact, are between the ages of 17 and 29 and male. Conversely, white victims tend to be older, only 37% are between the ages of 17 and 29.
Blacks make up 13% of this country’s population yet account for 49% of all murders and 15% of rapes, assaults and other non fatal violent crimes. The only people who die younger and faster than black youth are native americans.
The experts blame easy access to illegal drugs and guns and generations of young black men locked out of economic opportunity.
As I look at these statistics, I guess my own outlook has changed. Usually I am outraged at this senseless loss. My anger usually pores out on the page. But today is different. I’m, well, maybe I’m tired. Maybe I’m resigned. Maybe I’ve given up trying to reach anyone through my words. Outrage doesn’t work. Nobody listens...not the kids, not the parents, not the community, not the politicians, not the police.
I drive through my neighborhood, a once and future vibrant corner of city life and see the hopelessness on every street corner. Young men in white t-shirts and baggy jeans blatantly displaying their designer boxers shorts above their sagging waistbands disrespecting all who bother to glance their way. They’re out there at all hours, no matter what time I pass by. Girls, young women, standing in the shadows admiring the young men, visibly pregnant, with maybe a baby or two in tow. Anytime of the day, this drama unfolds itself for anyone watching.
While the young men pose on the corner, Avondale, one of the oldest of Cincinnati neighborhoods is being taken away from them. It is being revitalized by whites moving back into the neighborhoods in answer to the gasoline crisis. Real estate is cheap. Older black homeowners who bought from the Jews when Avondale was a Jewish ghetto, are dying out being replaced by younger white speculators with cash to burn and money to invest, spawning a new generation of absentee landlords. Avondale is going green and getting a new coat of paint. It is getting set to sparkle once again like when I was kid, some 50 years ago.
The young men and their absent families are being pushed out. I don’t know where the young men on the corner go when and if they go home. Their neighborhood, the very thing that could save them, is being taken. The sidewalks are being pulled out from under their feet as they claw for existence and survival. Home is the foundation for economic well being. They have none. Their families have none. Even if they have a home, they don’t have the skills to take part in the buildup. No one makes them go to school.
They propagate and perpetuate the cycle, making babies, and baby mommas, with no support or way to get a leg up in society, chewed up almost before they’re spit out.
Soon they will be gone from the corners in Avondale. Police crackdowns and enforcement cameras will push them away from the newly revitalized areas. Out of sight, out of mind. The cycle will resume again somewhere else, if they live.
And maybe that is the answer....dying rather than living...their only way out of a bleak and seemingly endless waking nightmare.
What is so disheartening about this report is that it claims that most black murder victims..93% in fact, are between the ages of 17 and 29 and male. Conversely, white victims tend to be older, only 37% are between the ages of 17 and 29.
Blacks make up 13% of this country’s population yet account for 49% of all murders and 15% of rapes, assaults and other non fatal violent crimes. The only people who die younger and faster than black youth are native americans.
The experts blame easy access to illegal drugs and guns and generations of young black men locked out of economic opportunity.
As I look at these statistics, I guess my own outlook has changed. Usually I am outraged at this senseless loss. My anger usually pores out on the page. But today is different. I’m, well, maybe I’m tired. Maybe I’m resigned. Maybe I’ve given up trying to reach anyone through my words. Outrage doesn’t work. Nobody listens...not the kids, not the parents, not the community, not the politicians, not the police.
I drive through my neighborhood, a once and future vibrant corner of city life and see the hopelessness on every street corner. Young men in white t-shirts and baggy jeans blatantly displaying their designer boxers shorts above their sagging waistbands disrespecting all who bother to glance their way. They’re out there at all hours, no matter what time I pass by. Girls, young women, standing in the shadows admiring the young men, visibly pregnant, with maybe a baby or two in tow. Anytime of the day, this drama unfolds itself for anyone watching.
While the young men pose on the corner, Avondale, one of the oldest of Cincinnati neighborhoods is being taken away from them. It is being revitalized by whites moving back into the neighborhoods in answer to the gasoline crisis. Real estate is cheap. Older black homeowners who bought from the Jews when Avondale was a Jewish ghetto, are dying out being replaced by younger white speculators with cash to burn and money to invest, spawning a new generation of absentee landlords. Avondale is going green and getting a new coat of paint. It is getting set to sparkle once again like when I was kid, some 50 years ago.
The young men and their absent families are being pushed out. I don’t know where the young men on the corner go when and if they go home. Their neighborhood, the very thing that could save them, is being taken. The sidewalks are being pulled out from under their feet as they claw for existence and survival. Home is the foundation for economic well being. They have none. Their families have none. Even if they have a home, they don’t have the skills to take part in the buildup. No one makes them go to school.
They propagate and perpetuate the cycle, making babies, and baby mommas, with no support or way to get a leg up in society, chewed up almost before they’re spit out.
Soon they will be gone from the corners in Avondale. Police crackdowns and enforcement cameras will push them away from the newly revitalized areas. Out of sight, out of mind. The cycle will resume again somewhere else, if they live.
And maybe that is the answer....dying rather than living...their only way out of a bleak and seemingly endless waking nightmare.
8.06.2007
George Orwell Bush
Sunday, while the rest of us were engaged in Sunday summer activities, Dubya was signing new legislation further curtailing our rights to privacy as spelled out by the Constitution and Bill of Rights.
Under this latest assault on American freedom, Bush has given the go ahead for the National Security Agency to eavesdrop on our phone conversations without getting a warrant. This latest attack by the prez is an attempt to legalize the nebulous spy program that is supposedly aimed at terrorists.
What the law does is allow government agents to listen in on all international phone calls without a warrant. For example, if I live in Cincinnati and decided to call my niece in Qatar, our government could listen in to our conversations on the bogus assumption that my niece may be a terrorist. They don’t have to prove the allegation or show evidence up front. All they have to do is tap the channel and listen in.
The new law gives oversight power to the Attorney General and the director of National Intelligence.
Hmmmmmmmmmm...I wonder if this is also an attempt to make Gonzo more relevant.
Under this latest assault on American freedom, Bush has given the go ahead for the National Security Agency to eavesdrop on our phone conversations without getting a warrant. This latest attack by the prez is an attempt to legalize the nebulous spy program that is supposedly aimed at terrorists.
What the law does is allow government agents to listen in on all international phone calls without a warrant. For example, if I live in Cincinnati and decided to call my niece in Qatar, our government could listen in to our conversations on the bogus assumption that my niece may be a terrorist. They don’t have to prove the allegation or show evidence up front. All they have to do is tap the channel and listen in.
The new law gives oversight power to the Attorney General and the director of National Intelligence.
Hmmmmmmmmmm...I wonder if this is also an attempt to make Gonzo more relevant.
8.01.2007
Too Much Info
Who cares if beer is only 135 calories, or a glass of red wine is 125 calories or a shot of tequila is only 53 calories?
Our government is becoming expert at avoidance. Rather than deal with the real problems facing our country, our so called leaders want to put nutrition labels on booze. Give me a break!
Who drinks alcohol for nutritional reasons? I certainly don’t. If booze was nutritional alcoholics would be the healthiest people on planet earth.
