Quayle Season in Arizona

What did you think of Dan Quayle. I was damn glad he was never President. I always liked his wife Marilyn. She was a hard core holy roller but seemed smart, sensible and willing to get along with everybody. That may not be true. I may have just thought she was sexy. Men project things on pretty girls.

Dan and Marilyn have a son, Ben who is going to run for Congress in Arizona. He was the youngest of their two sons. I remember the oldest one. His name was Tucker. He always seemed like a pretty nice kid. I don't have any clear memories of Ben. He's a lawyer and a venture capitalist like his father. I went on his campaign website. He's real wiry and tousled, like a young Kennedy and he's got an equally slim, tanned, attractive wife. Other than that, it's hard to tell anything about him except he's not a fan of the present government.

I think they should have run Tucker. He speaks Chinese, lived there for a few years and married a girl from Shanghai. A kid like that could run the tables for the GOP.

Kids are the same as always or are they?

I've noticed something about kids today. Some things remain the same. It's the loudmouthed, dimwitted, dickwads who want to be bigshots and run things when they grow up. You know what, they probably will be. That's the way it's always been.

The really smart kids. The ones who get straight As and ace their SATs, you know what they want? It's funny, they want to be things like pharmacists, veterinarians, science teachers, things where the paycheck is steady and you are your own boss. Low key, low stress, low maintenance. Maybe it's always been that way too.

Why Make Fun Of Earth Day?

I'm not that big of an Earth day celebrant but I don't belittle those that are or begrudge their efforts. Everybody thinks that Californians are big ecology and nature nuts, Nothing could be further from the truth. The rape of the environment is one of the main pastimes of Californians  and of our local commercial and industrial communities. We fished the Sardines and salmon out in the 1920s, the tuna after that and everything else after that. It's only been the last decade or so that commercial fishing has been somewhat curtailed and that's only because there isn't anything much left to catch. Squid is very popular right now because they thrive in warm, oxygen starved, polluted, marine environments and we have plenty of that.

Agribusiness operates most of the farming and ranching in the State. They over fertilize and over irrigate, washing large amounts of heavy metal salts into the ground water and wetlands. They don't allow habitat or freedom of movement for native wildlife. As soon as the land they own becomes profitable to develop by builders, they sell it. Most of our forests have been clear cut at least once. Those that have not only survived because the technology didn't exist to get the lumber out. We don't have enough big rivers in this State to float all the logs down to mills. They can take the old growth out with helicopters now. They're working on it. Ronald Reagan's famous quote about the redwoods was that you only needed to preserve a couple of hundred yards on either side of the main roads, that's all anybody cares about, proved to be correct.

There hasn't been a grizzly bear or wolf in this State in over a hundred years. The giant condors are all hatched from eggs laid in captivity. They try to get them to survive in protected habitats but they all die. Monarch butterflies used to migrate up and down the California Coast. It wasn't uncommon to see hundreds of thousands of them settle en mass on a grove of trees in the late afternoon. You see a few around now, here and there. There just isn't any habitat left for a lot of the species of plants and animals that used to live here.

California's a funny place. A lot of people get the wrong idea about it. There's not a lot of old hippies lounging about here, unless they already have a lot of money. You want to live decent here, you need to be making $150,000 a year at least and you won't be saving anything for your retirement or to pass along to your grandchildren. There's not much welfare here. I guess some people still get food stamps. You want to live here you gotta work. Nobody minds if the environment gets degraded. They never did and if you look around that's pretty obvious.

I don't mind if people want to celebrate Earth day. What harm does it do?

Presidential or Too Fat?

Do you think that Haley Barbour could be the leader that the Republicans are looking for in 2012? I think he could be. He's believable, unpretentious and comes across as a modest, self effacing guy but you can tell he's pretty smart and well informed. That's pretty much the opposite of all the current Republican bright lights. It's hard to believe he has any worse skeletons in his closet that the others do. Good old boys from the South send all kinds of subliminal messages to the Republican base. You just can't get any more subliminal than Mississippi.

He stands out in the crowd.

A Truly Horrifying Prospect.

I have recently come to a personal peace with religion. I can't even remember a time when I harbored any serious religious beliefs. Because of that I have always wondered if I suffered from some serious deficit in lieu of the fact that so many others, many of whom seem thoughtful and intelligent did.

I think that most people don't believe. They either pretend to, for some kind of personal benefit or are so desperate to believe that they lie to themselves. In any case I believe that religion is all based on lies, from top to bottom.

So, here is what may well be my last blog post about religion. No great loss. My religious posts have never been wildly popular anyway. You may just want to quit reading now, because this is pretty terrible.

One of the most popular and well publicized religious tenants of recent times is that God rewards faithful warriors of Islam with a large number of virgins when they arrive in Paradise after dying in the cause of the Faith. I can never remember how many but it is an ample number although who can say what an ample number is, given the length of eternity.

Where does God get all these virgins? I mean really, how many people, male or female could possibly have ever made it to Heaven while still in the virginal state? I'm not saying that virgins wouldn't make it to Heaven. I'm sure they could, maybe even most of them but really how many could there be. Based on my knowledge and experience, past a certain age, there just aren't that many virgins. Even if a person is more than normally repellent to prospective sexual partners and doesn't hardly ever get laid, that doesn't make them a virgin.

Then it dawned on me. What about all the preborn souls of the millions of aborted fetuses that we have been churning out? They would certainly go a long way to solving God's virgin shortage. Could this be part of God's great plan?

What do it all mean, Mr Natural?

I warned you not to read this.

Supreme Roulette

The Supreme Court is going to hear a case that will decide whether a school sanctioned group can discriminate against granting membership to homosexuals. I don't care how they rule. If they rule against, then it is a blow to conservatives who believe they have a coalition on the Court. If they rule for, then other student groups could also discriminate against admitting fundamentalist Christians and that could be fun.

I just want to see how they will rule. I don't think Roberts was to smart taking this one.

Who Speaks?

I just have one question about the Tea Party movement. There are no official leaders . The events themselves seem to have no agendas other than that brought by the participants although sometimes there are speakers contracted.

There are three people who have been allowed to act as spokespeople for the Tea Party movement. Nobody ever appointed or elected them but nobody is contradicting their right to do it either.

Sarah Palin, Glen Beck and Michelle Bachman. How does that work?

Invigorating

I woke up this morning to a cold shower. Bad thermocouple on the water heater. Got it from Home Depot. In the long run, you pay extra for the cheap shit they sell, in cold showers and short circuits.

We're back in business now. I didn't mind not having hot water when I was young. Different story now. Being old is definitely more tolerable with hot water.

He's like the Joey Buttafuoco of Movie Stars

This is the best entertainment sex story since Richard Gere's gerbils. There may prove to be several exciting installments. I can hardly wait.

Man oh Man. Who doesn't like a good Steven Seagal action adventure story, with an exciting climax or maybe even more than one.

Jindal Staffer and Boyfriend Beaten Savagely.

Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal's campaign fundraiser and her boyfriend, were severely beaten about a week ago after exiting a swank restaurant in New Orleans. This lady's leg was broken in four places and the boyfriend suffered a concussion, a broken jaw and nose.

I'm not making light of the injuries that this young couple suffered. They are terrible and will take many months and substantial therapy to recover from.  They will bear the scars and perhaps residual deficits for life.

I hope that the NOPD are able to identify the attackers, arrest and put them away. It won't help if they spend their time looking for violent Left Wing fanatics. That is the word that swept across the Wing Nut Web. They are either ultra violent Gay commandos, you know, the real butch ones or SEIU thugs laying in wait  to do the Union's dirty business. They may be the same guys that torched Sarah's Church last year in Wasilla. Everyone knows that those Lefties are blood thirsty killers intent on targeting heterosexual, Christian, White people and setting off an internal war of racial/religious/sexual preference, that will end up with all the straight, Christian, White people in relocation centers bound for the Obama's gas chambers.

How do they know that the attack on these two fine young people was politically motivated? It's obvious, they were wearing their Palin buttons.

After you finish reading the Freeper post that the link at the top of this post will take you to, don't forget to hit the link on that page to the Hayride. Those folks have a slightly different take on the  origins of the violence. They believe that it was perpetrated by a violent radical group that runs a collective lending library. When you're talking murderous Lefties, everyone knows it's the readers who are the most dangerous. These Hayride guys are not wrapped up in blind Obama hate though, they explore all the possibilities of possible origins of the evil doers, including the possibility that they were just a pack of rogue anarcho-commies left over from another era, who were just passing by and sent into an uncontrollable rage at the sight of Young Republicans in love.

What about Mad Men?

Who watches Mad Men on AMC? I liked it the first season. The Don Draper character was enigmatic and mysterious. The melodrama was laced with black comedy.  The aspects of the culture at that time that we now consider politically or culturally incorrect were emphasized in a manner arch and mundane at the same time.

I don't like it so well now but I still watch it or will, whenever the next season of seven or eight episodes appear.

I am sorry that the Drapers are apparently getting a divorce but only because it may mean that there won't be as much screen time for their daughter Sally. I think that she has turned out for me, to be the most interesting character on the show.  She would have been 3 or 4 years younger than me at the time that the series depicts. Close enough. Her circumstances and experiences weren't so similar to mine but I knew a lot of kids like her and there are enough similarities to my own life to make it interesting.

