S&G - Obama Said WHAT?

I'd been doing a lot of running around this morning, and got home just in time to hear Obama giving a speech. Before I could change the channel, I heard him talking about "patriotism". In his words, Lincoln suspended Habeus Corpus and Roosevelt interred the Japanese-Americans in the name of "patriotism", and anyone who dared disagreed was deemed unpatriotic. Obviously, Obama doesn't know the difference between Patriotism and National Security. And he wants to be President?

I got an email from a friend, who's on the left, who was upset that he found out about Congress legislating incandescent light bulbs out of existence by 2013. Everyone must have the energy-savers by then. I know of at least one case where one broke in a bedroom and the clean-up because of the mercury in the bulbs cost over $2,000. I wrote him back welcoming him to the Nanny State and his reply? And I quote: "I try to follow the more important news items, not every petty law that Congress comes up with! This is an ill conceived law." Apparently it never dawned on him that it's the petty pissant laws that are stripping our freedoms.

Whoever it was who first came up with the term "common sense" was a f'kwit.

S&G - George Carlin R.I.P.

A comic master of the English language, George Carlin, passed away this week. I loved Wonderful WINO Radio, with Al Sleet, the Hippy Dippy Weatherman and the way he pointed out the foibles of the language, but sadly, in my opinion, in his later years he ceased to be funny and turned into a bitter left-wing old man. Even so, he still had nuggets of brilliance.

Even tho the opposition has withdrew from the runoff election this Friday, Robert Mugabe is going ahead with the Zimbabwean election. Since few, if any, of the opposition voters will show up, Mugabe should squeak it in. Mugabe 1, Zimbabwe minus several thousand.

The Beijing Olympics have been in the works for many years and are just 2 months away. It has just dawned on the international press that they may not be allowed to do any filming or interviews outside of the venues unless escorted to pre-arranged propagandists. What a surprise!

Speaking of Beijing, China has now passed the U.S. in chucking pollutants into the atmosphere - and they are exempt from that sacred document, the Kyoto Protocol. China burns vast amounts of dirty coal with no attempt to scrub the smoke. The athletes taking part in the games should find breathing a bit of a trick.

And my daughter, Attitude With Legs, has hit a new high (or low, depending on your point of view). Her left leg has stopped working completely and the other night she fell and knocked herself out. My Sidekick, God Bless Her, called an ambulance and then called us. They checked out her head but found nothing (a family joke), gave her a double shot of happy drugs and sent her home. She's now in a wheelchair for the next 2 weeks until the operation, which hopefully will keep her out of too much trouble.

S&G - Election? What Election?

Yeah, I know - I've been MIA again, but I gots an excuse. My daughter, Attitude With Legs, is going thru back pain worse than mine and I've spent the last week or so driving her from one doctor to another, one clinic after another. It wouldn't be so bad if I didn't have to get her walker in and out of the car all the time! She's set for surgery early July to remove two bad discs and fuse her. She's naturally scared shitless about the surgery, but it should make her a whole bunch better then she is. There are millions of successful operations of this type, and she has her support system on hand - I live less than a mile from her and Boy Wonder isn't much farther.

My favorite tyrant, who turned his nation from the breadbasket of Africa into one of the poorest, with inflation over one million percent, is supposed to be in a runoff election later this month.

So far, the Zimbabwe army and Robert Mugabe's supporters have intimidated, arrested, beaten, tortured, mulitated and murdered opposition supporters. Now he's finally come out and said what everyone knew from the beginning, and this is a direct quote from him released by his own people:

"We shed a lot of blood for this country. We are not going to give up our country for a mere X on a ballot. How can a ballpoint pen fight with a gun?"

Ya gotta love it!

Meanwhile, the Supremes have decided that the prisoners at Gitmo are covered by our Constitution. Say What? Will this cover all the prisoners being held in Iraq and Afghanistan as well? These assholes aren't criminals to be charged - they are prisoners of war who have committed war crimes and unless there's a prisoner exchange (not f'kin likely!), they stay put until the war is over and can be repatriated unless a military tribunal decides they get the chop.

Angelina Jolie has her panties in a wad. She's chucking a hissy at Disney - because they haven't had a black princess in any of the animated films. What an ass. Doesn't she have anything better to do?

And there's been ads running for some outfit called "Nothing But Nets", that claim sending mosquito nets to Africa and Asia will stop malarial. Right. Don't drain stagnant water or spray to kill the bugs - heaven forbid! Spending your sleeping hours under a net will protect you all day long!