I drink because I don’t want to think about my current diet or how the war in Iraq is going, or how I’m about to turn 57 and still haven’t reached half the goals I set for myself when I was a sexy, vivacious young fox of 30. I drink because I want to pretend I’m a member of the roundtable at the Algonquin trading quips and barbs with Dorothy Parker. I drink because I want to get smashed and feel like I’m still the queen of the dance floor, not that I ever was, but southern comfort mixed with cranberry juice and a slice of lime, makes me think I am or was. I drink because I need sex and have more courage to ask for it after I’ve swallowed more than my share of tequila worms from the bottom of the bottle.
Booze can teach you a lot about yourself, that is if you’re paying attention. For instance, I’ve learned seven salty dogs makes my bed spin, and that I can stop the spinning by placing one foot firmly on the floor as an anchor.
Four whiskey sours gave me the courage to ask Morgana if I could feel her 55 double D breast implants when I met her at Loll 43. She loved the attention. It was the first time I fondled a woman in public. Whiskey sours also fueled my first visit to the legendary Brass Ass in Kentucky where I saw my first strippers. Man, were they tired looking women. Broke up my fantasy.
I’ve learned not to trade jack Daniels shots with the person who is supposed to be the designated driver and then really let them drive home. We made it, but I don’t know how.
Even hangovers have their uses, like diverting my attention away from, and delaying my self recriminations for going home with the loser with whom I was engaged in sparkling conversation the night before.
C’mon people, who needs another label to remind us that we are overweight, don’t exercise enough and don’t eat right. If you’re like me, you can’t even read the booze label before you start drinking, much less during or after you finish drinking.
Before you know it the government will force women to tattoo their uterus opening with a sign telling babies....Life, extremely dangerous!...enter at your own risk!...sheeesh!
Our government is becoming expert at avoidance. Rather than deal with the real problems facing our country, our so called leaders want to put nutrition labels on booze. Give me a break!
Who drinks alcohol for nutritional reasons? I certainly don’t. If booze was nutritional alcoholics would be the healthiest people on planet earth.
I drink because I don’t want to think about my current diet or how the war in Iraq is going, or how I’m about to turn 57 and still haven’t reached half the goals I set for myself when I was a sexy, vivacious young fox of 30. I drink because I want to pretend I’m a member of the roundtable at the Algonquin trading quips and barbs with Dorothy Parker. I drink because I want to get smashed and feel like I’m still the queen of the dance floor, not that I ever was, but southern comfort mixed with cranberry juice and a slice of lime, makes me think I am or was. I drink because I need sex and have more courage to ask for it after I’ve swallowed more than my share of tequila worms from the bottom of the bottle.
Booze can teach you a lot about yourself, that is if you’re paying attention. For instance, I’ve learned seven salty dogs makes my bed spin, and that I can stop the spinning by placing one foot firmly on the floor as an anchor.
Four whiskey sours gave me the courage to ask Morgana if I could feel her 55 double D breast implants when I met her at Loll 43. She loved the attention. It was the first time I fondled a woman in public. Whiskey sours also fueled my first visit to the legendary Brass Ass in Kentucky where I saw my first strippers. Man, were they tired looking women. Broke up my fantasy.
I’ve learned not to trade jack Daniels shots with the person who is supposed to be the designated driver and then really let them drive home. We made it, but I don’t know how.
Even hangovers have their uses, like diverting my attention away from, and delaying my self recriminations for going home with the loser with whom I was engaged in sparkling conversation the night before.
C’mon people, who needs another label to remind us that we are overweight, don’t exercise enough and don’t eat right. If you’re like me, you can’t even read the booze label before you start drinking, much less during or after you finish drinking.
Before you know it the government will force women to tattoo their uterus opening with a sign telling babies....Life, extremely dangerous!...enter at your own risk!...sheeesh!
7.30.2007
Monday Meanderings
Contempt for Congress
Congress has issued a subpoena for Karl Rove. Does anybody really think he is going to show up? And while we’re at it.....Just what does Congress think Gonzo can clarify, this time? He seems to be compounding his lies about the AG firings rather than explaining what happened. And without a special prosecutor who is going to conduct the investigation of the Justice Dept....the Justice Dept?!
Did you know that Dubya, by order of executive mandate has...
Done away with special prosecutors
Done away with habeas corpus
and
Can declare martial law in the USA if and when he wants to?
All hail King George!
The last time this stuff happened we had a revolution.
*********
Ohio got it right!
Turns out it’s not okay to beat the crap out of your live in girlfriend in Ohio. The State Supreme Court has finally ruled in the Michael Carswell case. Mr Carswell had argued that he could not be charged under Ohio’s domestic violence laws because the state’s newly enacted Defense of Marriage Law did away with all common law legality. According to Mr. Carswell, the term “spouse” could only apply within the confines of a legal marriage between a man and woman. Common law wives and husbands and all LGBT couples were living illegally under DOMA, according to Mr, Carswell’s interpretation and therefore domestic violence couldn’t happen between two unmarried people.
The High Court ruled that while the state can define what constitutes marriage, cohabitation happens when two people decide to live together and therefore domestic violence can happen and is covered by law, DOMA not withstanding.
Congress has issued a subpoena for Karl Rove. Does anybody really think he is going to show up? And while we’re at it.....Just what does Congress think Gonzo can clarify, this time? He seems to be compounding his lies about the AG firings rather than explaining what happened. And without a special prosecutor who is going to conduct the investigation of the Justice Dept....the Justice Dept?!
Did you know that Dubya, by order of executive mandate has...
Done away with special prosecutors
Done away with habeas corpus
and
Can declare martial law in the USA if and when he wants to?
All hail King George!
The last time this stuff happened we had a revolution.
*********
Ohio got it right!
Turns out it’s not okay to beat the crap out of your live in girlfriend in Ohio. The State Supreme Court has finally ruled in the Michael Carswell case. Mr Carswell had argued that he could not be charged under Ohio’s domestic violence laws because the state’s newly enacted Defense of Marriage Law did away with all common law legality. According to Mr. Carswell, the term “spouse” could only apply within the confines of a legal marriage between a man and woman. Common law wives and husbands and all LGBT couples were living illegally under DOMA, according to Mr, Carswell’s interpretation and therefore domestic violence couldn’t happen between two unmarried people.
The High Court ruled that while the state can define what constitutes marriage, cohabitation happens when two people decide to live together and therefore domestic violence can happen and is covered by law, DOMA not withstanding.
7.20.2007
A scary thought....
Dubya is having a colonoscopy. That means that while he is unconscious (for real), Dick Cheney will be in charge of the government for a couple of hours.
Somebody please...please go hide the red button so that fool can’t fire nukes at Iran. We’ve got enough trouble now. We don’t need another war front.
We don’t need expansion of the Patriot Act or suspension of more of our civil liberties.
Hell, he’s already declared himself outside government. He refuses to talk to anyone except his assistants...Is he still even talking to Dubya, except to say, “I don’t have to...I’m the VP?”
Anyone looking at us from outer space would see Dubya in the White House and think that Cheney was emperor of the USA the way he behaves.
After looking at Cheney, I can understand why his daughter feels she can be a lesbian, have a baby and not have to face the consequences that others of us have to live with daily.
