Nice Digs. For Sale Cheap.

Have you ever seen Sheryl Crow's house in Nashville? Go here. Cruise around the site. Look at the pictures. Watch the videos. Nice place. It comes with 150 acres of pretty nice pasture land, big swimming pool, tennis court, home theater, recording studio, a garage for a lot of cars, stables for a lot of horses, indoor riding arena. Probably close to some nice bike paths too! If there aren't enough bedrooms and bathrooms in the mansion for you, there's a guest house with even more. Plus, there's undoubtedly places for all the "little people" to stay too. In my opinion, it beats the hell out of the jungle room in Memphis.

She bought it six years ago. It doesn't look like it's too much older. She tried to sell it for 7.5 million dollars. Didn't work, so now she's auctioning it off. It might go for as low as a million dollars. There's a reserve price though, like on Ebay. I bet nobody get's it. Speaking of Ebay, maybe Meg Whitman would be interested. She's not doing anything and I bet she'd like to move.

If Nashville, Tennessee is the place for you, hurry and get your bid in. Also, it's probably the only chance anybody will ever get again to fuck Sheryl Crow and enjoy it.

Thanksgiving Traditions. Muslims Can Enjoy It Too!

Abraham Lincoln proclaimed Thanksgiving Day to be the last Thursday in November of 1863. He did it to buck up the nation and remind them, though not overtly, that the Civil War was coming to an end, successfully, for the Union. He also did it to help kick off his re election campaign, one that a lot of people doubted he could win, to a term in office he would not be able to fulfill. The Civil War was not a popular war and never less so than at the end of 1863.

Later, the Jewish merchant class took up the Thanksgiving holiday as a celebration they could support without blatant hypocrisy and use as a kick off for merchandising during the following Christian holiday season.

The whole tradition of commemorating the Pilgrims first harvest in an new land by inviting the local indigenous people to a big feast, has never been really documented and is likely a big pile of shit.

Enjoy yourself anyway. It's as good a holiday as any other. Probably better. Even church goers, while they work it into the program, like they do with every other God Damned thing there is, tend to keep the Sky Faerie stuff to a minimum on Thanksgiving.

Eat yourself sick. Get good and drunk. Watch football. Call your brother's wife a whore. Make fun of your sister's husband for being a sissyboy and inadequate provider. Then, stomp out mad or if it's your house, kick everybody else out, continue drinking until it's time to terrorize the children and beat the wife. It's traditional.

Is Good Enough, Good Enough? Laid Back at Staples.

I like the Lakers this year. They have a lot of good players. Nobody is the super star. Different guys have good days every game. Everybody seems to get along. There don't seem to be a lot of personal issues. Everybody is playing like they'd rather see the team score points than themselves. I like that they play clean.

It's a long season. It's just starting. Anything can happen down the road. Probably will.

If they keep playing like this and don't have too many injuries, they have a good chance to get to the Championship series. That would be great.

Phil Jackson is a good coach. I think he probably has a lot to do with it.

The Lakers spend a lot of money to get the players that they have and keep them happy. That doesn't always work but it seems to be, this season.

Chop, Gut and Pluck

If I was the President, I would kill a turkey on the South Lawn, gut it, pluck it and have the Chef roast it up for Thanksgiving Dinner. Michelle and the little girls could help.

That's what the turkey was raised for. What good is it otherwise?

Do You Mind Being Groped?

Do you mind the TSA security procedures at airport boarding gates? In principle, I'm opposed but I can't honestly say they bother me. Unless it's really crowded, it doesn't take that long. I don't mind being groped. I can see where some people might but I'm just not that kind. The worst part is taking off my shoes. There used to not be any good way for age challenged individuals like myself to get them back on afterward. I had to awkwardly do it leaning against a wall so that I didn't fall over or just sit down on the floor and do it then lunge ungracefully back on my feet. Now they have chairs and benches at the other end where older travelers can re shoe with a little dignity. So I'm OK with it.

I don't think it does much good though. My carry on stuff is always full of contraband. Either they don't see it or they just don't care. Either way, I'm sure a determined terrorist could raise a ruckus if they wanted to on any flight, anywhere.

I don't think they really want to. If they really did, there would have been some planes blown up. The Department of Homeland Security is a big waste of money, as far as I'm concerned.

