Friday pussy cat joke

A little pussy for your Friday viewing pleasure. Okay bad joke. I'm busy. Might actually have a job lined up (fingers crossed). So until then (when? hell I don't know).

 banks fails later... UPDATE: No bank fails this week. As for the job it's still up in the air.

News you can't use

Some scientists in our state have come to the brilliant conclusion that maybe we should stop dumping CO2 into the atmosphere in an effort to prevent the waterways here from becoming acidic and killing all the creatures that live there. I applaud their efforts. Our governor has just allocated $3 million dollars to the idea but I have to say it's a drop in the ocean considering all the bodies of water we have here.

 Speaking of clean ups (like my segue) the guys at Chernoybl are busy putting the finishing touches on the first section of a containment dome of the failed nuclear reactor.

Project officials on Tuesday hailed the raising as a significant step in a complex effort to clean up the consequences of the 1986 explosion, the world's worst nuclear accident. Upon completion, the shelter will be moved on tracks over the building containing the destroyed reactor, allowing work to begin on dismantling the reactor and disposing of radioactive waste.

My comment: They may be able to dismantle the reactor but there's no real way of disposing of it. The contamination goes with whatever they rip apart. You can contain something like that but never neutralize it. It's the reason Hanford, Wa. can never really be "cleaned up" either. Fear not though mother nature will eventually remedy the problem (in about 10,000 years!).

The least influential people. There's a trick question. I guess for me it would be any of the republican primary candidates although to their credit they did provide a lot of material (cannon fodder) for many blog posts and late night talk show jokes. I also noticed that the Palins and Bachmanns are keeping their mouths shut of late. Nothing like something akin to a touchdown to silence this crowd. Now if we can just make it a run away game. 

We see BP is now not permitted any more drilling contracts here in the U.S. Fear not those oil leases will just go to the next outfit in line. And was a plan put in place to deal with future massive spills? Of course not! They just ordered more absorbent pads because after all we need to protect those walruses in the Gulf of Mexico.

Lastly we have a mega ultra what would you do with it if you had it Powerball lottery at a half a billion dollars. To which I say I'll bet you $10,000 you don't win it. Nothing like peeing your dreams eh?

I call your bluff

While the republicans are busy back peddling from their anti tax positions take heart all you tea baggers out there. Their focus hasn't shifted gears from what Romney said during the campaign. And as we all know when you peddle a new bike backwards it doesn't go anywhere. It only coasts. Their "new" plan is the same as the old plan which is to eliminate as many write off for the working class as they can while little change for the "job creators". That will be off the table or more aptly put buried in some back room deal. We've seen that little tactic before once too often.

On a state level it's as if there was no election as republicans forge ahead with their plans to eliminate abortions and suppress voting rights. A couple of bills in state legislatures were just brought forward to do just that. These people don't seem to learn a thing. First they propose ideas that were rejected by the bulk of the american people. Then when that didn't work they neatly cloaked their plan by saying "we'll tell you the details later after we're in office". Only a fool would vote for such a snake oil salesman but I guess we have a whole lot of fools left in this land. If they think that they could have won by being more conservative they'd better think again. This nation is going through a demographic shift like never seen before in our history with an influx from south of the border and elsewhere. My guess is that the next deluge of immigrants will be from the middle east and it will do a party no good to alienate them when they get here if you want their votes.

By all calculations the dying crop of old white anglo men is dying faster than May flies. It will do little good to pander to their needs. It's not the style of the message either, it's the very principles which nobody likes. Package it anyway you like. A big bag of manure is still a big bag of manure. Tie a pretty red ribbon on it and you still won't get any takers. No, this party is about to fade into the sunset unless it actually changes drastically and decides to compromise.

But it's a win win for the Democrats. You see if our budget isn't passed and we do go off this fiscal bluff (after all it is nothing more than a bluff) then for a brief period things will stop. It happened before when Clinton called their bluff during his term (bet you forgot that because it didn't last long). Back then the government was shut down for a few days until constituents howled and that was when republicans lost congressional seats. Want to try it again? Go ahead and see what happens.