Can’t Bush appoint someone else to take over...someone with common sense, common decency and an understanding that other people live in this world beside him, his family and his business friends and associates.
Somebody please...please go hide the red button so that fool can’t fire nukes at Iran. We’ve got enough trouble now. We don’t need another war front.
We don’t need expansion of the Patriot Act or suspension of more of our civil liberties.
Hell, he’s already declared himself outside government. He refuses to talk to anyone except his assistants...Is he still even talking to Dubya, except to say, “I don’t have to...I’m the VP?”
Anyone looking at us from outer space would see Dubya in the White House and think that Cheney was emperor of the USA the way he behaves.
After looking at Cheney, I can understand why his daughter feels she can be a lesbian, have a baby and not have to face the consequences that others of us have to live with daily.
Can’t Bush appoint someone else to take over...someone with common sense, common decency and an understanding that other people live in this world beside him, his family and his business friends and associates.
7.10.2007
Morality Plays
Yesterday, the NAACP buried the “N” word...literally. The organization held a funeral for the word, duplicating it’s actions of a couple of decades ago, when it buried Jim Crow.
Burying Jim Crow will prove to be the easier entombment, I think. That’s because so many of us use the “N” word when talking to each other. We only have a problem with it when white people use it.
It’s always been considered a bad word. I come from the generation where parents didn’t curse in front of the kids. And, we never, ever used the “N” word for any reason to refer to anyone else. It was a term of disrespect with the obvious racist connotations. We were taught not to denigrate ourselves because we would get enough of that when we stepped into the white professional world. Trust me, as someone who has spent her entire life being the “first black this and only female that,” there are actually hundreds of ways somebody can call you a nigger without using the word itself.
Nowadays, kids toss the word around like a water balloon and people have become desensitized to it. The problem with using it so freely is that people with no sense of history or anything else for that matter, think they can use it like we do. That’s when it becomes offensive.
As blacks we can’t be so hypocritical. If we’re going to use it, we must expect that others will too. We need to get over ourselves and really, really make the word inoffensive, much like gay and lesbians did with the word “Queer.” The LGBT community owns that word, having taken possession of it a long time ago. You can’t hurt us with it anymore. Blacks need to do the same with the “N” word. If we intend to use it, then we have to stop reacting to its use by others. Once it loses it’s shock value, then it is buried for real, not symbolically like the NAACP tried to do yesterday.
The NAACP would do better recapturing its relevance if it would go after the things that are killing our communities, like AIDS, Poverty, black on black violence, out of wedlock children, and the school dropout rate.
Remember, the old nursery rhyme....”sticks and stones can break my bones...but words will never hurt me..”
Good words to live by..
Burying Jim Crow will prove to be the easier entombment, I think. That’s because so many of us use the “N” word when talking to each other. We only have a problem with it when white people use it.
It’s always been considered a bad word. I come from the generation where parents didn’t curse in front of the kids. And, we never, ever used the “N” word for any reason to refer to anyone else. It was a term of disrespect with the obvious racist connotations. We were taught not to denigrate ourselves because we would get enough of that when we stepped into the white professional world. Trust me, as someone who has spent her entire life being the “first black this and only female that,” there are actually hundreds of ways somebody can call you a nigger without using the word itself.
Nowadays, kids toss the word around like a water balloon and people have become desensitized to it. The problem with using it so freely is that people with no sense of history or anything else for that matter, think they can use it like we do. That’s when it becomes offensive.
As blacks we can’t be so hypocritical. If we’re going to use it, we must expect that others will too. We need to get over ourselves and really, really make the word inoffensive, much like gay and lesbians did with the word “Queer.” The LGBT community owns that word, having taken possession of it a long time ago. You can’t hurt us with it anymore. Blacks need to do the same with the “N” word. If we intend to use it, then we have to stop reacting to its use by others. Once it loses it’s shock value, then it is buried for real, not symbolically like the NAACP tried to do yesterday.
The NAACP would do better recapturing its relevance if it would go after the things that are killing our communities, like AIDS, Poverty, black on black violence, out of wedlock children, and the school dropout rate.
Remember, the old nursery rhyme....”sticks and stones can break my bones...but words will never hurt me..”
Good words to live by..
7.03.2007
His World
In the wee small hours after midnight, when Dubya is out of the public eye and into his own little world under the covers, I want to know what he is smoking/drinking/snorting. I mean he’s got to be using something to maintain this Buddha-like calm he displays while standing in the midst of his self created shit storm. I haven’t seen this kind of calm exhibited since the self medicating days of the sixties. “Hey man, got any ‘ludes?”
For the past seven years he’s done stuff.....started a war, ripped up the constitution, trashed civil liberties and flooded the judicial branch with inexperienced hacks and extreme right wing politically driven judges. He’s gutted the justice department, compromised and outed our spies to our enemies. He’s lied to the American public, repeatedly. Dubya has all but erased the line that separates church and state. He’s killed scientific study and research. He’s replaced learning with testing in our schools.
His court, after first giving him the election, has now reversed Brown vs the Board of Education. Can Roe v. Wade be far behind? Ladies throw away your Manolos it’s back to bare foot and pregnant unless you have the money to circumvent the law.
His politically appointed cronies have killed the great city of New Orleans, set back women’s health initiatives, and practically done away with birth control in favor of sticking your head in the sand and hoping that no pregnancy results.
He’s thumbed his nose at the rest of the world and sits on his daddy’s yacht while the planet goes to hell in a hand basket.
How is it that this out of control, ex crack head frat boy got elected to the most powerful office on the face of the earth?
Scooter gets tried and convicted and sentenced to jail. Dubya commutes the sentence claiming his boy had been treated harshly and his family is suffering. Well, what about the family of Valerie Plame? He outed her as a spy to get back at her husband. His vindictiveness could have gotten her killed. Does he care? Apparently not.
Generations in the future are screwed because of his irresponsible fiscal policies. Does he care?
Dubya is the original bubble boy...hiding behind his calm inside his dome while his rogue vice president runs rampant, trampling our laws and system of checks and balances.
Dubya needs to share whatever he’s toking, because the rest of us are a bundle of nerves. We’re so stressed out, we don’t take vacations. We’ve got a president who tells us that except for his war on terror, the rest of the stuff is not that serious. Oh, but it is.
I want your drugs Dubya. That way I may be able to relax and share your vision. Your world must be wonderful. I need some of that virtual reality inside your bubble.
Yeah, you really need to share your stuff, man, so that we can all escape this hell on earth world that you’ve bequeathed upon us. Passing the bong, it's the American way.
For the past seven years he’s done stuff.....started a war, ripped up the constitution, trashed civil liberties and flooded the judicial branch with inexperienced hacks and extreme right wing politically driven judges. He’s gutted the justice department, compromised and outed our spies to our enemies. He’s lied to the American public, repeatedly. Dubya has all but erased the line that separates church and state. He’s killed scientific study and research. He’s replaced learning with testing in our schools.
His court, after first giving him the election, has now reversed Brown vs the Board of Education. Can Roe v. Wade be far behind? Ladies throw away your Manolos it’s back to bare foot and pregnant unless you have the money to circumvent the law.