Thanksgiving

It was Thanksgiving Day. I was probably 12. My Mom was going to cook a dinner. I'm sure some people were going to come over later.

I put on my Billy the Kid jeans, a wool sweater over a T shirt and an old oversize cotton flannel shirt that used to be my Father's over that, it was cold out, a pair of US Keds, said I was going for a walk and was out the door.

I walked West out of my tract to Gilbert. There I picked up the Red Car track line that jogged a little to the North all the way to Highway 39, up around to Cerritos, where the Red Palm, Gypsy Fortune teller house was. I knew a guy that swore there were whores in there. I was sure he was right but never knew for sure. I was too shy for whores and later on, too cheap. Then North From there. At Hobby City, up around Lincoln, I started to wonder how much farther I should go. I wasn't tired. I've always been a walker. When I got to Knott's Berry Farm, it seemed far enough. He had built this replica of Independence Hall on the East side of his property, with a big lawn and pond. I sat on a bench there and watched the ducks for a little while. Then I walked home. I'm not sure how far that is. More than twelve miles for sure, not close to twenty.

By the time I got home dinner was over. Whoever had come for it was gone. Nobody said anything. I took a nap. Later I had left overs and then went back to my room and read.

What Will Republicans Do?

It will be interesting to see how Republicans interpret their mandate next year.

If they are serious about cutting the deficit, thy will have to tackle middle class entitlements. Property taxes for all homeowners will have to be reflective of services received. Programs like Prop 13 in California, which allow long time homeowners to pay far less tax than recent purchasers will need to be eliminated. Fees paid by those who use a disproportionate amount of government provided services, infrastructure and resources must reflect the actual value of what they receive. Home mortgage interest deductions on income tax will also need to be eliminated. Public sector pay, benefits and pensions will need to be drastically reduced. Medicare and Social Security benefits must be controlled and curtailed. War and military spending must be cut. Monetary policy must be tightened. Corporate and agricultural welfare programs must be abolished. Interest rates must be raised, bailouts for entities public and private that go belly up must be stopped and what money has already been given out must be recovered quickly.

Simply repealing Obama care, abolishing social services, educational subsidies and entitlements to the poor will not make a dent in the budget deficit. Most of the money that the government pays out goes to people who genuinely believe that they have earned and are entitled to every cent of it. I bet some of that money goes to you. I get some. We all do.

Another legislative emphasis that the Republicans have to address are on social issues. Fully 35% of the American public expects them to move to outlaw abortion, stamp out homosexual civil rights, make a secure place for the observance of religious moral law in secular life and amend the Constitution to deny citizenship to native born children of non citizens, not to mention getting rid of the aliens themselves.

If they address and act on all of these things, they will satisfy their base. Things won't be that bad. Probably no worse than they were in the immediate post war period of the late 40s and early 50s and maybe considerably better. We already have a lot of the infrastructure we need. A lot of housing is already built, it just needs to be utilized differently. Eight people could easily and comfortably live in my house. The power and utilities won't go away, people will just have to use less. The internet and satellite TV are everywhere and a lot of people will make them a big priority, I bet. We aren't going to go back to a segregated society overnight and homosexuals aren't going to be driven back into the closet. America isn't going to become a theocracy, nobody goes to church or really gives a shit about God. I don't, do you?

If our money inflates enough and personal income decreases, imports will decline, exports will increase, employment will rise and America will be on its way back from the brink.

I don't personally think much and maybe not even any of this will happen. The American people are spoiled and the politicians elected by them will continue to give them whatever they want. Deficits will remain high. Productivity will remain low. All the middle class entitlements will remain in place. Eventually, the rest of the World will foreclose on America's debts and we will default. There will be a complete fiscal, monetary and governmental meltdown. It's not the end of the World. History is littered with episodes like this. Iceland is broke, cold and isolated in the middle of the North Atlantic. They don't have a damn thing anybody else needs and aren't likely to anytime soon. I haven't heard that they're eating each other there yet or even the dogs. It happened in France and Italy about every six months for generations. They seemed to like it. It happened to Germany after Word War I. Five years later, the Third Reich was in place and everybody was happy. Well, almost everybody.

Me, I don't really care how it goes. I'm eager to find out though. Bring it on.