Was busy today fixing other people's problems. I'm like that you know.

Wonder why we're so violent?

On just about any given day we flip on the magic window to the world here and if you're like most you have your home page set to a news site. And as we all know from the basic tenants of journalism "if it bleeds it leads". and if it blows up so much the better. It takes no Sherlock Holmes to see a perverting sense of psyche that grates on our very souls on a daily basis. Look no farther than the descriptive words to get an idea of what I'm talking about. From today's news headline grabber:

refuses
blaze kills
no talks
push
strain
hit
floods
dies
dead
fire
fewer
cheating
plummets
hangs
spurs attack
attempted murder
warns
decline
declares war
Suicide bombs
kill
explosions
fighters
snap
exhume
(Got that NSA? I didn't write it it was just what's on the headline news)

Okay I think you get the picture. A steady diet of death and destruction has made us numb to anything tragic. So have we become like the pod people of the "Body Snatchers"? (reference to the 1950s movie whereby aliens take over earth using pods to create clones... oh look it up)
I forget the exact figures but the average kid sees several thousand murders on TV between ages 2 and 18. The bulk of us knew that that was all make believe but now we have the internet. With kids just old enough to manipulate a mouse or keyboard (yeah they can figure it out by watching big brother or sister) they too are now exposed to the world like never before only much of what they see now is not make believe.

Have we become more civilized since the days of the gladiators or have we become more efficient in our mayhem? It appears that we move farther and farther from human interaction the more we try just the opposite. Once a tip of the hat and a how do you do slowly turned into "sup" on a text message. No warmth of personal interaction there. No nuances of facial expression anymore and be very careful on your use of satire. That could get you killed these days. It's all cloaked in the anonymity based on the fear that someone will steal our identity or find out where we live and yet people will think nothing of revealing their most inner secrets to perfect strangers. There is on the one hand a great thirst for human interaction while on the other that fear that on the other end is some sleazy pervert just waiting for the opportunity to pounce. And it seems there is no time for correction or explanation in this fast paced digital age. One wrong move will get you booted without so much as a "hold on a sec". There seems to be no etiquette, no standard decorum and even acknowledgments are generally vulgar...wtf!

Slowly permeating into the main stream are greetings never heard on the planet. FU is now seen as a standard greeting for which the respondent might reply FU too! The momentary tirade that would follow would be similar to two dogs fighting for territory. We can forgo the male female interactions here as they too are far from gentile.
It's understandable that things tend to move to their natural progression but one has to wonder are we moving forward or backwards? And it seems that this manner of thinking and communication has seeped into all levels. A snarky text from a CEO or higher up politician is sure to make headline news. So I guess the lesson is to be careful what you write or share there are people watching. You sure wouldn't think of running out of your house naked. Then by what rationale would you post naked photos of yourself on the web? Are you that starved for attention or have we just regressed that far?

Decaying minds want to know.

Gold! A drunkards' dream if I ever did see one.

Had hoped to find one particular photo of the sheer numbers of claims and how ungodly dangerous it must have been to have lived during that era but now we have the latest rush for fortunes and fame.

Not one for reality shows but with the ever diminishing faire of the TV wasteland I tuned in to the prospectors up there in Alaska "Gold Rush". A handful or two of down and outers scrape together the last bits of savings and head for the Klondike hoping to find the elusive mother lode. Had they bothered to check their history it's almost a certainty that they'd dawn a paper hat and make more at a McDonalds. But that's what greed will do to a man and a few gals too. What they fail to realize is that the folks who made it big in the original gold rush can be counted on less than one hand. A boat pulled into Seattle back in the 1800s with a couple hundred pounds of the shiny metal and soon every idiot from Florida to Maine was headed west to seek his fortune. But the real gold wasn't found where men's thoughts and dreams were focused on buying a mansion and his own royal coach but in selling these adventure seekers all the provisions to get there. It's one of the reasons Seattle exists to this very day. Back then you either toiled in the timber forests or worked you rear off building a railroad. But the real money was to be made selling these dreamers the sundries necessary for their long journey to the god forsaken north country. Exactly how they managed to haul over a ton of goods up mountains and across valleys all by hand is a wonderment. It's all but certain that the enterprising salesmen who accommodated them were more than willing to take advantage of some ignorant slob from Bumshoe, Tenn who'd never mined anything in his life. It's a bet that those who mined coal back in them parts of Tennessee thought they'd have the jump on everybody until the realization that gold is a far cry from coal even though they are both mined.