Sally isn't  a little match girl growing up with any kind of material want. She doesn't even have any other children to be envious of in terms of familial affluence but her life seems sterile and lacking in expression of genuine affection or concern, especially from her Mother, Betts. It is obvious to her from early on, the values that her parents try to teach her have nothing to do with what is really right, fair or  likely to bring any real satisfaction into her life. She struggles through life, trying to make up her own rules and goals by trial and error. She does bad things but not out of any kind of evil intent. Sometimes it's to get attention and sometimes it's just existential experiment. You can almost see the lessons she is learning and the implications they will have on her development. She's turning into a much different person than her parents expect. Isn't that the way it was for all of us that passed through the late Fifties and early Sixties, on the excruciatingly long road to puberty?

There are a lot of girls like Sally today, women too but it's different now that they are a common part of the culture. Now the little girls teach each other to be that way. It's not the same as working it out yourself, even if you end up at the same place.

Pope Blocks Mothers From Conceiving Healthy, Happy Children

When an egg is fertilized by a sperm, the genetic material of each combine to form an embryo, which becomes a new, genetically complete organism.

The egg also contains mitochondrial DNA, which is passed on intact to the embryo. Mitochondrial DNA is responsible for facilitating cellular "housekeeping" activities that keep the individual cells functioning and healthy. If the mitochondrial DNA sequence becomes broken, the cells may not be able to function satisfactorily and females passing on defective mitochondrial DNA will not be able to conceive viable children. Scientists have now been able to replace damaged mitochondrial DNA with healthy DNA from another woman's egg, so that women who previously were unable to conceive a healthy child are now able to do so.

This is a good thing, right?

Wrong. The Catholic Church believes that this procedure constitutes an abomination against God and has proscribed it.

The Church used to be a repository for human knowledge and the cradle of science. Man, what happened with that?

I think maybe the Catholic Church could use a little new mitochondrial DNA of its own, don't you?

I feel so used

This is going to be a stupid post. I don't care. About 40 years ago this TV show came on called Family. It was a very appealing show and so were the characters. The two daughters on the show were played by Meredith Baxter and Kristy McNichol. I thought they were both very cute. Kristy McNichol was maybe 5 years younger than I was and Meredith Baxter was maybe 5 years older. I didn't consider Kristy age appropriate at that time so I didn't lust after her but I went ahead and lusted after Meredith Baxter. Since then, she has always been one of my favorite actresses and I've always thought she was very sexy.

Now, there was never really much chance that I would even ever be in the same County as Miss Baxter, much less get a chance to fuck her but lust is lust. A boy has to have something to fill his empty hours.

So several months ago Meredith Baxter announces she's a lesbian. Since then, whenever I think of her I feel ashamed and unclean, like I did something wrong. You know, lusting after a lesbian. I feel like I should have known, somehow. Kristy McNichol announced she was a lesbian many years ago. That has never bothered me, because even though I found her, if anything, even more attractive than Meredith, I had chosen never to lust after her.

Man, we really fuck ourselves up over the stupidest things, don't we. At least I do. I guess I can get over it.

I wonder if Sada Thompson was Gay?

Update: I received a comment challenging whether Kristy McNichol had ever come out as a lesbian. I could find no documentation that she had. I was wrong. Sorry. It's not the first time for me on that count. I honestly thought I remembered her doing it. I won't blame it on getting old. I've never been one of those eidetic memory guys. My brain paints with a pretty broad brush and always has.

If Kristy ever reads this blog, I would like to take this opportunity to beg her forgiveness, even though I doubt it will ever be required. She's not a regular visitor.

The National Pastime

At ball parks all over America it's opening day. When I was a kid, baseball was the national pastime. Everybody played baseball, whether they were any good or not. Geeks and feebs played, even if it meant they were jeered and catcalled. I know this from personal experience. One armed guys played. Old men that smoked 5 packs a day played, until they had to be carried off the field. When we weren't playing, we went to watch others play. Little League, Pony League, Legion ball, neighborhood men formed sand lot teams, every town that could support one had a minor league team of some kind. Kids chewed bubble gum just so they could collect and trade baseball cards. Baseball cards were like money for little boys. We used to gamble with them. You could trade them for stuff you wanted that another kid had. Baseball cards had the players stats on them and we memorized the stats, as well as the players names and who they played for. Some places football was popular, some places basketball, even hockey if it got cold enough where you lived. If your dad dressed up in a white shirt and tie and drove a nice car to work, maybe you watched some golf or tennis.  We even had time to watch phony sports on TV, like roller derby and wrestling but baseball was the main game. The World Series was the most sacred week in America. The games were tuned in on the radio at every place of employment. I had teachers that would tune in while we were in class, of course, they were men teachers. Nobody questioned the rightness of this.

Baseball has fallen far. A lot of neighborhoods, soccer is more important than baseball. We had heard of soccer but we didn't know the rules or positions. We never played it. Nobody did. Jesus Christ.

I don't know why baseball isn't big any more but things have sure changed.

Prop 8 will stand in in 2010

It's official, an initiative to overturn Proposition 8, will not be on the ballot in California next Fall. It's OK with me. It can wait until 2012. The homophobe club is one of the last really good ones that we have left to beat on the conservatives with. I'd hate to lose it before we absolutely have to.

It's kind of like amnesty for illegal aliens. As soon as it happens, you know that most of them will immediately become Republicans. They are about the only ones left in this country that realize the value of hard work, at whatever kind of shitty job you can get, in pulling yourself up by your bootstraps and making a better life for yourself. I wouldn't mind seeing it happen but I'm not in any great rush for that either.

If conservatives were smart they would embrace the cause of groups like Gays and illegal aliens but it's fine with me if they don't. I may have to send a little money to Sarah Palin to make sure they stay on that straight and narrow path.

Nah, Sarah has plenty of dough. Twelve million bucks and counting, from what I hear.

Cilantro? That's the least of it

Here's an article about cilantro. The gist of it is that it tastes rank to some people. I agree that it tastes a little foul but I love the stuff. It's in a lot of Latin, South Asian, Middle Eastern and Mediterranean dishes, so I guess I'm blessed by the God of foul tasting food.

When you think about it, a lot of foods have what might be characterized as off or rotten smells and tastes. I like a lot of those too. Ripe cheeses and other dairy products like buttermilk and yogurt qualify. How about salted anchovies and other various pickled seafood? Kalamata olives fit right in there. Do you like kim che? Nobody can deny it's pretty foul. Have you ever tried durian fruit from South East Asia? Wow! Can't forget to mention balut, from the Philippines. How about beer. Remember the first time you tried beer? Most people don't like it. I was hooked from the first quaff. I like all that stuff. I probably would like foul tasting foods I haven't even had yet. Bring on the Mongolian fermented mare's milk. Perhaps people like me have an extra set of taste buds that let us enjoy these types of foods. Shit eating dogs probably have the same thing.

I guess I'm just a lucky guy.

So Far So Good

I didn't get any responses when I wrote about my tomato plants last week. That's OK. I'm going to write more about them anyway. I really like my tomato plants.

Both of them are doing well. The Celebrity is growing more vigorously than the Better Boy but both look good.  It's too early for worms and bugs yet but the snails got right on the job, so I'm vigorously baiting them and so far, have them at bay.

Both are already blooming. A lot of the advice literature recommends pinching off the early blossoms, until a lush foliage is achieved but I'm not. I want the fruit to set as soon as possible. I'm too old for any more delayed gratification.

If they don't get generous watering every other day, they start to get droopy. I'm right on it. I'm sure as the plants get bigger,  the weather gets warmer and the fruit sets on, it will be required every day. I can do that.

I'm beginning to think that if I meet with success in my initial tomato growing efforts, I will get a few more plants in late May or early June, then when the first plants taper off at the end of the Summer, I'll have two more to continue fruiting into the Fall months, maybe through November.

Bushitler

Here's an article that reports on a deposition filed in a US Court, by the Chief of Staff to former Secretary of State Colin Powell, a man holding the rank of Colonel in the US Army, that President Bush and many of his top Cabinet members knew, from the start, that most of those held at Guantanamo were guilty of nothing,  had no valuable intelligence worth gathering and posed no more danger to US national security than any other random citizen of their respective countries of origin.

What do you think about that? Doesn't surprise me at all. What, did you think it would?

Ape Man Loses Job

Here's an interesting article about a well respected Old Testament Biblical scholar who lost his job teaching at an established non denominational Reformed Christian seminary in Florida because he endorsed the theory of evolution.

I've always thought of Reformed Protestants as fairly prickly but never thought of them as particularly wing nut creationists or Young Earthers. I guess I was wrong.

So far, I think the theory of evolution has held up pretty well. I'm willing to go along with it, at least until something more believable comes along.

Do you believe that God created the Earth and every living thing on it in six days, four thousand years ago? Let me know because I've always had a pretty hard time with it.

Home Grown Tomaters?

I've never been a big gardener. I'm not the type. Still, who doesn't like home grown tomatoes? The local nursery had a real good deal on some tomato plants that were getting too big for their starter pots. I picked up a Celebrity and a Better Boy for only a few bucks apiece. They are green, bushy and beautiful. I put them in five gallon pots with a good vegetable potting soil mix. It's been a week now and they are doing really well.

I am committed to keeping them watered, fertilized and picking off the worms daily. From what I read, I could easily get twenty or thirty pounds of tomatoes from each one, maybe even more than that.

Hope springs eternal.

If I was smart, I'd have planted a few good quality marijuana seeds. Probably make a few thousand bucks, off the books. The way things are in California now, the Cops wouldn't even probably care.

Big Polish Plane Crash

The President of Poland, his predecessor and much of the country's military leadership died yesterday in a plane crash in Russia.

A terrible tragedy, to be sure. The truth is, though, there are no slavering wolves at Poland's door. Maybe they can get a fresh start. That wouldn't be a bad thing.

It wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing if it happened in a lot of countries. I wonder how many of our top political and military leaders would fit into one plane? Not enough. There are a lot of the fuckers.

Electile Dysfunction?

A couple of Bill Clinton's smart boys have suggested that the Republicans have peaked too early and won't make the big gains they are counting on in the Fall elections.

I'm not sure that's true. You can always build on a successful strategy. There's no "too early" in politics.

The Republicans have done two things. They have focused on eliminating big government and have allowed the social conservatives free reign to expand their themes of super patriotism, coupled with fundamentalist religion and a return to what they see as the comforting, strict traditional moral codes of the past.

Eliminating big government is a winner, the problem is that they do not identify where they want to cut. They do not say they want to curb the tremendously expensive Medicare and Social Security entitlements. They do not say they want to scale back excessive government pension benefits. They do not want to target the black hole of military spending. They certainly do not suggest increasing taxes to balance the already huge government deficits that accumulated in the Bush administration after the balanced budgets of the Clinton years. Any future Republican administration would just be more of the same that we already have, not less.

The social conservative stuff does not expand their base, it simply panders in an effort to keep the wing nuts that they already have by default. These people are certainly vocal and politically active but they in no way constitute a viable majority of the voters. The population is becoming more liberal socially, not less. People are becoming more accepting of openly Gay relationships, of people adopting non traditional lifestyles, of those who do not affiliate with an organized religious group. Most people may feel that abortion is not a choice that is right for them but that is a different stance than denying others to make that choice for themselves. In the end, social conservatism is seen as oppressive and un American.

I wouldn't want to prognosticate the electoral outcomes of 2010 but I don't think the Republicans will be big winners any more than the Democrats. I also do not yet see a strong move to support any third party, although I think independents may do very well regionally and that may be a very healthy trend.

Mitt For Justice

John Paul Stevens gave his retirement notice today. There will be a Senate fight over the next nominee before the November elections.

Republicans hated Stevens. Like the also hated Earl Warren, Stevens is a life long Republican from a Republican Family. He is probably the smartest guy to ever sit on the Supreme Court. He was one of FDR's boy genius code breakers in World War II.

Nobody wants a Supreme Court, Senate confirmation fight before the elections but we're going to have one anyway. I think Barry should nominate somebody who would drive the Republicans crazy. Mitt Romney would be a good choice. There has never been a Mormon Justice. If he was nominated the Republicans would climb the walls, chew the carpets, rend their garments and foam at the mouth.

The Real Meaning Of Easter Is That Jesus Isn't Convincing Enough And Never Was

Jesus' disciples hung around him all the time. Some of them had been hanging around him for years before he got crucified. They heard him speak his wisdom. They saw him perform miracles. They were witness to his selfless and sinless life. Then, after they saw him crucified they saw him rise from the dead and walk among them before ascending bodily to Heaven. They stuck their fingers in his wounds and wiggled them around in there.

You would think that experiencing all of these things as the close companion and confident of the one and only begotten son of God would have impressed upon them the nature of Jesus' Godhead. It did not. Instead they lost their faith and sank into despair.

It was sometime later that all the disciples were together and the Holy Spirit descended upon them and entered into each of them. They experienced fiery tongues of flame all around them but were not consumed by it. When the Spirit entered into them they writhed around on the floor and spoke and understood all of the different languages of mankind. When this experience was over, each of them were forever changed and only then did they go out into the World to spread the word of God. This entering of the Spirit of the Lord into all of the disciples at the same time, after the death of Jesus, was completely involuntary on their part and is known as the Pentecost.

If actually living with Jesus and being a witness to his life and times was not enough to make believers out of his own disciples, why would anyone today want to become a Christian based on the ministerial efforts of the pathetic charlatans that pass for Christian leaders. Charismatic Christians believe that in order to become a Christian, you must experience a Pentecost of your very own. This makes perfect sense to me. There is no other way that a rational person could believe in God.

I haven't ever had an experience even remotely like this although I have been with others when they claimed that they did. It's not the same as having it yourself.

No abortion for raped 10 year old Mayan girl

This is the first I've seen of this case but we'll probably be seeing more as it unravels in public scrutiny. The Catholic Church has done it's best to restrict access to abortion in Mexico although there is little popular support for the prohibition. Mexico is not a popular democracy and that's exactly the way the Catholic Church likes it.

The biggest mistake the Mexicans made with the filthy black robed scum was not killing them all when they had the chance because now they're back and worse than ever. The Legionaries of Christ are especially strong in Mexico. The priests that make up this order are every one, degenerates, perverts and rapists, preying on the poorest and weakest members of society and aiding the wealthy to do likewise..

Somebody Likes The Ladies

The RNC paid out a little more than $2000 for a night out at a lesbian bondage night club in West Hollywood. Those lesbians always run a nice honest business. No clip joints. You always get your money's worth.

$2000. Somebody had a real good time. I'm sure it was nothing perverted or anything like that.

Brain Dead in Cancun

The intimation in this story is that Mexicans smashed this kids skull in while he was sleeping in the pool area of a luxury Cancun Hotel. This is very unlikely. Mexicans might kill you, under a lot of different circumstances, for any number of reasons. This scenario is highly unlikely. They wouldn't do it in the courtyard of a high end tourist hotel. They never would have left the kid alive to potentially recover and tell his story.

This kid was involved in some terrible mishap involving other vacationing American kids. It may or may not have been with malicious intent. It probably was an unfortunate and unforeseen alcohol related calamity, that none of the others involved in wanted to own up to.

German Bishop Accused Of Beating Orphan Girls

My favorite Catholic news story of the day. You can't even make up stuff this good.

The Washington Times

When I was a boy, there were some real conservative newspapers. We had one locally called the Santa Ana Register. A lot of areas in the country had conservative newspapers that could be subscribed to. There aren't too many really conservative newspapers in business any more.  Ours is now called the Orange County Register and it's pretty mainstream.

The most often cited source of conservative journalism, nationally, is the Washington Times. This small D.C. newspaper was going under, decades ago, when it was bought by Sun Myung Moon, later day Jesus clone and leader of the World Unification Church. I was never sure why he bought the paper and transformed it into the premier organ for Wing Nut news in America but he did. It's lost hundreds of millions of dollars over the years but it is a solid source of far right wing news and editorial content.

Sun Myung Moon is old and about to die. His family do not want to continue the expense of supporting his messianic religion. They have no interest in owning America's most conservative daily paper. I'm sure the family would like to sell the paper and at least recoup some of their investment but I can't imagine any group who would be willing to buy such a grossly money losing venture. The family has in the last few years instituted draconian budgetary cuts and wholesale staff layoffs. They will rid themselves of the enterprise itself eventually. It's only a matter of time.

Rupert Murdoch bought the Wall Street Journal several years ago and it, while always fairly conservative, has taken a hard jog to the right. It doesn't have the staff to churn out the mass of content that the Washington Times does but I guess it will have to do because the Washington Times is on the way out.

Easter Chicks

When I was a little boy, during Easter week, they would sell a lot of baby chicks, ducklings and bunnies. A lot of places gave them away as a promotional item. A lot of times they would dye them pink or blue. We used to gather up the chicks after Easter around the neighborhood and keep them in our back yard. If you fed them, a lot of them would survive. They would get big and eventually we would eat them. We didn't want the bunnies or ducklings. Too much trouble.

You don't see that so much any more, at least around where I live. I think it's probably illegal. It's certainly a bad idea, unless you eat them like we did.

Did you have chicks, bunnies and ducks at Easter when you were little? What happened to them? Did you eat them?

Did you turn off your lights for Earth Hour?

I read about Earth Hour during the few weeks before it happened. Mostly I read about it on Right Wing web sites. I don't know anybody who participated.

Earth Day has been around for decades.  I used to know a lot of people that participated in Earth day activities. People would get together at parks for rallies. In the beginning it was a big thing to line highways, hold hands and people would supposedly be linked by hand all across America. Nobody does much any more for Earth day.

I don't think anybody anywhere is really very interested in ecology, pollution, reduced energy usage or any of that kind of stuff any more. Ditto for Global Warming or the acidification of the biosphere. It's not that it's not happening because it is, just nobody cares. Maybe eventually they will but I don't see it happening any time soon. For now, people with a few extra bucks buy a Prius. That makes them feel good about themselves.

Mostly, Earth Hour was just for the Wing Nuts to have something to hate on and scoff at, like they do with Barry O. Whatever gets them through the day. It's OK with Me.

Hoppin' Down The Bunny Trail

It's Palm Sunday, the beginning of an important week in Christian mythology. According to legend, it was on this Sunday of the year when Jesus made his triumphant entrance to Jerusalem. By the following Sunday, he had been condemned, tortured, executed,  dead two days and on the third day risen and in so doing, brought salvation and eternal life from God to anyone who becomes a Christian. Nifty.

I don't believe any of that stuff. Even if it turns out to be true, I don't believe that those who claim to be the contemporary purveyors of Christianity have valid claim. Those that I can identify are universally foul. If I find myself at some point facing the judgment of God, I would rather do so on my own, on the basis of my own thoughts, words and deeds in life, than allied with criminal scum like that.

What about you? How do you want to face God? By yourself or hand in hand with your chosen Christian leader?

Here Come De Judge

The most intriguing development in the national health care culture war, is now the stated Republican goal of challenging the constitutionality of Obama Care in the Supreme Court.

I would very much like to see that, wouldn't you?

God May Not Be Dead In Ireland But On Good Friday, He Will Be Drunk

This is the biggest blow to Catholicism in Ireland in a hundred years. Football and beer, Hurrah!

Republicans Believe

Most Republicans believe Barack Obama is an illegal alien, they believe he is a Muslim, they believe he is a Communist. Many believe he is the Anti Christ.