Controling the Message

We've been at war in Afghanistan for a decade because of the 9/11 attacks on America. The number of people in Afghanistan who have even heard of the 9/11 attacks is statistically insignificant. The few people in Afghanistan who have heard of the 9/11 attacks unanimously believe it was carried out by Jews. Nobody there, including President Karzai have any idea why we have invaded them. They have no idea why anybody has ever invaded them even though invasions have been frequent. They can't read. They aren't religious.

Bristol Palin claims she is a struggling teen, single mom, just trying to make a place for herself and little Tripp in a cold, cruel, World. She's is, in fact, a young woman from a wealthy family, a millionaire in her own right, with the kind of income stream that most highly skilled professionals never reach. She can't read. She isn't religious.

If you go to the Five Guys a block from my house and order a Little Hamburger, small fries and small Coke, it'll run you ten bucks and have 1500 calories, virtually all of it from fat, starch and simple sugars. The people that go there can't read. They aren't religious.

Buy'em Up, Sucker

General Motors has recently closed a couple more of their automotive divisions. There are several derelict former GM dealership lots currently languishing around my town. Some of them used to sell cars that now aren't made anymore, some they still make but I guess not as many want to buy as used to. I actually know one guy who owns a Buick. It's not that big of a car but manages to convey an unmistakable impression of heaviness. If you don't look too close, a lot of the plastic looks like chrome.

GM says it has a plan in place to make them profitable again. If you believe that's true, they are floating a big new stock offering and maybe you should get in on it.

How fucking stupid are you? That's the big question here, not whether or not they're ever going to turn another legitimate profit.

New Years '66-'67

I had just turned 15. School was out for a couple of weeks. I wasn't working that night. I had asked around about New Years Eve parties and had vague addresses of four written down on a scrap of paper.

There was no way my old man was going to let me drive anywhere but nobody cared if I walked out and about on a Winter night and I had no curfew. Off I went.

I walked miles and miles that night. I only ever found two parties. The first one was for smart kids. It was parent supervised. Chips and dips and soda pop. No music. I wasn't in the same league as the kids at this party but they were pretty friendly. They were impressed that I was there on my own, that nobody had dropped me off or would be picking me up later. I had a long talk with a Jewish girl named Gail Foltz. I had known her for years in school but we had never been friendly. I could see she was trying to see what made me tick. She seemed disappointed that I didn't have any special interests, had not considered where I was going to go to college or thought about what I wanted to do with my life. She never asked me about what I liked to read. I wonder if she even considered reading a fun thing. She was a clean and plumply pretty girl. Probably had about thirty pounds on me. We were clearly not turning each other on. I wasn't sure exactly what that meant at that point in my life but was very sure it wasn't happening. To be honest though, Gail was a lot friendlier to me after that night, at least until the end of our Senior year. At that time, yearbooks had come out. I wasn't letting anybody sign mine and was writing the exact same inoffensive blurb in anybody else's that asked me. The reason was that a lot of people had written a lot of druggy stuff in my Junior yearbook, my parents had read it, became concerned, searched my room, found a couple ounces of marijuana and made my life Hell on a continuing basis. I explained this to Gail and she felt that she should be an exception. I explained that I wasn't making any exceptions. She never talked to me again. She blew an artery in her beautiful brain a few years later and died. I always felt bad about that. Anyway, after an hour or so at the smart kid party I walked on and on and on.

I finally found another party. It wasn't that far from the first but I had wandered wide. It was later, maybe 9:30 or 10. This was more like the kind of party typified in the movie Dazed and Confused, decades later. No parents around, mostly it was taking place in the garage and backyard of the house. There were quite a few people there, you couldn't miss it. I went in, I figured they might kick me out but probably wouldn't beat me up, what the hell.

There were some girls my age there but not many and no boys, they were all Juniors, mostly Seniors. I wandered around, nobody talked to me. I got a few hard looks but mostly they were only disconcerted, like what was I doing there. Surprisingly, one guy talked to me, was even kind of friendly. I think he was just amazed I had the balls to come in and was trying to figure out if I was brave or just stupid. The kid's name was Randy. Everybody knew him. He was my high school's current legendary athlete. Lettered in virtually every sport and won a lot of games seemingly single handed. Little guy though, not much bigger than I was at the time although he seemed a lot bigger and older to me. He had no idea who I was and had to ask my name. I was flattered that he bothered to ask. He moved on pretty quick.