Glassy eyed dreamers with gold fever to this day seek out things they should leave be. Just because you read a couple of books on the subject will never make you an expert. But it sure is fun to watch people making fools of themselves. There's probably more gold in uncle Harry's molar than what they'll find in a season. But what amazes me is that none of these brainiacs is smart enough to take a systematic approach to their search. They seem to rush right in and get to digging without once thinking about the earth science involved or how to establish a game plan. What did Ben Franklin say? "If I had nine hours to cut down a tree I'd spend eight of them sharpening the axe." Or something to that effect.

It's a safe bet that the bulk of the big nuggets have long been found and what remains is sacttered so thin upon this planet that it would take the disturbing of the better part of our land masses to recover it. It's called the law of diminishing returns. At some point it costs more in equipment and manpower than what can be extracted. But don't let me spoil your caviar dreams boys. You just keep right on digging. We'll just sit here and laugh.  

Black Friday pussy

It's Black Friday and no Fluffy here won't be attending your little Walmart gathering. And no she doesn't want the stupid elf outfit you were thinking of buying. She's a cat for Christ sake. A bag of fish flavored treats will do just nicely. And don't forget to change the litter box before you leave or she just might make fine use of your favorite chair. Makes a great scratching post too. So here we sit with bloated bellies contemplating the 28 ways of what to do with left over turkey and who will get the chore of dumping the carcass when the bones have been picked clean and even the soup has been laid up in the freezer because the entire household is sick of turkey only to remember that the next round of pigout is coming in a few weeks. Another turkey or should it be ham this time around? Don't get a great big one this time. The last quarter of ham from 2011 is stuffed somewhere in the back of the freezer along with some plastic bag of unidentifiable meat from last summers' big barbecue. And don't forget to throw out what ever's growing mold in the back of the refrigerator because we all know nobody would get around to eating it when it was put in there. "Anybody want to eat this? I was just going to throw it out anyway."

Bank fails later. Anybody go a bicarb?
UPDATE: No bank fails this week.

Okay a Charlie Brown Thanksgiving this isn't

Vista — A 68-year-old man pleaded not guilty on Wednesday to murdering his wife after police found her severed head in a freezer and her body parts cooking on the stove at their Oceanside home.

Okay so there's a slap in the face for your holiday greetings. Knew I could get your attention. What's to be thankful for this year? Not much. There's been no work and if something isn't done soon the future doesn't look too bright either. Sorry but I don't have an advanced engineering degree and a starting nurses' aid doesn't make enough to pay the gas to get there. Those are the bulk of the positions that have been listed for the last six months here collecting dust.

What to be thankful for? I guess a roof overhead and some food is about all. There is the fact that we're not getting bombed or worry much when we step out our doors. Most of the bills are paid at the moment with what little savings are left. But over all the last three or four years sure have been crappy for anybody tied to the construction trades.

So you can now return to the holiday parades and football games. Uncinch your belt buckles and head for that overeaters haze of half sleep. Leave the crowds to their foolish task of sidewalk camping. You'll catch them on the 11 o'clock news anyway with mayhem and merriment.

Now exactly what wine goes with a 76 year old female spouse well boiled?  

An o'rderve while we wait?