This must be a very stressful time for them.

Joe Lets Loose With The Explicatives

Does anybody mind if Joe Biden uses the word fuck as an adjective? I don't. Then again, I use it all the time myself.

It's not like he told Barney Frank to go fuck himself, which they have Dick Cheney on tape doing. I don't even mind that very much. Dick probably was a little grumpy at the time but I don't think there was any malicious intent. It probably wasn't a slur against Frank's homosexuality. Cheney himself is at least as Gay as Barney Frank. I suppose you could make technical argument that this is not true, since his penis hasn't been functional since the early Seventies but it seems like kind of a thin argument.

I say let Joe turn loose with the blue talk. It probably helps make him feel young and hip and I think that's important to him. People seem to understand.

I wish my house had a zip wire

I'm not a big fan of safety, in any form. Life entails risk. Anything you do. The important thing is to evaluate the risks, get your mind right and go for it.

I don't think seat belts for anybody or car seats for small children should be mandated. When parents ensure that their children are strictly supervised and accompanied every moment of the day, I think they do their children a grave disservice.

Man, I love this. These people have been doing it every day for hundreds, maybe thousands of years. It can't help but have had a beneficial effect on the gene pool.

If I was that little boy, riding in my sister's gunny sack, I'd be looking for my own forked stick. How hard can it be?

Chuck Noris Says Obamacare Is Not Healthy

Chuck Norris says that Obamacare is really an evil Communist weapon to destroy our patriotic culture of country flea markets, stock car racing, extreme fighting leagues and wholesome country two step road houses. He says the real patriots will be fading away from the public eye now for awhile because Barack's secret Commie Negro army of World domination is out to get them. It's going to be like the second Valley Forge, really.

He wants to remind you, if you are going to join the other patriots in underground seclusion, remember to take plenty of his picture filled books and multi media material along. It probably wouldn't be a bad idea to take some of his exercise equipment and nutritional supplements as well. You don't want to get flabby or lose bone mass before the final war for American freedom gets started.

I don't think Chuck has to say any more abut this. I believe him and I'm getting ready to go. I wonder why he isn't coming with us?

Secret Minions

The last couple of days I've been reading that ACORN's broke, closing down all their offices and will soon be defunct.

It seems like just last year ACORN was Barack Obama's secret Communist army of Negro prostitutes and crackheads, that he was going to empower through his Presidency and use to enslave righteous White America. I remember they were building concentration camps to ship us all to, with gas chambers and sterilization clinics.

I guess I must have got that wrong.

John McCain's mental status stabilized

Senator John McCain said this morning that by passing the Health Care bill, the Democrats in Congress had poisoned the well of bipartisanship and that they should not expect much further cooperation from Republicans in the future.

This leads me to believe that the rotting process that has previously been taking place in his brain is now complete and the residue has now dried and shriveled and is resting on the bottom of his brain pan, like a petrified dog turd.

Babykiller Caller

The search is on to identify the Republican Congressman who shouted Babykiller at Bart Stupak on the House floor when he announced he would support the reconciled Health care bill for passage.

I don't care who it was. The important thing is that everyone sees he doesn't have the courage to admit it. If it never comes out who it was, it's even better, since most of the Republican side know who it was and all will be tarred with the same brush for aiding and abetting the act of cowardice. What could be better?

These old Republican guys are better than the stage villains in old timey melodramas. Maybe they will spit on some more old Black men, continue to point out the wife of the President's resemblance to a gorilla. I hope against hope for the day they refer to his daughters as watermelon munching, shuffle dancing, pick-a-ninnies. That would probably get him elected to a third term and his birthday made into a National holiday.

Not With A Bang

Even though there are headlines in every newspaper in America proclaiming last nights passage of the reconciled universal health care coverage bill in the House of Representatives and it is receiving ample coverage on television and the Internet, I am surprised at how restrained the reception of it is on all sides of the issue.

Those in favor seem unaware of how huge a victory it is. Those opposed are downplaying it's importance. I have even read some reaction on the Right indicating that this legislation can not stand, going so far as to posit that the American public will reject universal health care coverage and that it will be the issue that tips the balance of political power back to the Right in next November's elections.

The lack of affordable health care is a huge issue with the American public. It is something they will not refuse. The inclusion, sooner rather than later, of a low cost public option into the program is inevitable. Attempts to turn back the clock on this very enticing national entitlement will be the political kiss of death to anyone who tries. I'm not being partisan in any way here. I'm just saying what is.

This is the brass ring that politicians have been grasping at greedily for three quarters of a century, that eluded even the wily Clintons and this morning, the Kenyan mud boy is sitting in front of his kraal on the Potomac, holding it in his hot little hand.

This will secure his place in the history books. A second Obama term is all but assured.

This is no small thing. No mixed blessing.

Health Care Passes Congress

After more than a year in office, the closest any Republican politician has come to accepting the legitimacy of the Obama presidency is the occasional grudging admission that there is no actual proof available that Barry is an illegal alien.

The Democratic health care initiative passed Congress this weekend. Whether you like it or not, it's one of the major pieces of legislation to come out of Congress in the last hundred years. It will change the way health care is delivered in America forever. Not a single Republican voted for it.

Democratic Congressman and Civil Rights folk hero John Lewis, was spit on and called Nigger by Tea Party protesters against the health care initiative on the Washington Mall, Saturday. The same protesters jeered Congressman Barney Frank and called him Faggot. Shortly before the initiative passed, Sunday evening, a Republican Congressman called out "Baby Killer" at Congressman Bart Stupak, because of his support of the bill. There is not a stronger pro life, anti abortion voice in the United States Congress than Stupak.

Republicans maintain that Obama and the Democrats are in big trouble and will lose at the elections next November.

We're all in big trouble. We're all going to lose. More than just at the elections next November.

Nailed

It'll be Easter soon. I'm not too big, personally, on religious observance. I don't begrudge it to others. There are places in the Philippines where the men beat themselves with barbed wire flails, drag crosses through villages, then nail themselves up and hang on them to commemorate Easter.

A lot of tourists go to the PI to see this at Easter time. I've never been but I'd like to.

Big Weekend

It looks to me like this weekend will bring the culmination of President Obama's first major political initiative, win or lose, on national health care.

I have no idea how it will go. Do you?

On one hand, I believe that everyone should have access to health care, both routine and catastrophic, that is affordable. On the other hand, I'm not sure it's the government's job to provide it. I'm not sure the government should be doing a lot of things it does.

I don't like a big military and constant war. I don't like a welfare state, corporate or socialist.

The thing that worries me about health care the most is the seeming inability of the system to distinguish between legitimate care that allows someone to go on with a satisfying and productive life and hugely expensive care that preserves life in name only and to no real purpose. Who wants to take on the role of God and make the necessary codification of who gets to live and who doesn't?

Trailer Trash Babylon

I don't know if anybody is feeling sorry for Sandra Bullock over her current domestic problems. They shouldn't.

It is very common for women who have little personal insight, as well as extreme vanity and self absorption, to not be satisfied to simply establish sexual and emotional relationships with members of the opposite sex offering sincere, honest, genuinely caring interaction. Instead they need to flatter themselves that their alluring charms are sufficient to hold even the most hardcore carousing degenerate in thrall to them, even within a lifestyle that includes long periods of domestic separation. It says something about just how fucked up Sandra is that she picks a guy like Jesse James to try and work this trick on. They don't come any more impossible than Jesse. The guy is a total sexual sociopath.

It'll make good tabloid journalism. These kind of people aren't really vulnerable in the normal sense. Their careers are likely to be enhanced by the sensationalism. Hey, everybdy had a good time, got a few nice tattoos. No harm done.

Revealed

Anybody in the market for a religion should check this one out. It's very exclusive. It doesn't require any great intellectual gifts or leaps of faith.

You do have to drink toxic snail mucous. If they heated it up enough it might denature the protein and make it less poisonous.

Wild Immorality

"Free Love" was part of early Feminist and Women's Sufferage movement rhetoric. The thrust of it was to free women from the obligation to marry according contractual arrangement made by fathers of young women, without consent. It didn't even mean that parents couldn't decide who a woman would marry, just that she had to consent first.

The term "Free Love" was used by conservative religious and political factions for decades, as a taunt that feminists were immoral and sexually libertine. If you have ever tried to fuck a Feminist, you know this is not generally the case.

Catholic Pain Continues

The Catholic Church continues to have a lot of sex problems. That whole gay pedophile priest thing just won't go away.

It's not good to be a Gay Catholic. You can't have sex at all, unless you can make do with heterosexual sex but only if you're married and only to have children but if you're Gay, you're not supposed to have children because you might make them Gay too. You're not allowed to live with another homosexual, even if you don't have sex and must never, under any circumstances raise children, whether they're yours or not. Catholic homos used to be able to become priests and nuns but they're discouraging that now, at least they say they are.

It's not that great being a heterosexual Catholic either.

The Catholic Church used to make a lot of castratos because they sing nice. It always seemed cruel to me but ya know what? If you're going to try and be a Catholic, castrato might be the best way to go.

Dead In His Favorite Chair

I got a call from a friend of mine's daughter the other day. She was going through his stuff and found my name and number. He died a while ago. Big heart attack. She found him in his favorite chair, in front of the TV one morning and realized he was dead after trying to rouse him to go to work.

He was a college dorm roommate. We were as close as brothers for a few years. I really liked him. We were never so close after college. That's the way it goes sometimes. Life gets in the way of friendship. He went through three wives in quick succession and had a couple of kids. The third wife, the one that stayed around longest, didn't like me much. When she left him, we became friends again but it had been over twenty five years and it really didn't take.