After I had wandered around a little more, watching the antics and grab ass going on, I figured I better leave before anybody started to take offense at my continued presence. I had sidled over to where Randy and some of his Senior buddies were huddled. I could hear them talking. They needed more beer. I was kind of surprised. There were always ways to get alcohol. I went closer and told them I could get all the beer they wanted. They didn't believe me at first. I insisted I could. Money was collected. The order was for six packs of tall cans, all it would buy. I could see there were still a lot of doubters. There was quite a bit of money collected. It would be a very conspicuous purchase for a 100 pound, 15 year old boy to make, late at night, on New Years Eve.

Randy and a bunch of his friends piled me into a car and off we went. They all wanted to see. It was only a couple of blocks, would have been easy walking distance. A little storefront market called The Big Boy. It was right next to the Taco Bell where I worked. It was run by an old Doughboy. He was always there. Now that I think about it, he probably even owned it. I never asked. He never said. We were buddies and when you were buddies with a Doughboy, it meant something. I always brought him a bag of tacos, bell burgers and a burrito, on break, whenever I was working. Always for free, it didn't cost me anything. We'd smoke and joke. I loved the Doughboys. I wish they were still alive. There were never any better men.



Randy and his friends stayed in the car. I got out, went next door to the laundromat and got a wheeled cart and took it into The Big Boy, filled it up with beer, paid my friend and filled up the trunk of the car. Blew the Senior boys away.

We got back to the party with the beer, really breathed new life into it. It didn't make me suddenly popular or anything but I didn't get anymore hard looks. I even had a couple of the beers I had bought for them and nobody minded. I hung around until nearly midnight. It was fun to watch.

Randy was always OK to me after that. We weren't friends or anything but he knew who I was. Things like that make a difference in high school.

Randy ended up at Stanford. The New England Patriots picked him up, even though he was way too small to play in the NFL, because they drafted Jim Plunkett and Randy was his favorite receiver. He played for them several years, even after Plunkett moved on. I wonder if he would remember me now. I bet he would.

Therapy

I have a question for all of you. According to pollsters, those that like Dancing with the Stars are usually conservative and those that like Madmen are usually liberal.

What kind of people do you think like the new TV drama version of Hawaii-50?

My sister likes Rachael Ray's 30 Minute Meals. What do you think that means?

For several years I had a compulsion to watch the wristwatch sales on the Home Shopping Network late at night and then I switched to ShopNBC. I never was tempted to purchase a wristwatch, I just liked the show. I was able to overcome this compulsion by watching several episodes of Esteban's Flamenco Guitar show.

I think maybe I could set myself up as a therapist by talking with people about what they watch and then recommending other things for them to watch instead, that would balance out their personalities. If somebody was watching a lot of Oprah and Soap operas, I could recommend that they supplement it with some Bob Ross' Joy of Painting and Lucha Libre.

I think maybe I could really help some people out. Turn their lives around in a positive direction.

Are you a dying breed?

The kind of nationalistic, faux flag waving and patriotic, fundamentalist Christian political movements that dominated much of 20th century domestic politics in America are, I believe, dying out.

Indications are that most young people, whether they are liberal or conservative, secular or religious, educated or proletarian, are pretty much fed up with it. If this trend continues, in another 30 years or so, there won't be enough of these creeps around to cause anybody any trouble.

This doesn't excite me that much for two reasons. Somebody somewhere with a vested interest in it, will figure out a new and probably even more virulent way to package xenophobic hatred for mass consumption and even if they don't and somehow the World goes all Dorothy and Toto, though I believe there is small chance of that, I'll be dead.

You're probably just that kind of guy

They've been touting an interesting study around the news media. Apparently, the favorite TV show of Right Wingers is Dancing With The Stars and the favorite show of Left Wingers is Mad Men.

I think maybe this is true. A lot of Right Wingers write about Reality TV shows on their blogs and I never miss an episode of Mad men, although I wouldn't say it's my favorite.

It may be that political views, like so many other personal traits are determined by a lot of other factors not related to reason or discourse.

I think there may be good things and bad things about this. Social issues, where feelings come straight from the gut, may always be beyond settlement by consensus and compromise. Other issues, where there may actually be a right course of action, like the need for sustained austerity in government spending and a balanced budget, may be eventually within our reach in a democratic society.