While we wait for the bird to roast in its' succulent juices and the smells waft over the the sounds of T'day parades and grid iron action, I'll focus but a bit of attention on some of the antiquated laws bestowed on us by our puritan ancestors, Sundays were always somewhat weird to me as a kid. I grew up in a state with "blue laws". I've heard of blue jokes, blue movies, blue balls, but laws!? And why blue? Sounds to me like they should be called "red" as in stop. I can't even understand why New England clutches dearly to these outdated traditions. Is this not the 21st century? And what after all do they think they are trying to stop? In that area of the country it's no feat to get in your car and drive to another state and do business or buy booze. And of course there's the internet and overnight mail services. No, as it's occurred to me no law or ordinance can prevent anyone from doing or not doing anything. Slow it down maybe. What ever happened to majority rule because these laws were enacted at a time when most were of the northern european dyed in the wool uptight christians who had little better than impose their will on everybody? That's no longer the case. We're now a mix that would put a Heinze 57 mutt to shame.

So while the rest of the country moves slowly to the left a few die hard traditionalists clutch to a bygone era when men were men and women wore long dresses and corsets. Men had the fun of the hunt for the turkey while women got stuck cleaning the dirty fowl. And where is the gain when we've lost the patience to wait? Used to be the latest new fangled food item was so fast it would be ready in 20 minutes. A stark comparison to the days of old when the colonial wife took days to prepare a feast but never as fast as has been deemed necessary in this supersonic age. After the invention of the microwave oven we can only speculate the next incarnation of culinary magic. Visions of large injection tubes of precooked over processed genetically modified food stuffs oozing into our gullets come to mind. Forget nutritional value or taste this is an accountants' wet dream. Three easily attained ingredients of fat salt and sugar with of course artificial flavorings make for a happy bottom line and bloated waistlines.

Humm maybe there ought to be a law against that!

The bird isn't done yet so come back later...

A warm up to gluttony

I don't know if anybody spends the time any more fussing and fixing a meal that takes hours to prepare, hours to eat and makes everybody about sick by the time it's all over. We kind of gave up on the tradition years ago when one member of the clan flipped off another and it's been the new tradition to celebrate in solitude. But for those who still fret and sweat for days on end and just can't stand the thought of a trip to Denny's with its' imitation pressed turkey over seasoned cold gravy and frozen pumpkin pies (yes we did that once or twice), then a few funnies to lighten the holiday spirit.

“Thanksgiving is a magical time of year when families across the country join together to raise America’s obesity statistics. Personally, I love Thanksgiving traditions: watching football, making pumpkin pie, and saying the magic phrase that sends your aunt storming out of the dining room to sit in her car.” Steven Colbert.

Obesity rate: 25% of children in this country are obese. 35.7% of adults are obese.

“When I was a kid in Indiana, we thought it would be fun to get a turkey a year ahead of time and feed it and so on for the following Thanksgiving. But by the time Thanksgiving came around, we sort of thought of the turkey as a pet, so we ate the dog. Only kidding. It was the cat.” David Letterman.


"There are 925 million hungry people in the world and we make toys out of potatoes and see how far we can chuck pumpkins." That's my own addition although not so funny.

to be continued....

News you can't use and could probably care less about

We have the lurid affair of General Petraeus. Like anybody really cares. But seeing as how old McCain probably isn't getting any I'm sure he wants all the details. Here's a guy who graduated at the bottom of his class and is due to get the boot off his senate arms committee. So this is the last hurray for him. Maybe they should put him in the home with Abe Simpson.

Credit Suisse and JP Morgan Chase get a slap on the wrist while millions lost their homes and just about everything else all while the banks are still make billions in profits. Here's an idea. Burn the banksters houses down and let them live in a cardboard box. And now we know why Bonnie and Clyde were looked on as heros.

Palestine verses Israel. Sitting there minding their own business when Israel takes out some of their leaders. Last I checked that is an act of war. And now Israel is blaming the Palestinians. Give me a break. The bully beats you up then blames you and wants to round up his posse to do it again. This is not to mention all the land they stole over the last 40 years.