I used to go over to his house and sit with him in the evening every once and awhile. Drink a beer. Watch a game on TV. Talk. Maybe twelve times in fifteen years. It's been a couple of years since I've done that. I remember thinking to myself, the last couple of times I saw him that he didn't look good. Kind of gray. Classic cardiac. I thought he might die soon. I take no pleasure in being right.

He's the first one of my friends, that I liked, to die of more or less natural causes at the end of what could at least nominally be considered a full life. He wasn't going to be able to retire. He was too deeply in dept and had too many obligations. Maybe it wasn't such a bad thing.

Bye Bye George. You were a great friend. We had good times.

It's Important To Respect The Faith Traditions Of Others

Faith traditions differ greatly, geographically as well as among those with different cultural, social and economic status.

I thought it was interesting that Sir Elton John believes that Jesus was a very handsome and charismatic Gay man. You can see how that concept would be very popular with the kind of affluent, well traveled, celebrity crowd he hangs out with. It might even be pivotal as to whether they accept Christianity or not. I don't see any harm in it, do you?

In the rural regions of Australia, there is a lot of resistance to idea that Jesus was a homo. It has generated a lot of public anger against Elton John. You can see how this could happen. They have a different concept of what Jesus was like and aren't a sophisticated bunch. The Australians would be very surprised themselves, to learn there are places in the World where people don't believe Jesus fucked sheep.

Americans Less Prejudiced. Still Hate The Godless.

Here's a graph I found on the Secular Right site. It's a very good site. It purports to show American willingness to vote for members of common minority groups as President. Americans are more willing than ever to support people in high public office who are different from themselves.

They still distrust atheists though. I'm hurt.

Mormons are the only group that people show a increasing distrust toward. I wonder what that's about? I like Mormons a lot more than I used to. I'm an Atheist though, so it probably doesn't mean much.

A Lost Man

In 1950 I wasn't born yet. In 1960, a census taker came to my parents house. I remember him asking questions and recording the answers on a notebook. In 1970, I was living in a college dormitory. In 1980, I moved out of an apartment in Garden Grove where I had lived for a few years and into a condo I bought in Santa Ana. In 1990 and 2000 I was at the same address where I live today. I've never seen a census taker or received anything in the mail from the Census in my adult life.

Who the fuck are they counting? Not me, that's for sure. I'm not hiding.

Goin' HD

I said to my wife at Christmas that in the Spring, we would get an HDTV. I don't really yearn for one but I think she'd like it. Everybody else has one now. I think it was worth the wait, prices are lower now than they have ever been. Quite a bit lower than Christmas.

There seem to be two choices. Either get something at the very top of the line or a Walmart no name brand, that looks decent in the showroom.

The argument in favor of the top of the line is that it's not that much more expensive than mid range and that bottom line, I can afford it.

The argument in favor of Walmart is that it will probably be OK for a year or two and then I can buy something probably much better than is available now at any price, cheaper than almost anything now.

There is a third option. SONY CRT HDTVs still have the best HDTV picture available, especially in rooms with good natural light. People in Newport Beach, one town over from me, bought a lot of those a few years ago and I can find one used over there, probably for only a few hundred dollars. One of them will probably last for years. The problem with the SONY CRTs is that they weigh about two hundred pounds and have special purpose stands to hold them that weigh almost as much. A lot of work to haul it home and set it up. I can probably borrow a pickup or van and a furniture dolly from somebody but it will be just as much of a hassle when I get rid of it. Like having the Statue of Liberty in the living room.

Anybody got any suggestions? What TV do you like? What's no good?

More Tarzan, Less Cheeta

The big problem with Barry Obama is that he does not want to push through his agenda until he has substantial support from the Right Wing of American politics.

Who knows, maybe he will bring them around yet but it doesn't seem that way to me.

The Right Wing has never been shy about bulldozing through legislation that is opposed by and detrimental to the majority of the people.

Progressives have not been traditionally shy about going in for the kill when they have the advantage. If that had been the case, women would not vote, America would be racially segregated, Divorce, contraception and abortion would be illegal, there would be no employee protection in the workplace, raw sewage and industrial wastes would still be dumped in the nearest river or bog.

Barry should just start cramming it down their throats. Let them filibuster. They don't have the balls to make it stick or the votes to stop it.

You're cleared for landing

One of the big stories in the news is about a little boy that went to work one day last month with his air traffic controller father, at JFK International Airport. Daddy let him talk to some planes. The Father's supervisor and coworkers were there. They thought it was cute. So did the pilots the little boy talked to.

There's going to be a big investigation now and probably a whole lot of new rules and regulations. The father will probably lose his job and likely never work as an air traffic controller again.

I don't see the problem here. I used to go with my Father and Grandfather to work and all sorts of other places. I did things under their supervision that a little child would never be allowed to do on his own. How many little kids sat on their fathers lap in the driver's seat of the car on a long family road trip and drove? I did. I think it was pretty common. You'd never see anybody doing that with their little kids today.

It wasn't that long ago that little boys no older or not much older, were participating fully in the life of society. They worked full time in mines, factories, farms and businesses.

I knew this old guy once, he's dead now. He lived on his own for as long as he could remember. As a small child, he lived in the main branch of The Bank of Italy, in San Francisco, slept on a little pallet in a utility closet. There was a toilet and sink available. The bank executives gave him small change. What more did a boy need? He never spent a day in school. He was never even sure of his real name.

When the big earthquake in '06 hit, he stayed with the rubble of the bank and protected the records and assets as best he could. Where was he going to go? It was the only home he knew. The Giannini brothers took notice of him after that and he became a trusted employee. When the bank reopened, he wasn't tall enough to stand at a teller's window, so they put him to researching and verifying loan applications. It soon became evident that he didn't make many bad loans. By the time he was twelve he was acting as a senior financial officer and investing on his own. He often traveled independently for the bank, while still in his teens, representing them in sensitive negotiations all over the country. He never had a high profile job with what would soon become the Bank of America but when he retired, he was one of the highest paid and had a very high net worth. Even after 65 years of service, they tried to entice him to stay on. Just a stupid little boy.

You May Say I'm A Dreamer But I'm Not The Only One

The Luddites want to deny that science has any validity. They want to deny that the observable is real.

There is no global warming. Pollution is not a problem. The fact that most of the World's vertebrate biomass is human has no negative implications for the future.

When I was born, the human population of the World was a little less than 4 billion. A hundred and fifty years before I was born, the population was still a little under 1 billion. Currently, six decades after my birth, the population is fast approaching 7 billion. These are facts. The documented rate of population increase has real implications for the future of human society.

According to the Luddites, the problem is that the birth rate is not high enough. According to some reactionary political and religious authorities, contraception and abortion should be outlawed. Women should stay home and have at least 7 children apiece and a lot more if they can. What's interesting is that a lot of people think that it's a fine idea. They think that the World is still vastly under populated. They must have listened to too much John Lennon music when they were young.

Drink Up Barry

Wing nuts are pouncing on Barry O's Doctor recommendation that he engage in moderate alcohol intake as proof that he is a big drunk. I don't think there is any indication that he is or has ever been a big drinker. I'm sure he has a few cocktails from time to time. If you want to be hip in African American culture and I'm sure he does, that's the way you have to go.

Even if he was a big drinker, he's only in his late 40s and healthy. Even if he whoops it up big time, he won't be in any trouble until way after he's out of the Presidency and who cares about that.

The biggest drinker we had in the White House in recent times was Nixon. LBJ went off the wagon after he was through with the Presidency and pretty much drank himself to death. I hear he liked to smoke quite a bit of Marijuana too. George Bush was a big drunk at one time and I saw video of him and Laura at the Beijing Olympics where he was totally fucked up. He looked like he was having a good time. A guy as rich as he is can't be any stranger to cocaine.

I don't know of too many successful politicians who are teatotalers, in real life. They all hit it pretty hard.

Christian

America is called by many a Christian nation. What is a Christian?

I don't really believe in God, at least not an activist, sentient God like many do. I don't think that Jesus, if he really existed, was any more the "Son of God" than any of the rest of us. I don't think that Mary was a virgin although I guess it could have been a case of parthenogenesis but then Jesus would have been a girl.

I think a lot of what Jesus said was good but not all of it. I'm not sure if Jesus really said or did all the things he is credited with. I don't believe in the miracles. I don't believe he rose from the dead. I don't believe he's in Heaven or that I will ever meet him there after I die. I was raised a Christian and try to follow many of the tenants. Does that make me a Christian? I have some doubts about that.

I think everybody wherever they are or how they were raised knows right from wrong and which one they are doing in any given situation. Does this mean that God communicates with us? Sometimes I think maybe it does. Does that make me religious?

I don't like a lot of people that call themselves Christians. I am uncomfortable with them. I don't like being in their churches. I prefer not to be known as a Christian.

Smart

There is a new study out that purports to show that liberals are smarter, more likely to not believe in God and less likely to cheat on their wives than conservatives.

I wonder how they decided what a liberal and conservative are? I have no idea. I must not be very smart.

Liberals are more likely than conservatives to believe that they are smarter. I believe that. Liberals are always spouting off about how smart they are. Conservatives rarely say they are smart, only that they are right.

I don't think smart means much in politics anyway. Jimmy Carter was the smartest guy to be President in my lifetime. He was and is very religious and would never cheat on his wife. Nobody much liked him. One of the few positive things you could say about Nixon was that he was smart. That never did him any good. Ronald Reagan was never smart and by the time he got to be President was Alzhammered. I don't think he was very religious. He was Gay, so it's hard to say if he cheated on his wife. Everybody loved him. Then there was Bubba. He was a real smart guy, claimed to be religious but would cheat on his wife in a flash. A lot of people liked him, despite everything and still do. Go figure.