Maybe not but it's nice to think so.

Nancy with the laughing eyes

Nancy Pelosi wants to be the next Minority Leader of the House of Representatives. There are a lot of reasons why she should be. There are even some why she should not.

The bottom line is this. Congressional Republican members hate and fear her as they have no other Democrat in my memory and she can do or say anything that she wants to them without any fear. She just won re election in her liberal San Francisco district, without campaigning at all, in a race against an attractive, intelligent, popular, well qualified Republican opponent, that I wish was representing me, who had a huge nationally fueled war chest, by 80+ percent of the vote.

If the Dem House doesn't make her the Leader, they're idiots.

Sleek and pretty, like baby seals

Earlier this week, during the first big winter storm surge, they held the Nelscott Reef, Big Wave Surfing Classic, outside Lincoln City Oregon. For the first time ever, it was a paddle out only event and also for the first time, it included a Women's exhibition event, won by Hawaii's Keala Kennelly. The swells were 40+ feet.

Cable Sports Networks are really missing an opportunity here, especially now that there are women. Guys would watch this. It wouldn't have to be live. They could splice together a real slick 60 or 90 minute program of competition, background footage and salacious interview sequences of the wet, shivering, battered girls, just out of the surf, peeling off their wetsuits and rubbing the circulation back into their lithe, youthful limbs and show it later.

This is the kind of stuff that they could play over and over again, late at night, early in the morning. Men channel surfing through the wee hours would tune in. I would. It would be cheap to make. There's no big money in professional big wave surfing, not yet. If I had a production company, I'd be on it. Make a fortune.

Throw them all out

Keith Olberman has been suspended at MSNBC for making political contributions to Democratic Congressional candidates. I don't really care about the contributions. That's his business. I'm kinda glad he's suspended though and hope he doesn't come back.

I'm tired of all the MSNBC evening show hosts. I really feel that I've heard all Olberman, Matthews and Maddow have to say. I don't mind Dylan Rattigan but I can see where he's going to get old real quick. I still like Laurence O'Donnell. He hasn't been a major league player for that long. I hope they don't give Andrea Mitchell her own show. I was tired of her before she even went to work for them.

Their daytime anchor, Contessa Brewer is a total lightweight, kinda their version of a Fox newsgirl, only with a bigger ass. The early morning team of Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski need replacing too, as well as all their resident ass kissing panelists. Barnacle is an idiot. If I never see Buchanan again on TV, it will be too soon.

I'm not picking on MSNBC. Fox News is much worse. O'Reilly and all the others over there are exactly the same every day. Sean Hannity and Greta Van Sustern should only work one day a year on Hiring the Retarded Day. You gotta admit that Glen Beck is kinda fun though.

Limbaugh, on the radio is the ultimate boring political talk show host. They might as well play the same show over and over again every day for all the difference it makes. Even a five minute loop would probably work. Most of his listeners have got to be brain plaque sufferers.

These cable news channels, when they present hosted talk shows, should be bringing in new hosts with different ideas and slants all the time. At least that's what I would like. Maybe most people find it comforting to listen to the same old shit all the time.

Little Shepherd

Pope Benny and Boy Georg are going to Spain for the weekend. This is the Spain where they have wild urban nightlife, hookup sex, Gay marriage and free, state subsidized abortion on demand.

What makes the Pope upset is not that this is true in Spain, because it's also now true most places in Europe. What makes the Pope sad is that the Spanish still consider themselves good Catholics and him the odd man out. They think he should loosen up, go to Ibiza, drop some X and freak dance in the discos all night with Georg.

Poor Pope. Sad Pope. His flock has gone on without him. Now there are no Ewes to shear, no succulent lambs to roast on the fire at night.

Why not Madame Speaker Bachmann?

One of the best things about the ascendancy of the Tea Party within the emerging Republican Congress, is that they are going to start demanding leadership positions.

Michelle Bachmann wants to be Republican Conference Chairman, the fourth highest hierarchical position in the Congressional leadership. If she fights for the position with a more wired in member of the Republican establishment, that's good. If she wins the position, it will be even better.

Michelle is my favorite Wingnut politician. She has the kind of vacant, zombie smile and lush body that combine to radiate seething sexual attraction, way beyond Sarah Palin's league. I would choose her over John Boehner or Mitch McConnell any day. I hope the Republicans think so too.