Greece is set for another general strike on Nov 22. This would coincide with the Walmart walkout at 1000 stores here in the U.S. I'd say greed has gone too far with these guys. Top wages for an average Walmart worker? About $22,000 a year. Try raising a family on that. Greece on the other hand just had another round of tax hikes and pension cuts after having their taxes raised 29% just a few months ago. Is it true? Can you squeeze blood out of a turnip?

Syria continues to be Syria. The background in all that is so complicated it would take a rocket scientist to explain it. Because it involves Suunis, Kurds, Shiites, Alwates, Iranian fighters, Salafists, and backers from Russia, Saudi Arabia, Libya, Iran, the U.S. and who knows who else. I'd bet the only ones making any profit from this are the arms dealers and the undertakers.

Shopping in the USA

Tell me if this doesn't sound familiar. A simple part breaks on (fill in just about any major appliance or fixture) so you pop down to the "big box" we got everything hardware store. After being greeted by the loosing employee of the week  (makes you wonder what he/she did to get door duty) who is there not so much to help you but make sure nobody sneaks out the entry without paying, you inquire where the section keeping your hoped for product might be found. No point in asking specifics here this guy couldn't tell you where he left his car keys. Invariably what you're looking for is at the other end of this mega complex and almost always in the rear. After a walk of what might exhaust a marathon walker you come to the general area. Large overhead banners are there to give a general sense of direction and should not be considered accurate. After all they might have moved everything last week and failed to move the banners. I think that's their little employee revenge.

Sauntering down the aisle scanning the widgets and doo dads trying to hone in on the exact needed part you give up and look for assistance. Help is like a cop, never around when you need one but always there when you don't. On your trek back to the general area at least two of the orange vested have asked you if you needed assistance but you thought "hell I can find it myself when I get there" right? Wrong. It almost never fails that if they do have what you were looking for it's only to be seen as a display model neatly bolted to the shelf with an empty rack underneath. Maybe just maybe they have some stashed in the back room you thing half kidding yourself. So it's now time to find the elusive sales clerk. Like gazelles at the sound of a lion they have scattered to who knows where. Did everybody go on break at the same time? Eventually you spot one of the elusive beasts at the other end of the store. (The vision isn't completely gone. Didn't even need binoculars to spot the orange vest). Maybe you'd be lucky and spot another along the way but somehow that's never the case. You make the mad dash to the other end of the store only to spot your prey disappear into the employees only area. You finally make contact at the outside garden section of one offloading heavy bags of manure and you know the routine there. He'll direct you back to the section you were just in. But you just wanted one simple part. Okay then he'll call on the radio for back up. "Know the part or item number? He asks.

After a long walk back to where this all began you are fortunate enough to corner a section chief (assistant to an assistant in training) and he'll look in the back for you. Finally some service. You stand there for what seems like a half an hour (probably because he can't find it in the back either because he's going through the same process you just did) and the end result is either they just ran out or you can order it and it will be in Wednesday. You can come back then. There is in rare cases where you're lucky enough to get the very last of an item which is always made in China by workers who could care less if something works or not. They were just happy to make their quota and have a roof over their head. Then there's the stores policy of satisfaction always unless it cuts into their profits. Return it in what is it now 7 days for a refund or replacement? Funny how such things manage to make it about a week before the cheaply made item fails. After which you can still get a refund or replacement by writing the manufacturer, sending the faulty item back with a complete explanation of your dissatisfaction, plus shipping and handling charges. Sheesh I've had lesser punishments from a high school detention. Oh and I failed to mention that these items always come two three or six to a package.

How I miss the days when a hardware store was not much bigger than a living room, Clyde knew where every nut and bolt in the store was, things didn't break down as often and when they did it didn't take two weeks to fix them. Most everything back then was made of metal and it didn't take an engineering degree to repair.

Okay and while you're at it get off my lawn!