His politically appointed cronies have killed the great city of New Orleans, set back women’s health initiatives, and practically done away with birth control in favor of sticking your head in the sand and hoping that no pregnancy results.
He’s thumbed his nose at the rest of the world and sits on his daddy’s yacht while the planet goes to hell in a hand basket.
How is it that this out of control, ex crack head frat boy got elected to the most powerful office on the face of the earth?
Scooter gets tried and convicted and sentenced to jail. Dubya commutes the sentence claiming his boy had been treated harshly and his family is suffering. Well, what about the family of Valerie Plame? He outed her as a spy to get back at her husband. His vindictiveness could have gotten her killed. Does he care? Apparently not.
Generations in the future are screwed because of his irresponsible fiscal policies. Does he care?
Dubya is the original bubble boy...hiding behind his calm inside his dome while his rogue vice president runs rampant, trampling our laws and system of checks and balances.
Dubya needs to share whatever he’s toking, because the rest of us are a bundle of nerves. We’re so stressed out, we don’t take vacations. We’ve got a president who tells us that except for his war on terror, the rest of the stuff is not that serious. Oh, but it is.
I want your drugs Dubya. That way I may be able to relax and share your vision. Your world must be wonderful. I need some of that virtual reality inside your bubble.
Yeah, you really need to share your stuff, man, so that we can all escape this hell on earth world that you’ve bequeathed upon us. Passing the bong, it's the American way.
6.29.2007
I Mania
I have to admit that I do want an iphone. I like the way it looks. I like the way it feels and most important, I can see the buttons, not that an iphone even has buttons. But at $600.00 I can wait. Besides I just renewed my old verizon contract, so I’m out of the phone market for a couple of years. By then, Apple should have worked out all the bugs in the iphone.
I already have an ipod and although I love it to death, it has bugs...millions of them. I wish I had waited to buy it, but I couldn’t resist the thought of having my entire music collection in my pocket.
Iphones make me realize that I am getting old because despite my desire to own one, I can’t believe that a telephone can be a status symbol. I’ve had my younger friends, meaning those young enough to be my grandkids, actually check out my phone to see what I choose to carry. From these conversations I have learned that the more your phone can do, or the more it costs, then the higher your status.
I’m sorry, but a phone is still a phone to me. It replaces the need to have to find a pay phone like the ones that used to populate street corners. My contract offers free phones in exchange for company loyalty. So every couple of years, I choose the most expensive phone that I can get for free. I also need to be able to read the buttons since my eyes no longer work as well as they used to. I carry this sleek black number that is web ready, bluetooth ready, mp3 equipped, and has a camera and also shoots video. Most importantly, it was free.
I’ve played with all the features, but basically, after I’m done playing, it’s still just a phone, a convenience that keeps me from having to search for one on the corner in order to reach out and touch when I need to.
Knowing me, I will eventually own an iphone. But it won’t be for a couple of years and the phone itself will probably be into it’s third or fourth generation. By then the kinks will be gone, and it won’t cost so much. And I will have a better understanding of phone as status symbol, I guess...maybe...maybe not..
I already have an ipod and although I love it to death, it has bugs...millions of them. I wish I had waited to buy it, but I couldn’t resist the thought of having my entire music collection in my pocket.
Iphones make me realize that I am getting old because despite my desire to own one, I can’t believe that a telephone can be a status symbol. I’ve had my younger friends, meaning those young enough to be my grandkids, actually check out my phone to see what I choose to carry. From these conversations I have learned that the more your phone can do, or the more it costs, then the higher your status.
I’m sorry, but a phone is still a phone to me. It replaces the need to have to find a pay phone like the ones that used to populate street corners. My contract offers free phones in exchange for company loyalty. So every couple of years, I choose the most expensive phone that I can get for free. I also need to be able to read the buttons since my eyes no longer work as well as they used to. I carry this sleek black number that is web ready, bluetooth ready, mp3 equipped, and has a camera and also shoots video. Most importantly, it was free.
I’ve played with all the features, but basically, after I’m done playing, it’s still just a phone, a convenience that keeps me from having to search for one on the corner in order to reach out and touch when I need to.
Knowing me, I will eventually own an iphone. But it won’t be for a couple of years and the phone itself will probably be into it’s third or fourth generation. By then the kinks will be gone, and it won’t cost so much. And I will have a better understanding of phone as status symbol, I guess...maybe...maybe not..
6.11.2007
America Mismanaged
Gasoline
Wow! Gasoline prices have dropped seven cents per gallon in the past week. Man! I need to fire up my 25 gallon vehicle and drive to my nearest filling station for a fill up. Look at all the money I can save! At this rate, next week I can probably afford to buy a Big Mac for lunch.
And don’t say go buy a smaller car. Some of us can’t afford to change cars like we change underwear. With the price of these alleged gas saving hybrids, it will be a long time before I purchase a newer car much less a hybrid.
Tainted Justice
Colin Powell says Gitmo should be shutdown immediately. Defense Secretary Robert Gates calls Guantanamo a “taint” on the reputation of America. Powell was the only member of the Bush Administration who was against opening the facility in the first place. Both Gates and Powell say the facility harms America’s image abroad. Does Dubya care? Is Condi listening? By the way, where is Condi these days?
Powell also apologized for his part in getting us into this civil war. He said the situation in Iraq was mismanaged from jump street and run by amateurs.
Immigration
Bush says he is going to reopen the push for immigration reform when he returns from his trip overseas. I wonder......is he just talking about our southern border with the brown people of Mexico or is he also talking about our porous northern border with pale Canada? You will recall that the TB guy was let into this country through Canada despite being on everyone’s keep out list. The border guard said TB guy “looked okay to him.” If you’ve seen him in his news appearances, TB guy looks just like all the guys in the Bush Administration as well as all the other guys who are considered masters of the universe. Others who have tried to come through Canada, like Moussoui the 9/11 would be hijacker, were stopped and arrested. What happened. Guess he didn’t “look okay.” He is certainly not a master of the universe.
The enemy of my enemy is my friend?!- CNN
We are going to give guns to the Sunnis to fight Al Quaeda in Iraq....now that looks like a plan...well thought out...Question....are we going to pull out our troops first before they get caught in an even bigger crossfire? If my memory serves me correctly, didn’t we use to arm Al Quaeda too?
Bombing Iran
Jolting Joe Lieberman wants to bomb Iran. Like our military isn’t already stretched enough. Why don’t we just go ahead and hit North Korea and China while we’re at it. Note to you war happy politicians....if you want to fight, pick up a gun and go fight, but leave the rest of us alone.
Aggressive military action is being talked up by guys in power who spent all their youth avoiding the military......Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Romney, Guiliani....to name a few.. The guys and women who have been to war don’t want to go back, with the exception being McCain.
Wow! Gasoline prices have dropped seven cents per gallon in the past week. Man! I need to fire up my 25 gallon vehicle and drive to my nearest filling station for a fill up. Look at all the money I can save! At this rate, next week I can probably afford to buy a Big Mac for lunch.
And don’t say go buy a smaller car. Some of us can’t afford to change cars like we change underwear. With the price of these alleged gas saving hybrids, it will be a long time before I purchase a newer car much less a hybrid.