I know it's not an appropriate Feminist sentiment but she looks like she'd be really fun to screw.

Barry O goes on Ryan Seacrest. Meghan McCain doesn't like it.

Maybe he should do a viral porn video with Kim Kardashian. Ryan Seacrest could probably help set that up. Kids would love it, Clarence Thomas would too!

Meghan McCain thinks that it was wrong of Barry O to go on the Ryan Seacrest show and wrong of Ryan Seacrest to invite him.

This seems like a pretty stupid controversy to stir up but maybe it's not. Young people listen to Ryan Seacrest. If you want to get your message out you've got to go where the audience is. If a lot of Ryan's listeners are still too young to vote, that's OK too. You can never start reaching potential voters too young. Look at the Tobacco companies. They knew what they were doing all those years.

Barry O should probably start going on Ryan Seacrest regularly.

Republicans need to get busy.

Every post election analysis that I've seen, clearly states that there has been no change in how the American public thinks about Barack Hussein Obama and his policy statements or other Democratic politicians over the last 2 years. The people that liked him then still like him. The people that didn't like him still don't. There are a lot of each. In 2 years there probably still will be.

The difference in the last two national elections is who voted. The Republicans did a much better job of getting their base out this time. The Democrats did a better job of getting their base out last time. Even independent voters are largely unchanged in their opinions, it's simply a matter of who voted and who didn't.

I don't know a single person who's changed their mind about any basic issues in the last two years, do you? I don't know of a single blogger or media editorial writer that has or a single political figure that shares their views with the public. Do you know of any?

The Democrats have numerically more supporters. The Republicans have more supporters that vote consistently. Republican supporters are older, have a greater sense of personal entitlement and feel more strongly about fewer issues that they feel to be of over riding importance. Some of them don't like the homos, niggers or Mexicans, some want to love and protect the little preborn fetuses, some feel very threatened by towelheads, some think the government should give less money to other people besides them.

Republican leaders feign surprise that the Democrats aren't admitting that they have been wrong and laying down before the Republican electoral onslaught. Why should they be? Did the Republicans lay down after a humiliating defeat in 2008 or 2006? After two years of total non cooperation and calling the Democrats every name they could think of, they have bounced right back. Good for them. They're welcome to come back even farther in 2012 and finish the job but they shouldn't expect any more cooperation from the Democrats than they themselves gave in the last two years.

The elections in two years will likely be bigger elections. More people will likely vote. The more people that vote, the more Democrats are usually favored. The Republicans may need to do more than motivate their base to extend their gains into 2013, they will probably have to change some minds. That's a hard thing to do. I don't change my mind very much. I bet you don't either.

My advice to Republicans is to get busy.

Change

Some people think that change is coming to America. I don't see it.

If Rand Paul and his father were roving around the Ozarks and Appalachians, with several hundred thousand armed militia separatists under their command and Barack Obama was holed up in the White House, selling off America, piece by piece to big multi national corporations and socking the money away offshore, then change might be coming.

That's not the way it is.

You want an analogy of the way America is today, look no farther than the iconic, redneck heartland, Cyrus family. The precociously sexualized Miley's parents are breaking up, not because father Billy Ray is out tom catting around with young girls his daughters age but because mother Tish has been dog fucking the diseased and bestially imbecilic Bret Micheals in the pool house. That's America, baby, in a nutshell. It's not change that's coming, it's just more chancre sores and brain rot.

Balanced Budget

The new Tea Party House of Representatives, led by Speaker Boner, are going to balance the budget by extending the Bush tax cuts and cutting Federal spending.  Only they aren't going to cut military spending.  They aren't going to cut Medicare or Social Security. They aren't going to cut any government employees salaries, benefits or retirement. They say they will repeal Obamacare but they aren't going to have the votes for that. Maybe they can replace it with a plan of their own but to do that it will have to offer even better care, at less cost, to those covered, in other words, a more expensive plan.

If they radically cut the rest of the budget, they might get it down 3-4%. Do you think that will be enough to balance the budget?

I watched Rand Paul's victory speech just now. I agree with every thing he says. The problem is, he's one of those little effeminate, cousin Sidney, tattle tale guys, all mince and high whine. He doesn't have the guts or the balls to get it done. I honestly wish he did.  In this way he is exactly like his father.