Iraqi Christians Persecuted

When Bush/Cheney invaded Afghanistan and then Iraq, ignorant Christer scum in America cheered them on. They cheered as the Islamic fundamentalist Taliban was thrown out of power in Afghanistan. They cheered when we first enlisted the aide of the Shiia to kill the Sunnis and then the Sunnis to kill the Shiia in Iraq.

Hundreds of thousands died. Millions were displaced and made homeless. Ignorant, Christer, pig fuckers kept on cheering.

So after several years of carnage, destruction and genocide, the inhabitants of Iraq have begun to take out their rage and frustration on the Christian population in their midst. They are being killed and driven out of their homes.

The fat, ignorant, pig fucking, Christer, Bush/Cheney loving scum, here in the US, don't understand how those Sandniggers over there, can be so cruel and heartless.

Big Earthquake

As a Southern Californian, I have been through several earthquakes the have been in the 6.0-6.5 Richter scale range. On the other hand, I have never been really close to the epicenter when they happened. Some of these earthquakes caused quite a bit of damage but there was never a huge loss of life.

A lot of long time Southern Californians are pretty smug about earthquakes. They have been through some and been alright. They believe that the building codes and regulations in place are adequate to insure that any earthquake catastrophe will be limited.

The Earthquake in Chile the other day was 8.8. That's more than a thousand times more powerful than anything that has happened around here in my lifetime. There is no reason that an earthquake of that magnitude couldn't happen in Southern California. In fact, it's likely that one will, sooner or later.

Not only will a lot of people die right away in something like that but utilities and water supplies will be cut off indefinitely. There are about 25 million people in So Cal and almost no sources of naturally occurring potable water that you can drink directly from.

It'll be interesting when the big one hits.

You're Dead To Me Fredo. Not A Brother. Not A Friend.

An interesting development in American politics is the complete non cooperation of every Republican Congressional member with the Democratic majority from day one of the current administration. Absolutely nothing is likely to happen legislatively, for the rest of the Obama administration, whether it's three more years or seven.

I wonder if they have considered that when, at some point in the future, the Republicans gain control of Congress and perhaps even the Presidency, there is likely to be a similar lack of cooperation on the Democratic side. They will need to have a greater than 2/3 majority in the Senate to pass even a single piece of legislation and they will need to maintain that majority forever. They will have to maintain the support of every single Republican legislator on every piece of legislation they hope to pass. How likely do you think that will be?

I, for one, couldn't care less if Republicans have good ideas or valuable legislation to offer. As long as they offer even the smallest amount of lip service to the fundy, Christer cranks, I will support a policy of complete non cooperation. I will support any disruptive and blatantly false neo birther, slur campaigns against whatever Presidential candidate they might elect. I will agitate for the non acceptance of any Supreme Court nominee that President makes, no matter how moderate they may be. I will bend over backward to support the most odious and corrupt Democratic factions, even to the detriment of the nation, in order to stop the Republicans from gaining any legislative success.

It's the same as they have done. It's the only fair response.

Your Bible Lesson For Today

Christians get a bad rap a lot of the time. Just because Christianity has been a dominant force in Western society for two thousand years, people want to blame Christianity for everything bad that happened. If that were really the case, then Christianity is also responsible for everything good that happened.

The truth is, that it's people that made everything happen, good and bad. People are also the ones that made up Christianity in the first place, to help them make things happen. Not God, Jesus, his mother or any of the hundreds of saints that have been proclaimed had anything to do with anything and if they did, it was because they were people acting the way people do and not divinely inspired in any way.

I'm not saying that a lot of Christians, especially the leaders, aren't total assholes because they are but they are assholes first and then become Christians when they realize that Christianity can help them to be even bigger assholes than they already are.

So, what do Christianity really mean, Mr Natural?

Don't mean shit, Kid.

Maple Leaf Forever

The Canadian Women's Hockey Team won the Gold Medal in Vancouver yesterday. After they won the final match, they squatted down on the ice, smoked cigars and drank champagne until they were shit faced.

Some people are saying this was in poor taste. Some are pointing out that it's illegal in Canada to drink in public and smoke indoors.

I'm guessing these girls are mostly in their early to middle twenties. They probably haven't done anything much for the last couple years but play and train to play hockey. They probably could have just as well showered, changed clothes and gone someplace else to get shitfaced after the game, if that was what they wanted to do.

What the fuck. They were in the moment. It will be a great story to tell for the rest of their lives. It's what I would have done, probably you too.

As Long As Your Enemy Is Beating A Dead Horse, He's Not Shitting On Your Door Step

Last year I declared the abortion war over, at least for me. I am satisfied that a woman's right to abortion will not be threatened, at least in my lifetime. You may not notice because of all of the continuing rancor but it's true. The anti abortion movement has changed. There is no more talk of reversing Roe and recriminalizing abortion, except in their fondest fantasies. The movement has been toward keeping federal funding of abortion out of health care and making sure all women have the appropriate information available to make an informed decision about abortion. I'm living with that OK.

The Gay rights movement is also coming to an end. Most people in this country are perfectly happy to coexist in every arena of society, with a Gay community that is out in the open about their sexual preferences. Every legal barrier that the Gay community used to face and there were many, has now come down. It didn't take long. Why should it. Gay people are the same people that they have always known and interacted with, in the neighborhood, at work, at church, in the family. The only difference is that now they can openly be who they already were. This can only be an improvement. I don't know how Gay marriage will come out. I've never been friends with anyone that was Gay married. I've only met a few people that say it is something they think they might like to do. I think in the end, if Gay society really embraces the ideal of Gay marriage it will become a reality, at least most places.

I will say again that I am in no rush for the rancor on the Right Wing against both abortion and Gay rights to quiet down. They may think they are doing themselves some good with it but they are not. It uses up a large portion of their available supply of both human and financial resources. It rallies only the unsavory, intolerant and ignorant to their ranks. Just as many people on the Right have abortions or are actively homosexual as on the Left. Everyone realizes this and also recognizes the terrible hypocrisy involved in the never ending fight that the Right constantly puts up about them.

Getting Back To Scratch

From the Ascension of FDR to the Presidency in 1932 until the end of the Eisenhower administration in 1960, there was a consolidation of power within the Federal government in America and an increasing acceptance of this power by Americans. Also during this time the population of America became more homogeneous. The waves of immigration that had characterized American growth for the previous century slowed, replaced by the pattern of undocumented demographic influx that we see today. Large, active population shifts, within the country were completed. The movement from rural to urban areas was completed and the movement from urban to suburban areas was established as a large demographic trend.

What's been happening since 1960 has been interesting. While the Federal government has remained strong, confidence in it has slowly ebbed along with economic strength and productivity. Social class distinctions re solidified. Regional cultures have strengthened.

It seems to me that America is on the verge of some new changes. We have the strongest military in the World but can't maintain its cost. America is losing the World leadership position that it has held since the end of World War II. The Federal Government is about to lose its vast powers. It will lose these powers not because the populace takes them back but because it can no longer foot the bill for them. It cannot maintain the infrastructure, it cannot continue to fund the vast bureaucracy it has amassed, it cannot subsidize the social safety net that the populace has come to depend on. The next period of American history will be characterized by the deterioration of the military establishment and all of the other institutions that the vastly powerful American federal government has built up to sustain itself.

People think that America will be able to reform and rebuild the institutions that are necessary to continue on as a premier state. There is no unity of purpose among the people to do this and even if there was, there is no vision of what a new America would look like and how it would function. There is no immediate potential for the generation of revenue in the amounts that it would cost. Currently all anybody is interested in, is how they can salvage or patch up the individual elements of the government that benefit them the most. That is not a recipe for growth or renewal.

Big changes ahead. They will be interesting to see. If you are a big tea bagging fan of the return of governmental function to local control, you may be very happy. More control may be returned to local governments than you like.

America may become a great nation again. Probably will but it may need to be rebuilt from scratch. Getting back to scratch is going to be a very interesting chapter in our history.

Child Sex Tourism Recommendation

If you're one of those people that like to have sex with twelve year old children, you should go to the Vatican. Twelve is the age of consent there, so it's perfectly legal.

The Vatican is so much nicer to go to than Zimbabwe, Angola, Mexico or the Philippines, which are other places in the World where sex with twelve year old children is legal. Don't go there if you're a homosexual pedophile though. That's not legal. That's nasty. Jesus doesn't like it, although a lot of Catholic priests do.

Gold Update.

Gold and gold stocks have been in the doldrums and trending vaguely lower since Thanksgiving. I tell you what though, given the weakness of other markets and the strength of the US Dollar, gold and gold stocks have both held up much better than I expected. I thought back at the beginning of December that gold might eventually sink to around $900 an ounce on this leg down and I thought that if it got to $900, then it could go lower.

I don't think that gold is going anywhere near $900 anymore. I may start buying next time it gets much below $1000. I do think that it might not bottom before sometime in May, so I'm in no big rush.

I'm no currency and central bank maven but I have not changed my mind that most of the World's currencies are in big trouble and that eventually they will all be caught in a World wide inflationary cyclonic storm of huge dimension.

The place to be long term is precious metals and the most basic and necessary large consumption commodities. Energy, cereal grains, and fertilizer would be my three favorites. If you can afford to buy farm land, now's the time. I'd recommend North Dakota. Precipitation is up, growing seasons get a little longer every year up there and the mean temperature is down. I don't give a shit about the politics of Global Warming or whether we need to control green house gases. It's a documented trend. It's good for the farmers. Go with it.