Tainted Justice
Colin Powell says Gitmo should be shutdown immediately. Defense Secretary Robert Gates calls Guantanamo a “taint” on the reputation of America. Powell was the only member of the Bush Administration who was against opening the facility in the first place. Both Gates and Powell say the facility harms America’s image abroad. Does Dubya care? Is Condi listening? By the way, where is Condi these days?
Powell also apologized for his part in getting us into this civil war. He said the situation in Iraq was mismanaged from jump street and run by amateurs.
Immigration
Bush says he is going to reopen the push for immigration reform when he returns from his trip overseas. I wonder......is he just talking about our southern border with the brown people of Mexico or is he also talking about our porous northern border with pale Canada? You will recall that the TB guy was let into this country through Canada despite being on everyone’s keep out list. The border guard said TB guy “looked okay to him.” If you’ve seen him in his news appearances, TB guy looks just like all the guys in the Bush Administration as well as all the other guys who are considered masters of the universe. Others who have tried to come through Canada, like Moussoui the 9/11 would be hijacker, were stopped and arrested. What happened. Guess he didn’t “look okay.” He is certainly not a master of the universe.
The enemy of my enemy is my friend?!- CNN
We are going to give guns to the Sunnis to fight Al Quaeda in Iraq....now that looks like a plan...well thought out...Question....are we going to pull out our troops first before they get caught in an even bigger crossfire? If my memory serves me correctly, didn’t we use to arm Al Quaeda too?
Bombing Iran
Jolting Joe Lieberman wants to bomb Iran. Like our military isn’t already stretched enough. Why don’t we just go ahead and hit North Korea and China while we’re at it. Note to you war happy politicians....if you want to fight, pick up a gun and go fight, but leave the rest of us alone.
Aggressive military action is being talked up by guys in power who spent all their youth avoiding the military......Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Romney, Guiliani....to name a few.. The guys and women who have been to war don’t want to go back, with the exception being McCain.
6.07.2007
Photo Op Terrorism and the Politics of Fearmongering
First came the Liberty City Old School Knuckleheads, then the Fort Dix Six. Now we’ve got the Islamic Reggae Boys, apparently led by a sometimes homeless drug addict.
These guys are terrorists, bent on bringing down America? Please!
The first group were old school militants still living in the sixties with no guns, no cars and no cash. Based on that scenario, they couldn’t land a date these days much less bring down a government. They marched around their warehouse quoting the Last Poets and watching Bruce Lee movies and probably talked a lot of trash that some stupid government informant thought sounded like plotting and turned them in. Now they’ve disappeared into the Just-Us system.
The Fort Dix Six at least look the part, meaning they fit the profile of what a terrorist might look like, if you’re stupid and racist and buy the Homeland Security B.S...you know the type, dark skinned, swarthy, skull cap wearing, bearded, middle eastern looking. But c’mon the feds would have us believe that these men hatched a plot to dress up as pizza deliverymen, go to a full scale military base and shoot up and kill as many soldiers as possible, then escape to tell about it. Further, they recorded their plot on DVD and took it to a drug store for processing?
Now we’ve got the Reggae boys from Trinidad plot. Like the Knuckleheads, these guys had no money, no vehicles and no guns, explosives or nuclear bombs. They talked a lot to a fed informant who was a drug addict working his way into the witness protection program and got turned in to the police, probably after the all ganja was gone. These guys were talking about blowing up JFK airport. The plot announced by one of those political hack attorney generals appointed during Gonzo gate. Airlines security experts from around the world are laughing their collective asses off at this one.
In light of who’s being arrested, I’m scared to death our government couldn’t identify a real terrorist if Osama Bin Laden, himself, walked up to the front door of the White House, pulling his dialysis machine behind him, and said, “I’m here to blow up your country, now arrest me.”
Even the 24 arrested in England last year, were picked up at the behest of our government. The Brits said most of the guys were harmless and in fact, 22 of them were let go a couple of days after the news conference detailing their arrests.
We’re trapped in a cycle of fear. Every time one of these types of arrests is made, there is major news coverage with some government talking head, usually Bush or our invisible vice president, telling us to “be afraid, be very afraid.”
When is the news media in this country going to wake up and realize it’s been had. Not everything is news or news worthy, and most of what is coming from this administration is just noise to camouflage the really bad stuff that they’re doing.
We, as a people, have paid millions and billions of dollars for a state of the art security system to protect our country, while our government is still using tactics dreamed up in the days of civil unrest back in the sixties. No wonder they keep stumbling over these old school militants. The real terrorists are apparently cloaked in 21st century stealth, and don’t register on old school radar.
Yes, we need to be vigilant. Yes, we need security. But not this. With what’s going on, it seems our government uses Keystone Cop movies as training films. If we’re going to go old school, then let’s bring back Coffin Ed and Gravedigger Jones. At least they knew how to find and arrest the real bad guys.
These guys are terrorists, bent on bringing down America? Please!
The first group were old school militants still living in the sixties with no guns, no cars and no cash. Based on that scenario, they couldn’t land a date these days much less bring down a government. They marched around their warehouse quoting the Last Poets and watching Bruce Lee movies and probably talked a lot of trash that some stupid government informant thought sounded like plotting and turned them in. Now they’ve disappeared into the Just-Us system.
The Fort Dix Six at least look the part, meaning they fit the profile of what a terrorist might look like, if you’re stupid and racist and buy the Homeland Security B.S...you know the type, dark skinned, swarthy, skull cap wearing, bearded, middle eastern looking. But c’mon the feds would have us believe that these men hatched a plot to dress up as pizza deliverymen, go to a full scale military base and shoot up and kill as many soldiers as possible, then escape to tell about it. Further, they recorded their plot on DVD and took it to a drug store for processing?
Now we’ve got the Reggae boys from Trinidad plot. Like the Knuckleheads, these guys had no money, no vehicles and no guns, explosives or nuclear bombs. They talked a lot to a fed informant who was a drug addict working his way into the witness protection program and got turned in to the police, probably after the all ganja was gone. These guys were talking about blowing up JFK airport. The plot announced by one of those political hack attorney generals appointed during Gonzo gate. Airlines security experts from around the world are laughing their collective asses off at this one.
In light of who’s being arrested, I’m scared to death our government couldn’t identify a real terrorist if Osama Bin Laden, himself, walked up to the front door of the White House, pulling his dialysis machine behind him, and said, “I’m here to blow up your country, now arrest me.”
Even the 24 arrested in England last year, were picked up at the behest of our government. The Brits said most of the guys were harmless and in fact, 22 of them were let go a couple of days after the news conference detailing their arrests.
We’re trapped in a cycle of fear. Every time one of these types of arrests is made, there is major news coverage with some government talking head, usually Bush or our invisible vice president, telling us to “be afraid, be very afraid.”
When is the news media in this country going to wake up and realize it’s been had. Not everything is news or news worthy, and most of what is coming from this administration is just noise to camouflage the really bad stuff that they’re doing.