The Sky Faery Wants You To Pay For Your Own Abortion

The anti abortion Wingers think they are fighting the good fight. They're idiots. There is no fight going on as to whether Roe vs Wade should be overturned.

There is a controversy as to whether abortion should be funded by the government or not. This is a very different issue and nobody really cares about it but them on one side and abortion providers on the other.

Fight on, Wingnuts! Make those bad girls pay for their own scrape and suck.

Jolly, Jowly Fat Man From The Deep South

Has anybody else noticed? All of sudden, Haley Barbour, the Governor of Mississippi is all over cable news acting the Grand Old Party spokesman. It's no coinkydink.

Do you think that the Republicans are setting him up for a run at the Presidency? It would be a great symbolic contest. Old, fat, White, Southern redneck against the new age, new World, wonderboy of colour. He's real friendly with both the Tea Party insurgents and the entitled, good old boys, under the Republican Big Tent. He gives voice to both traditional religious family values and fiscal austerity. He's smart enough not to use the term "nigra" but nobody thinks his idea of a perfect America is one big multi/culti family either.

It's an interesting strategy. Real polarizing, if that's what they're going for. Might work. Might not. Sarah might fall in behind him. Might not.

Be interesting to see.

Ginger root used to sell for its weight in gold

I walked up the hill and back to vote this morning. It's warm here. Probably not more than mid 70s but full sun and no breeze, seems warmer trudging up and down the hill.

I made a nice cold drink when I got back. Let me give you a tip for when you're making your favorite thirst quencher. Grate a little fresh ginger root into the bottom of the glass before you make it. No more than half a teaspoon, probably less will do. Adds a nice zing. If you are the kind of person that squeezes a lime wedge into a beer, a little ginger works with that. Bloody Mary in the morning? That too. Next time you have people over to watch the Kentucky Derby, add some to the Mint Juleps.

Trust me.

By the way. The poll at my precinct was surprisingly busy. I'm expecting this will be a big turnout for a midterm election. Maybe the results will be as expected, maybe not. The pollsters are usually uncannily accurate but not always.

Which Saw, See or Crosscut?

Some people see the constant swings back and forth by the American electorate that currently characterize our democratic form of government as a counterproductive seesaw and the constant shifting of the balance of power as never giving any one faction the time to get anything done.

I don't see it that way. I see it as a big toothed crosscut saw, that is slowly but surely chewing through the corrupt, wasteful entrenched government that has accumulated and threatens to smother us all. Eventually, maybe even soon, it will be cut loose and fall away. At that point we will essentially have no government and it will be up to all of us to build a new one. It will be painful. There will be suffering and unhappiness. Tough shit. It has to be done. Everybody will have to participate. There will be no entitlements. Nobody, young or old, rich or poor, will be allowed to coast. Most of what everybody once had or thought they had coming to them will be gone. America's position as the World's patriarchal superpower will be gone.

Freedom's just another word for nothin' left to lose.

I predict we'll do all right. In the mean time, have another drink. Smoke'em if you got'em. You'll be busy soon enough. We all will.

Punching out another belt notch.

In condo homeowners associations, especially small ones like I live in, there aren't too many secrets. One of the houses across the street from me has been foreclosed on and owned by the bank now for several months. They haven't been able to turn it over for the kind of money they've been holding out for. The word is now that they are coming down on their price and would accept any offer down to and including $350,000.

If that is what these places are worth now and that's not established, it could well be lower, then most owners are deep underwater on their mortgages. They could walk away and be way better off than if they stayed, whether they can afford to keep paying or not. This opens the door to a lot of new and interesting possibilities. The homeowners associations in complexes like this could easily end up owning most of the houses through liens against unpaid association fees. With relatively few homeowners left to float the association, the associations themselves would quickly become insolvent. It's easy to see how whole condominium complexes could become derelict.

Even if somebody showed up one day and gifted me with all these places, I'm not sure that with the amount of deferred maintenance needed and the kind of rents I could get, that a positive cash flow wold be possible, at least for a few years and there is no reason to expect that values of properties like this will not go even lower.

I should have sold this place 4-5 years ago and moved into a rental in Anaheim. I thought about it. I didn't think things would get this bad. Nobody has ever really accused me of being a visionary.