It's Official

The Catholic Church is run by crazy people. At least in the PI it is.

The PI without prostitutes is like a day without Sunshine.

Long, Long Trail A' Winding

I read another article today about the passing of one of the last few WWI veterans. He was 109 years old. The ones I knew are all long dead. I knew a lot of them decades ago. I liked a lot of them. They were men who knew hard times for a lot of their lives. They were a lot less likely to be judgmental than some who were of a younger age. I don't mean to say that they were men who rewarded or respected failure. They just realized that a man who failed after giving it everything he had, maybe didn't have the intelligence or personal endurance to prevail. They weren't so likely to kick around and make a joke of someone like that. They realized that the failure itself was usually more than enough punishment for a man who had gone through it. A lot of them had maybe gone through that kind of experience and lived to play the game again another day. Maybe even chalked up a win or two before they turned out the stadium lights. I find no fault with that kind of thinking.

A lot of the WWII generation have little tolerance for failure. They like to think of themselves as get it done at any cost or die trying kind of guys. Hard men for hard times. They don't have any time for those that don't measure up. There's something to be said for that but I always found them hard to take and still do. I won't miss them as much when they are gone. I probably won't have to. Many will undoubtedly outlive me.

Investment Advice

Give it to me. If you're making money off something, tell me what it is. I don't see anything I like. I'm sitting in dollars and I hate dollars.

Stocks, bonds, commodities, real estate, precious metals all look like shit to me, at least for the foreseeable short term.

For now, the best I can come up with is dollars.

Something Fishy

When I was a kid, small cans of tuna were 8 ounces, cost about 8 cents and there was a little bit of oil in it. Mix in a little mayo and you could make a couple of sandwiches out of one can. I just noticed today that the small can of tuna is 5 ounces. When I opened it, there was closer to 2 ounces of water in there than one. I cut a slice of bread in half and made a half sandwich. There was enough for that.

So now, for 79 cents or a dollar, you get about 3 ounces of actual tuna.

At what point, I wonder, does the tuna content of a can of tuna become nutritionally insignificant?

A Dream Shattered

When I joined the Navy, it had just become the "All Volunteer" Navy. They had raised the pay for enlistees, a lot. It still wasn't shit. I'm not complaining. I knew what it was when I signed up. I'm just saying how it was. How it probably still is. Married guys did better, especially with kids. They were really trying to attract family men and change the public's image of those in the Armed Forces. It was still tough, even for those guys. Inflation was rampant and prices went up every time you turned around.

It was during those years that I started going to Long John Silver's Fish and Chips. Whenever I was hanging out with my married shipmates and going off base for a meal with their family, there was a good chance it would be to a Long John Silvers. It was about the only place at the appropriate price point that wasn't sandwiches. I ate at a lot of Long John Silver's. A person misses family time when they're in the Navy, even someone like me. I had good times eating greasy fish and chips at Long John Silver's. I get a warm feeling when I go in one, even today. It helps that they haven't built a new one or renovated the old ones in thirty years, so they all look just the same as they did then, only even seedier and with more cockroaches. I still like to go there sometimes, even though the closest one is several miles from my house.

They have a big TV ad campaign right now. You get two crunchy breaded fish with fries and hush puppies for $3.99. How can you beat that?

So I convince the old Lady to go with me. It's not that easy. LJS doesn't give her any warm, fuzzy feeling. We drive over there, even have to go a couple miles on the freeway.

They don't have the special on the menu and deny any knowledge of the TV ad. I have to pay a dollar more and all I get for it is a scoop of their runny, guaranteed diarrhea inducing coleslaw.

Fuck it.

Chosen Folk

Here's a real interesting chart from Arianna. Jews, Hindus, Eastern Orthodox and Buddhists are the wealthiest faith groups in America by far. Way better than faith groups with bigger demographics. Muslims don't do very good at all, neither do Atheists. The biggest losers are members of traditionally Black churches and Evangelical Christians.

Does anybody see the hand of God in this anywhere? I don't but I'm an Atheist and that's about all you could expect from a guy like me.

I gotta tell ya. I was surprised the Mormons weren't doing any better. They are an abstinent, thrifty and hardworking bunch. Not a lot of brainiacs there though, you gotta admit.

Most of us can at least be grateful we're not Jehovah's Witnesses. That would really suck. They must get mostly Food Stamps and crushed aluminum cans in the collection plate.

Glass More Than Half Full

I look at this a different way. 65% of Americans now have high speed internet access at home. 20 years ago most people didn't even have a computer at home and there was no internet to have access to.

Couple of more years, why so many people don't have high speed internet isn't going to be the big question being asked.

We Won't Be Back For Years And Years And Then

I see it here in the Navy Times. They're finally doing it. Women on Subs. We'll see how that goes. I don't think it matters whether it works out good or not. Once they change over, they will never be able to change back, it's a matter of political correctness.

Sub sailors are pretty adaptable. They'll probably make it work.

With "Don't ask don't tell" set to fall, that pretty much brings the Navy into the modern age. It only leaves one group of Americans shut out of the opportunity to serve their country, without discrimination, in the Armed Forces.

You know who I'm talking about, too. Us, old people. The Navy used to be a life long endeavor. There was an overgrown old cemetery on the South end of Mare Island, where I was stationed, that dated back to the middle of the 19th century. I was amazed by how many sailors buried there, died on active duty in their 80s and even a few in their 90's. I'm only 58. I might could do another hitch. Maybe two or three. I can still move pretty good if I need to. I'd be glad to take GCTs again. I'm sure I'd do better than most of the young whippersnappers. I've got useful skills and experience out the ass, unlike the last time I was in and I don't drink nearly as much. Be a good deal for everyone.

I'd love to go to sea again. What about you, Old Gary? Up for another WESTPAC?

Everybody gets a private jet

The President rides around in a huge private Boeing 747. I think the President has had his own private airliner since Truman. Admirals and Generals often ride around in private jets. Congressional bigwigs get private jets.

I think it's a stupid idea, even for the President.

Has anybody here seen the TV show "Criminal Minds"? In this show an FBI team that investigates serial murders around the country, routinely travels around in a luxurious private jet. The fact that this is portrayed as a routine occurrence on the show makes me really mad for some reason. What the fuck is that all about? They could get wherever they need to go just as fast flying economy or even business class, if economy isn't good enough.

I always travel as cheaply as possible. Everybody should, especially civil servants, unless it is some kind of real national emergency. If the FEEBs need to get somewhere quick they can bump me off my economy flight out of Dulles or JFK. I'll understand. They'll get wherever they're going just as quick as on a private jet, 9 times out of 10, without the extravagant expense.

I Used To Know These Twins Named Fatima And Yasmin, They Always Knew What The Other Was Thinking But Nobody Else Ever Did

Turkey is an interesting country. It is the most stable, secular country in the Middle East and at least nominally, a democracy. The reason for this phenomenon, in the Middle East, is that in reality, the country is controlled by a military junta. This has been the case for more than a hundred years, when Army officer Kemal Ataturk led a military coup that dismantled the remnants of the Islamic Ottoman Empire. Whenever things get politically out of whack, the military steps in and restores order and balance. It's often been bloody, even genocidal. Hey, welcome to the Middle East.

The Turkish people have now elected a strong majority government that is Islamic fundamentalist. The government is starting to roll back some of the secular freedoms that Turks have long had. This would normally be the time that the military steps in, makes some religious leaders disappear and scares some secular tolerance into the government.

Maybe it won't happen this time. Over the last few days, the government has placed dozens of highly placed military leaders and their influential civilian supporters under arrest. There may be no coup this time. Islamic fundamentalism may soon get a grip on secular Turkish life.

Most of the reason that Turkey is prosperous is that it is a secular outpost in the Middle East. One where Western businessmen are comfortable doing deals. That may soon no longer be true. Turkey is a strong Allie of the United States for the same reasons. That may be coming to an end as well.

Turkey will be fun to watch for awhile. The geopolitical life of the Middle East is fascinating. Nothing is as it seems and not too many people understand what's really going on, even the major players.

Church Burning Gay Commandos Nabbed.

You probably saw in the news that they arrested a couple of young guys for burning down all those Thumper churches in East Texas. I saw pictures of them. They looked like the same kind of black dirt ignorant, meth snorting, redneck scumbags that Texas is full of. The kind whose parents go to exactly the type of churches they are accused of burning down.

You can never tell about these things though. There's been a lot of speculation that these guys are members of the same Gay Liberation Commando organization that burned down Sarah Hivehead's church in Alaska last year and everyone knows they are wicked clever with disguises and such. It's easy for them. They all have advanced degrees in cosmetology, hairstyling and urban warfare from various Commie beauty schools of the Castro district in San Francisco. There's thousands of them training there to terrorize our homeland and force everyone, even your old white haired mother, to become analsexuals. Mexicans help smuggle them to their terrorist targets, because they hate us almost as much as Homos do. How can you guard against something like that?

I'm sure when the full truth comes out, everyone will be surprised and God's good traditionally married, heterosexual, White people, will rise up and reclaim their birthright of a young Earth, creationist paradise. It'll happen. As sure as the Earth is flat, Mary was a virgin and God has a long white beard.

Ron Paul

If you want some idea of where the Republican Party is going, you need to look at last week's CPAC convention straw poll for Presidential candidates.

Last year, Mitt Romney won, as he had other times in the past. This year Romney tied for third with Sarah Palin, down in the mid single digits. Dr Ron Paul from Texas, was the head and shoulders winner with an astounding 31%, largely unsolicited popularity overall.

Google the results, they will blow you away.