We, as a people, have paid millions and billions of dollars for a state of the art security system to protect our country, while our government is still using tactics dreamed up in the days of civil unrest back in the sixties. No wonder they keep stumbling over these old school militants. The real terrorists are apparently cloaked in 21st century stealth, and don’t register on old school radar.
Yes, we need to be vigilant. Yes, we need security. But not this. With what’s going on, it seems our government uses Keystone Cop movies as training films. If we’re going to go old school, then let’s bring back Coffin Ed and Gravedigger Jones. At least they knew how to find and arrest the real bad guys.
6.04.2007
Hostage II
I left the news world back in 1999. I was burned out and quite frankly, didn’t like the turn away from “real news” and toward “infotainment,” which was taking place in the industry. Now, if you miss the first four minutes of the newscast, you’ve essentially missed the newscast. It’s over, except for the recap in the closing 30 seconds. The rest of the time is taken up with features, gossip and weather.
But even though I got out physically, my desire to know has never left. And up until a few months ago I still managed to start my day reading several newspapers (the internet makes it easy). I still read several magazines on both sides of the current issues, in my desire to find all sides of the issues.
I write a blog that most of the time reflects what I’ve read in the newspapers, magazines or heard on CNN or MSNBC. Still can’t stand to watch FOX. It drives me nuts. I ended my career working for the local Fox and a news director who thought that the perfect reporter was one who left the station with prescripted questions written by her or the assignment desk and stuck to script while doing the interview. She actually voiced that opinion in the daily news meeting. I told her point blank that, that would be the day I quit, and it was. She got fired shortly after I quit. It was okay, I needed a change....I needed to write without the constrictions of alleged news gathering, that was no longer happening. But I still carried on my personal search for information...reading and reading and writing and writing, as if I never left the business.
Lately, for the first time in my adult life, I’ve been tuned out of the noise. I mean really tuned out...no newspapers, cancelled my magazine subscriptions, watched less TV news, and I don’t feel all that guilty about unplugging. Haven’t been writing either. I do feel twinges of guilt when I don’t update my blog.
But, hell, I have to remind myself that I created the blog for me. Not for anyone else. I created it to keep in practice with my writing. If I don’t use it, I lose it, understand?
I love to write, it’s just that by creating the blog, I felt an obligation to write every single day, every time I had a thought. That’s good, but there are other things to my life. I play golf. I love to play golf. If I had discovered the game earlier in my life, I might have tried to be a pro. I love being outside, especially this time of year. I have a lawn that needs tending. I have flowers that need love. I have dogs that need exercise. I have me, that needs exercise. I have a car that needs washing. I have a house that needs fixing. I have travel plans to make and trips to take. I need to check out the local flea markets. I have friends and lovers that I need to see. I have wine that needs drinking and food that needs eating.
I have a life outside of my blog and I should never, ever feel guilty about living.
Everything I do and experience comes out in my writing. It will eventually come out in my blog...just not everyday. Maybe not every two or three days. But it will come out, when it’s ready.
So I will get back to politics and the war and having opinions about something. But only when I feel it. In my own time, period.
But even though I got out physically, my desire to know has never left. And up until a few months ago I still managed to start my day reading several newspapers (the internet makes it easy). I still read several magazines on both sides of the current issues, in my desire to find all sides of the issues.
I write a blog that most of the time reflects what I’ve read in the newspapers, magazines or heard on CNN or MSNBC. Still can’t stand to watch FOX. It drives me nuts. I ended my career working for the local Fox and a news director who thought that the perfect reporter was one who left the station with prescripted questions written by her or the assignment desk and stuck to script while doing the interview. She actually voiced that opinion in the daily news meeting. I told her point blank that, that would be the day I quit, and it was. She got fired shortly after I quit. It was okay, I needed a change....I needed to write without the constrictions of alleged news gathering, that was no longer happening. But I still carried on my personal search for information...reading and reading and writing and writing, as if I never left the business.
Lately, for the first time in my adult life, I’ve been tuned out of the noise. I mean really tuned out...no newspapers, cancelled my magazine subscriptions, watched less TV news, and I don’t feel all that guilty about unplugging. Haven’t been writing either. I do feel twinges of guilt when I don’t update my blog.
But, hell, I have to remind myself that I created the blog for me. Not for anyone else. I created it to keep in practice with my writing. If I don’t use it, I lose it, understand?
I love to write, it’s just that by creating the blog, I felt an obligation to write every single day, every time I had a thought. That’s good, but there are other things to my life. I play golf. I love to play golf. If I had discovered the game earlier in my life, I might have tried to be a pro. I love being outside, especially this time of year. I have a lawn that needs tending. I have flowers that need love. I have dogs that need exercise. I have me, that needs exercise. I have a car that needs washing. I have a house that needs fixing. I have travel plans to make and trips to take. I need to check out the local flea markets. I have friends and lovers that I need to see. I have wine that needs drinking and food that needs eating.
I have a life outside of my blog and I should never, ever feel guilty about living.
Everything I do and experience comes out in my writing. It will eventually come out in my blog...just not everyday. Maybe not every two or three days. But it will come out, when it’s ready.
So I will get back to politics and the war and having opinions about something. But only when I feel it. In my own time, period.
5.23.2007
Hostage
One of the many reasons that I loved living in Chicago was that a car was truly a luxury rather than a necessity. I could get anywhere I wanted without having to jump into a vehicle, unless it was public transportation. The buses and trains ran 24/7, 365. I could walk out my door, step to the curb and throw my hand up to signal any of the several taxis passing by. Three large grocery stores were within three blocks, and they delivered. I would walk to the store, choose my food, pay for it, and then tell the cashier where I lived. My groceries arrived within the hour with the eggs not broken.
There were breakfast places for brunch, lunch places, dinner places, bars to drink and watch sports, dance clubs, work out clubs, all within walking distance. And I mean walking distance without breaking sweat or getting leg cramps from over exertion. Since I lived on Lakeshore Drive, I had 22 miles of park, including a golf course right across the street. Wrigley Field was four blocks west. I could open my windows and hear the late Harry Carey sing “Take Me Out to the Ball Game,” during the seventh inning stretch. The only reason I drove was to visit my sister who lived in the burbs. When I needed to fly, which was weekly, I took the train to O’HARE.
All of these memories came flooding back with the news that a gallon of gasoline is $3.49 at my neighborhood gas station today. I no longer live in Chicago. I now live in Cincinnati Ohio, and I'm old enough to remember a gasoline price war between stations in Mt Healthy, where a gallon cost 28-cents. Cincinnati is a city where a car is a must have, even at today's prices.
Urban sprawl is a nice term for it. Usually good restaurants, good theaters and marvelous clubs inhabit the heart of the city. Now, the best places to eat are right across the river, in Kentucky or out in the burbs of West Chester. The purple people bridge is pedestrian friendly, for those wanting to cross the river, but you need a car to get to the bridge. Here, going clubbing usually means driving to Columbus or Indianapolis. As for getting your groceries delivered intact, well good luck. I consider myself lucky if there is a bagger at the checkout.
Since I grew up in Cincinnati, I was well aware of its cultural limitations for the over 25 set of young adults, both gay and straight. If I want to shop, eat or go to the park, I drive. Everyone has a car. Many people have two or three in case one breaks down. Boycotting rising gas prices will not happen here because Cincinnati, like many other former industrial cities of the Midwest, is not people or user friendly. The Midwest is held hostage by the whims of OPEC.