Finally, there's one outfit I just have to comment on. There's a company called Cash Call who will lend you money without any background checks or collateral. But if you're quick enough to catch the fine print at the end of the ad, the average loan of $2,600 is paid back over 42 months at 99.25% interest! I haven't seen the Mafia loan sharks or a man with a gun do that well!

Some Fun, A Great Loss

First the loss - Bo Diddley passed away this week. Every rocker has, at one time or another, stole riffs from him and they all owe a large debt of gratitude to him. I'll miss him and that box guitar.

Now for the Giggles:

Two idiots decided to break into a house in Green Bay last week. Only problem was it belonged to a Packer's running back. When one of the burglars entered his bedroom, the running back cold-cocked him with a bed post, and the other guy was arrested just outside. The guy who entered the bedroom is expected to live, but it's touch and go.

With all that's going on about the Military Tribunals, can someone please tell me what the status of Iraq is? Is it a War? A Police Action? Something else? If it's a war, then all the jokers in Gitmo are POW's and should be held until the war is over. Although - it wouldn't break my heart to see Khalid Sheik Mohammad swing from a short rope.

So far, United, Continental and other airlines have grounded up to around 95 jets each, cutting flights to places like Las Vegas and Orlando. They're also firing a shitload of staff, and doubled or tripled the price of round-trip tickets. Right - that'll make me want to get on a plane, now that there will be fewer flights, all overbooked, and less staff on the planes! At least one airline is considering charging fares based on how much you weigh! I can foresee some serious slap-downs on that one!

And one of favorite subjects - side effects of drugs on TV ads:

- An asthma drug that might cause asthma-related deaths,
- Sleeping pills that could lead to driving while asleep, and
- An Osteoporosis drug that might cause blood clots and death by stroke!

Finally, if you haven't seen this, a drunk driver fell asleep at the wheel and plowed into the back of a cycle race in Mexico, killing at least one and injuring 10 others. The police showed up just in time to prevent the other cyclists from lynching the guy. An AP photog was in just the right place at the right time:




Oops!

Dis 'n Dat

Well, I checked the paper this morning and I wasn't in the Obits (dammit!) so I might as well empty my spleen.

Last night I saw a show about the Mongols motorcycle gang, and how they "demand respect". It made me think about all the rap songs, pro atheletes and communities in general where the term "dissin' me" has become almost a mantra. What has happened where kids and young (and not so young) adults believe that they automatically have a "right" to be respected?

Sorry, Waldo, but with me, you have to earn my respect - otherwise you're just a pathetic turd.

Now that the price of gas is hitting the $4.00 a gallon range and diesel about $5.00, whatever happened to all that "Blood For Oil"? Aren't we supposed to sucking every drop of Iraqi oil out of the ground and shipping here? And on a related subject, something that truly makes me want to go postal is the fact that, when oil on the Futures Market for July and August goes up, the price at the pump TODAY goes up to those levels. These people should know that I have She Who Must Be Obeyed, and I'm not afraid to use her!

California's penchant for goofy laws, along with the general political atmosphere, has always given me reason for not moving there. Now they're upping the ante - if you live in an apartment, you're not going to be allowed to smoke in your own home for fear of leakage of smoke into the hall and killing people. Yes, I'm a smoker, and I believe I have a legal and ethical right to smoke. Every case of lung cancer is automatically linked to tobacco smoke, yet how many of us in our 40's, 50's, 60's, etc, grew up with asbestos all over the place? Guess what asbestos causes?

California is also looking at re-working it's legal pot laws, while the Feds still claim that marihuana has no medicinal uses whatsoever. I've lived with back problems for about the last 30 years, and in the past - damn, it must be at least 15 years or so - I used pot because it was better than morphine or any other drugs I'd had for relieving back pain.

Finally, being homebound most of the time and daytime TV being so wonderful, I tend to watch VH1 Classic a lot. Occasionally I'll hear a song that I hadn't heard for at least 35 years or so. Yesterday they had a Tom Petty concert on and in the lyrics of one of the songs I picked up a gem that fits my family perfectly:

"If he gets lucky
A boy finds a girl
To help him to shoulder
The pain in this world."

I wish I would have written that - I just can't remember what song it was in (that short-term memory thing again). Oh well, an internet search should find it for me.

Addendum - I found it - the song is "Wake Up Time" from his "Wallflowers" CD. Looks like I have some shopping to do.