Part of the so called conservative movement in America is fixated on bigoted and exclusionary Christian fundamentalist social issues, reminescent of the 1950s Red and race baiting mix of super patriotic nationalism. More and more, the educated, thoughtful members of the Right Wing are moving straight toward positions based on small government Libertarianism.

The party leadership and the Christers have been jeering at and denigrating Dr Paul for almost 30 years. They have done everything they can to deny that he has any mainstream appeal. Dr Paul is now in his late seventies and the activity level required to maintain his seat in Congress and lead his national movement is taking a toll on him. He gets no money or support from the National party structure.

There he stands, the most resonant Republican voice in America today. I'm not suggesting he will be the Party's candidate in 2012 or ever. I am saying that the Republican party is heading for a change.

Differently Abled

I've always tried to be honest, at least with myself, about myself. There may be advantages in lying to others at times but what good does it do to lie to yourself? Realizing that you have certain strengths allows you to better use them to your advantage and admitting your weaknesses can keep you from being taken advantage of by those who are, for the most part, inferior to you.

A person reaches a certain age and begins to realize that they aren't as strong, in many ways, as they once were and that these developing shortcomings are going to be progressive, not a pleasant realization. There are a lot of areas of life where competitiveness becomes only adequacy and some where adequacy becomes a pattern of intermittent failure.

Age has it's compensations. Even a chronic loser builds up, over time, a wealth of experience that allows him to not fall helplessly into some of the traps that life sets. It's not the same as actually prevailing against adversity but it's something.

I wonder sometimes if it's not better for the maintenance of mental health, to just ignore the fact that you're getting old and failing. People that do that often seem to get the most out of their later years or maybe some people simply retain more of the nimble grace of youth much longer than others. Neither of these things is true or possible in my case, so I guess it doesn't matter.

I try to go about my business the best I can and keep a good thought. If I no longer have some of the attributes I once had, I console myself that I have developed some different skills and abilities that allow me to compensate.

An older person needs to be careful though. Differently abled is the euphemism we have come to use to describe the mentally retarded. A person needs to keep that in mind too.

Alexander Haig Is Dead

Some people didn't think much of Alexander Haig. You have to evaluate him from the context of him being a military guy. He might seem to most to have been a fascist but in the context of his military background he was a relative moderate

When Watergate broke, Alexander Haig was working in the White House, very close to President Nixon. To many in the White House at the time, it didn't seem like that big a deal. He understood the situation right away. He got the Hell out of there quick and he took his friends with him.

Never waste time fortifying an indefensible position. You never leave a buddy behind. The rules of a soldier are simple, what's hard is remembering to follow them in a crisis.

Tiger Says He's Sorry

Tiger Woods is going to apologize to the American people on Friday. Do you feel you deserve an apology from him?

I don't. He didn't do anything to me.

I guess he could buy me a drink, if he wanted to but I don't drink. He could introduce me to some of his pretty young friends. That would be even more of a waste of time than buying me booze. I don't think his friends would like me.

I'd kind of like to meet his Mom. Do you think he'd like to introduce me to her?

Who Gets The Second Chance?

I know a lot of guys who maybe had a little problem when they were young. Maybe drug smuggling, maybe robbing a liquor store, maybe just a lot of drunk driving within a short period of time. The point is that these guys weren't hardened criminals, they weren't prone to violence, they weren't security risks but for the rest of their lives they never could get a civil service job, bonded by an insurance company, a security clearance to work in the defense industry or a lot of other stuff. They're screwed.

Amy Bishop never had any of those handicaps to overcome. She had a clean record. She was dangerous though. She was a serial killer and mad bomber. There were people in authority that knew all about it and just let her slide along with a clean record. She not only had a second chance, she had a third and fourth. There were people not nearly as much a threat to society as her doing life without parole under the three strikes provision.

Flying Circus

There is a lot of discussion these days about air travel. Who should be allowed to fly and under what circumstances. I've always been a pretty good traveler. Not much bothers me. I took a short flight a few days ago on a very small commercial jet. The pressurization system didn't function very well. There were fluctuations.

A couple rows behind me a young couple was traveling with a little toddler girl. I probably wasn't seated more than four or five feet away. The little girl probably had an ear infection involving some kind of inner ear blockage and inflammation. From takeoff on, this little girl started to emit a series of piercing screams, increasing in volume. Shortly after that she voided her bowel and bladder, then projectile vomited. In the enclosed passenger compartment, the stench was unbelievably foul. I thought to myself that it was remarkable one small child could contain that much bad smell.

I have spent a lot of time in places where strong excretory smells abound. It didn't bother me that much. I just block that kind of stuff out. I could tell it was getting to a lot of the other passengers. A lot of seat creaking, coughing and audible gagging.

The flight had been delayed, as is often the case these days. It had been a long wait at the airport. I was just glad to be on my way.

Off to San Francisco

See you next week.

Irresponsible Journalism

The New York Post sent a reporter all the way to Las Vegas, to review the services of the first male prostitute at a legal brothel. She paid $500 dollars for the two hour deluxe and then just moped around refusing to have sex with him. In the end, she gave the guy a bad review and dissed him because he felt like he had failed her somehow. This is like paying for a deluxe sushi repast, refusing to eat any and then writing about how you're not willing to consume raw fish.

They should have sent a girl that really likes sex, had her buy the 40 minute standard offering for $200, go in, lay down and say "go boy, we haven't got all night". Then do an objective write up of value received for money. 40 minutes should be plenty of time to establish exactly what this guy has to offer.

It's whores, not E Harmony. Am I wrong here?

Child Sodomy In The Land Of Der Volk

It's acknowledged by the Catholic Church that sexual abuse against children and young adults has frequently occurred within institutions where the Church was acting in loco parentis for minor children. It has happened for as long as anyone now alive can remember and likely much longer. Maybe hundreds of years. Maybe a thousand.

With each new revelation of large scale abuse, the Church claims that it has admitted the problem and will no longer shield abusers, lie about the occurrence of abuse or cover up past abuse. The Church claims it has instituted reforms that will effectively stop the cycle of abuse. They have claimed this in many countries around the world, over more than a generation now. They have claimed this to be true in America, only to promote high Churchmen who covered up abuse and who may even have been part of it to higher positions within the Church. Most recently they claimed this in Ireland where the most extensive and grievous culture of child sexual abuse yet revealed, existed unchecked for generations.

Now, just weeks after they claimed to have come clean about Ireland, reports of widespread, systematic sexual predation in German Catholic institutions are starting to leak out. The cases reported so far, while in excess of a hundred, some of which were quite recent, may only be the tip of the iceberg. If the pattern with which abuse has been exposed elsewhere is any indication, it almost certainly is the case. It is all the more damning that this is the home country of the current Pope, who has repeatedly expressed ignorance of priestly sexual abuse and profound anger at hearing of it for the first time. It is all but certain that with Pope Benedict's intimate contacts, high and low, within the German Church, that he knew of this abuse, it's nature and prevalence for thirty years or more. Who can the people trust once they know the Pope is a liar?

How long will Catholics tolerate a clergy that repeatedly engage in this kind of behavior?

Mexican Girls Were Cheap And Plentiful

I knew this guy one time, hot shot surgeon. He was Chinese, well, kind of Chinese. One of his ancestors had come to California during the Gold Rush from Canton. The family lived for several generations in the San Joaquin Valley. In the old days, a Chinaman had a hard time getting a wife. Chinese girls were few, expensive and even those of poor provenance cost a lot of money. Getting a White girl wasn't easy and would be the same as committing suicide, in any case. The original old guy wanted to get married, so he got a Mexican girl. Worked out OK for him. Nobody seemed too offended.

As the family settled into California life, it became a family tradition. The girls married Chinese. The family got good money for them and valuable family alliances were made. The boys married Mexican girls. They were cheap and plentiful, hard workers and it didn't hurt to have family in the Mexican community.

So my friend grew up in Fresno. He spoke Spanish, English and Cantonese. He was an athlete, played the piano and a good student. Things had changed from the old days. He got a scholarship to UCLA and stayed on for Medical School. He was a very good surgeon. He's not so good anymore but still does it. Surgeons never quit while they're ahead. His Mexican wife is very nice and their three sons are the smartest Chinamen you'll ever meet and their wives the hardest workers.

He told me the story about his family early one morning. I had called him in for a surgery and it was too late to go home when he had finished. I always called him in if I could find an excuse to, no matter who was on call, or one of the duffers in his group and then called him to assist. Self preservation. Nobody wants a belly gone bad in their ICU in the middle of the night, if they can help it. He always came and never complained. He came by my office to shoot the breeze and get a cup of coffee. Tickled me. Everybody thought he was Chinese and he was 63/64ths Mexican. His sons are 123/124ths. When people see other people, they see what they want to see, in every detail. Every time. No matter what is really there. It makes me wonder sometimes if anybody ever sees what's really there, no matter what they're looking at.

Mrs Tebow and Little Timmy

I'm not a big fan of Dr Jim or his Focus on the Family ministry. That said, after watching the Superbowl ads, I didn't see anything wrong with them.

They may be pro life but they are also very pro choice. I'm not a huge proponent of abortion per se, I just think women get to choose. Seems to me all they are doing in these ads, is promoting motherhood and encouraging women to have their babies if they can. That's OK with me. Who doesn't like motherhood and babies?

I don't think the real hard core anti abortion types are going to like these ads at all. They'll probably think they are a big waste of money.

These ads are likely to be really good PR for Focus and convince people that they aren't really hard line Christian wackos after all. In that sense they are false advertising. Maybe that's all they wanted out of them, good PR. If so, they are pretty smart.