If you don’t have a car, you better have a friend who has one. The wait between buses is about an hour. Getting a bus late at night is pretty impossible. Looking for a taxi? Don’t go to the curb. Dig out your cell phone and call, it’ll be there in about 20 minutes. Elevated trains? Forget about it!
I’ve been looking at Vespas lately as a means of going green. There is a dealership right around the corner. I like the little European scooters. I wouldn’t think twice about buying one, if I still lived in Europe. But here in Cincinnati, I hesitate because I figure the first time I try to ride it, I’ll be run over by somebody in a big ass SUV hurrying to a radio sponsored gasoline sale.
There were breakfast places for brunch, lunch places, dinner places, bars to drink and watch sports, dance clubs, work out clubs, all within walking distance. And I mean walking distance without breaking sweat or getting leg cramps from over exertion. Since I lived on Lakeshore Drive, I had 22 miles of park, including a golf course right across the street. Wrigley Field was four blocks west. I could open my windows and hear the late Harry Carey sing “Take Me Out to the Ball Game,” during the seventh inning stretch. The only reason I drove was to visit my sister who lived in the burbs. When I needed to fly, which was weekly, I took the train to O’HARE.
All of these memories came flooding back with the news that a gallon of gasoline is $3.49 at my neighborhood gas station today. I no longer live in Chicago. I now live in Cincinnati Ohio, and I'm old enough to remember a gasoline price war between stations in Mt Healthy, where a gallon cost 28-cents. Cincinnati is a city where a car is a must have, even at today's prices.
Urban sprawl is a nice term for it. Usually good restaurants, good theaters and marvelous clubs inhabit the heart of the city. Now, the best places to eat are right across the river, in Kentucky or out in the burbs of West Chester. The purple people bridge is pedestrian friendly, for those wanting to cross the river, but you need a car to get to the bridge. Here, going clubbing usually means driving to Columbus or Indianapolis. As for getting your groceries delivered intact, well good luck. I consider myself lucky if there is a bagger at the checkout.
Since I grew up in Cincinnati, I was well aware of its cultural limitations for the over 25 set of young adults, both gay and straight. If I want to shop, eat or go to the park, I drive. Everyone has a car. Many people have two or three in case one breaks down. Boycotting rising gas prices will not happen here because Cincinnati, like many other former industrial cities of the Midwest, is not people or user friendly. The Midwest is held hostage by the whims of OPEC.
If you don’t have a car, you better have a friend who has one. The wait between buses is about an hour. Getting a bus late at night is pretty impossible. Looking for a taxi? Don’t go to the curb. Dig out your cell phone and call, it’ll be there in about 20 minutes. Elevated trains? Forget about it!
I’ve been looking at Vespas lately as a means of going green. There is a dealership right around the corner. I like the little European scooters. I wouldn’t think twice about buying one, if I still lived in Europe. But here in Cincinnati, I hesitate because I figure the first time I try to ride it, I’ll be run over by somebody in a big ass SUV hurrying to a radio sponsored gasoline sale.
5.16.2007
The Buck Doesn’t Stop Here
I guess Harry Truman is doing flip flops in his grave over this administration. The straight talking, straight shooting, honest man from Missouri, would never have allowed the White House to be swallowed up by the cloud of mendacity that seeps from every crack of that building these days.
We have a president who “doesn’t recall, can’t remember, blames congress and the democrats, and anybody else he can think of for the current morass.” Now he has appointed a War Czar to handle the quagmire in the middle east.
I thought the president was always the “war czar.” Dubya was the boss in the run up to the war after 9/11. He was the head of state when it came to “mission accomplished” on the flight deck in front of the troops. Why step away now. Why doesn’t the buck stop at Dubya’s desk as it has with every other president we’ve had to this point?
I guess it’s like everything else about this president..paint a big picture, pose for the photo op, and let everyone else fill in the details, no matter how fuzzy or unethical.
*********
Question......Does AG Gonzales ever pay attention to the words coming out of his mouth? He’s got his tongue so far up Dubya’s butt, it’s a wonder if he will ever come clean. Talk about loyalty to the family, and I’m not talking Sopranos here. Maybe the feds need to pay closer attention to what goes on inside la familia in Maine.
**********
OMG! Paris is traumatized about going to jail. Well, join the club sista girl, me too! I don’t think anyone likes being locked up. But MOST of us do the right thing and stay away from jail and police officers with badges and guns. We po folk don’t call em pigs for nothing. We don’t have millions of dollars, a glitzy name or high priced attorneys to protect us. We have to do the right thing or pay the price. Because we know that if there is anything the police like better than beating up poor people...it’s locking up rich people who think they’re above the law. Buy a vowel and get a clue, girlfriend, and please, please, go sit down and pretend to be invisible.
**********
Yolanda King, eldest daughter of Martin Luther King, has passed away. Gone too soon. Rest in peace.
*********
The Reverend Jerry Falwell has passed on too. To quote the late great Moms Mabley...”don’t say nothin’ about the dead, unless you can say somethin’ good.....he’s dead....good!”
We have a president who “doesn’t recall, can’t remember, blames congress and the democrats, and anybody else he can think of for the current morass.” Now he has appointed a War Czar to handle the quagmire in the middle east.
I thought the president was always the “war czar.” Dubya was the boss in the run up to the war after 9/11. He was the head of state when it came to “mission accomplished” on the flight deck in front of the troops. Why step away now. Why doesn’t the buck stop at Dubya’s desk as it has with every other president we’ve had to this point?
I guess it’s like everything else about this president..paint a big picture, pose for the photo op, and let everyone else fill in the details, no matter how fuzzy or unethical.
*********
Question......Does AG Gonzales ever pay attention to the words coming out of his mouth? He’s got his tongue so far up Dubya’s butt, it’s a wonder if he will ever come clean. Talk about loyalty to the family, and I’m not talking Sopranos here. Maybe the feds need to pay closer attention to what goes on inside la familia in Maine.
**********
OMG! Paris is traumatized about going to jail. Well, join the club sista girl, me too! I don’t think anyone likes being locked up. But MOST of us do the right thing and stay away from jail and police officers with badges and guns. We po folk don’t call em pigs for nothing. We don’t have millions of dollars, a glitzy name or high priced attorneys to protect us. We have to do the right thing or pay the price. Because we know that if there is anything the police like better than beating up poor people...it’s locking up rich people who think they’re above the law. Buy a vowel and get a clue, girlfriend, and please, please, go sit down and pretend to be invisible.
**********
Yolanda King, eldest daughter of Martin Luther King, has passed away. Gone too soon. Rest in peace.
*********
The Reverend Jerry Falwell has passed on too. To quote the late great Moms Mabley...”don’t say nothin’ about the dead, unless you can say somethin’ good.....he’s dead....good!”
5.10.2007
The Ballad of Jeff and OJ
Big bad restauranteur Jeff Ruby sidled up to big bad former football player OJ Simpson and told him to get out of his restaurant. It happened in Louisville this past derby weekend. Sounds like a scene out of the movie HIGH NOON. Ruby in the white hat confronted the accused-murderer-judged-not guilty, black hat wearing Simpson and reportedly said, “I’m not going to serve you!” And as the story goes, OJ meekly gathered his party of twelve, tucked his tail between his legs and left the premises amid a standing ovation for the bravado of the seemingly heroic Jeff Ruby.
Today we hear from Simpson’s attorney that the eviction was for racial reasons only and that OJ may sue. Ruby’s retort is that he was merely seeking some justice for Ron Goldman’s family.
I have mixed feelings about this alleged incident. Jeff Ruby owns many restaurants in and around my city. In the black community his rep is a bit tarnished. Seems every time there is a “black” event downtown, like the Jazz festival or black family reunion, Mr Ruby is known for closing his restaurants to take “inventory” or “vacation.” He has even been picketed for such actions in past years. He always denies the allegations, because “some of his best friends are.......” He does know a lot of black athletes and in other times, Ruby and Simpson would be photo op buddies, with Simpson gifted with tab at all Ruby establishments.
But if the closing incidents had happened only once, I would say, well, maybe coincidence, bad timing on the part of the restaurant. After all, what businessman closes his doors to making money? But it keeps happening and he is not the only one downtown who reacts like that. But they say, they’re not racist, just, well...I don’t know how they alibi themselves. I don’t patronize people who obviously don’t want my money.
Anyway, back to OJ. I am totally convinced he killed his ex-wife. He is reprehensible. I don’t understand how he could even have an entourage of twelve people who want to have dinner with him. I wouldn’t want him in my restaurant either. But I would serve him if he showed up. He was found not guilty. He is protected by double jeopardy laws.
Ruby was grandstanding. He saw a chance to grab the spotlight and took it. He got lots of free publicity for his restaurants. At Simpson’s expense, he ends up looking like a good guy, his feet of clay quietly hidden under the table.
Today we hear from Simpson’s attorney that the eviction was for racial reasons only and that OJ may sue. Ruby’s retort is that he was merely seeking some justice for Ron Goldman’s family.
I have mixed feelings about this alleged incident. Jeff Ruby owns many restaurants in and around my city. In the black community his rep is a bit tarnished. Seems every time there is a “black” event downtown, like the Jazz festival or black family reunion, Mr Ruby is known for closing his restaurants to take “inventory” or “vacation.” He has even been picketed for such actions in past years. He always denies the allegations, because “some of his best friends are.......” He does know a lot of black athletes and in other times, Ruby and Simpson would be photo op buddies, with Simpson gifted with tab at all Ruby establishments.
But if the closing incidents had happened only once, I would say, well, maybe coincidence, bad timing on the part of the restaurant. After all, what businessman closes his doors to making money? But it keeps happening and he is not the only one downtown who reacts like that. But they say, they’re not racist, just, well...I don’t know how they alibi themselves. I don’t patronize people who obviously don’t want my money.
Anyway, back to OJ. I am totally convinced he killed his ex-wife. He is reprehensible. I don’t understand how he could even have an entourage of twelve people who want to have dinner with him. I wouldn’t want him in my restaurant either. But I would serve him if he showed up. He was found not guilty. He is protected by double jeopardy laws.
Ruby was grandstanding. He saw a chance to grab the spotlight and took it. He got lots of free publicity for his restaurants. At Simpson’s expense, he ends up looking like a good guy, his feet of clay quietly hidden under the table.
5.03.2007
Ten Men Talking
Well, the first GOP “debate” is over and it went well:
If you deny evolution,
if you think Ronny Ray-gun was the best president, ever, and refuse to criticize Bush, or other members of his evil cabal,
think gays and lesbians are abomination,
think stem cell research is murder,
don’t think women have enough brains to make good decisions when it comes to their own bodies,
Think Alito and Roberts will do great things from the Supreme Court bench,
think congress has a right to mess in private lives like what happened with Terri Shiavo,
continue to equate the Iraq quagmire with a war on terror,
are willing to go to war with Iran tomorrow, despite the messes in Iraq and Afghanistan,
and feel this administration is doing a good job..
They all hate Hillary and one of them (sorry, they all look alike) told Joe Scarborough that every man on stage would make a better president than Hillary Clinton. The answer also shows that she is the one they fear the most. They all ranted against Hillary health care, circa early 90's. They all took pot shots at Bill and most of them voted to impeach him. They all accused Democrats of being soft on defense.
If Hillary gets the nomination, I’m willing to bet that it will be a very negative campaign. Men turn into "mean girls" and get bitchy, when challenged by women, we all know that.
Did anyone stand out.....Mitt Romney looked presidential...but it was that idealized, calculated look of what a president should look like. Listening to him....he’s got the Joe Biden slime factor going on.
Rudy, Rudy, Rudy....got buried in the shuffle. He didn’t stand out or have a chance to stand out. He was trying to be everything to everyone. It’s not working. He doesn’t seem really interested in the job. I think he likes campaigning as long as it holds his interest, nothing more.
And if the GOP hands Rudy the nomination it will illustrate just how hypocritical republicans are when it comes to making moral judgements. Rudy’s so tainted, he should be a democrat.
John McCain....tried too hard. I think the parade has passed him by and he can’t catch up.
As for the rest of them, well, we needed some comic relief....I found myself wishing for Newt or Fred or even Arnold to jump on stage..
If you deny evolution,
if you think Ronny Ray-gun was the best president, ever, and refuse to criticize Bush, or other members of his evil cabal,
think gays and lesbians are abomination,
think stem cell research is murder,
don’t think women have enough brains to make good decisions when it comes to their own bodies,
Think Alito and Roberts will do great things from the Supreme Court bench,
think congress has a right to mess in private lives like what happened with Terri Shiavo,
continue to equate the Iraq quagmire with a war on terror,
are willing to go to war with Iran tomorrow, despite the messes in Iraq and Afghanistan,
and feel this administration is doing a good job..
They all hate Hillary and one of them (sorry, they all look alike) told Joe Scarborough that every man on stage would make a better president than Hillary Clinton. The answer also shows that she is the one they fear the most. They all ranted against Hillary health care, circa early 90's. They all took pot shots at Bill and most of them voted to impeach him. They all accused Democrats of being soft on defense.
If Hillary gets the nomination, I’m willing to bet that it will be a very negative campaign. Men turn into "mean girls" and get bitchy, when challenged by women, we all know that.
Did anyone stand out.....Mitt Romney looked presidential...but it was that idealized, calculated look of what a president should look like. Listening to him....he’s got the Joe Biden slime factor going on.
Rudy, Rudy, Rudy....got buried in the shuffle. He didn’t stand out or have a chance to stand out. He was trying to be everything to everyone. It’s not working. He doesn’t seem really interested in the job. I think he likes campaigning as long as it holds his interest, nothing more.
And if the GOP hands Rudy the nomination it will illustrate just how hypocritical republicans are when it comes to making moral judgements. Rudy’s so tainted, he should be a democrat.
John McCain....tried too hard. I think the parade has passed him by and he can’t catch up.
As for the rest of them, well, we needed some comic relief....I found myself wishing for Newt or Fred or even Arnold to jump on stage..
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