Bye bye Hostess

Once again the victim of vulture capitalism the bakery outlet that provided such items as Wonder Bread that built bodies 12 ways whatever that meant. Nothing like extracting all the nutritional value out of a food produce then putting a bit of it back and touting how good it is for you. That's the American way. Sell em cheap manure in pretty packaging with a high profit margin and the CEO and stockholders dance in the streets when the dividend checks come their way. To its' somewhat defense I'm sure the original product was quite good when first introduced some years back. Who wouldn't be a sucker for banana cream filling? But that was not to last even though the price of bananas is still pretty cheap. And let me rat out the rats who switched vanilla flavors for that artificial stuff. I'll tell you about vanillin that tasty substitute.  You could just about fabricate a steel belted radial with the chemicals used to produce it. Who in their right mind thought that was a safe alternative should be made to take a bath in it on a regular basis. Had to wear a plastic moon suit when we decommissioned a factory that produced it here. Mmmm, might be finger lickin good if you had any fingers left.

But all of this seems to be the way our food stuffs are going. What was once a fine and proud product gradually turns into something close to the brunt of a Leno joke. Sugar gets replaced with corn syrup. Butter gets replaced with lard or worse some out of the country plant extract and soon the end result is more like a tinker toy than something you'd want to eat. It's cheating I tell you. And nothing hurts more than the images that are professed. Products come no where near the taste of grandma's kitchen when the ingredients were fabricated in a laboratory and produced by automated stainless steel fingers in the industrial district.

What of the workers? They just wanted a taste of the profits and a hope that maybe they could save a buck or two to be able to send their kids to college and have a decent retirement. Were they really bakers? Not when your job was to dump 100 lb. bags of ingredients into massive mixing bowls for eight hours a day. Where's the love and pride in that? It all made the process little more than a factory cranking out product by the hundred thousands. I'd bet for them grandma's recipe has long been forgotten and they wouldn't know a whisk from a nut grader. Sad situation indeed.

It seems we've come full circle with our culinary delights. What was once a real treat at just the right size, price and quality has become merely a way of adding to the bottom line. First it was bigger is better and the race to produce the biggest to the point of ridiculous and now it's an ongoing battle to shave the product to it's minimal ends and squeeze the last nickel for the balance sheet. I'd make my own if it wasn't for the fact that grandma never wrote anything down. She kept everything in her head and took it all to the grave with her.

Maybe it's all for the best. After all the products are nothing like their original producers intended and maybe just maybe somebody will come up with something better as long as they focus on the product and not the bottom line.      

Friday pussy and careless actions

More oil rig deaths?

Jeez! A day after BP gets fined and jail time another oil rig catches fire and earliest reports are that 2 are dead and 2 injured. First let me politicize this by saying (and you know the party I'm talking about) that the need for tighter regulations has never been greater. You can not rely on companies good graces to protect its' workers especially when the goal is profits at all costs. In the 20 plus years I've worked in hazardous waste we had only two deaths. One was a fluke accident where a worker fell from the second step of a ladder hit his head and died three days later. A fall just 2 feet off the ground resulted in his demise. The other incident occurred when a worker working on the roof of the Kingdom failed to check his fall safety equipment. Unfortunately the anchor point to which his line was fastened was not anchored and he fell to his death.

 I can only think of two professions that have dangers so great that the unavoidable or should I say unthinkable can happen. That would be crab fishing and logging yet even still those in charge have the greatest responsibility to minimize the dangers. Eliminating regulations is not the way to increase safety. It only increases profits at the expense of workers lives. There is a balance between regulations and productivity and workers know it. One of the first things we're taught in my profession is that we are responsible for our own safety. That lesson can only be accomplished when workers who bring safety issues up the chain of command are listened to and actions are taken. I was fortunate enough to work with a couple of companies who realized that it was cheaper in the long run to incorporate safety procedures than to have to pay out a claim later. Yes people still were injured but the damage was minor due to safety measures that were a requirement. As the owner once said "I want to see everybody go home with all their fingers and toes at the end of the day." Some companies out there are not as compassionate again putting profits before human lives.

Bank fails later
UPDATE: One bank in GA. hit the skids this week.

The Buster we could do with less of

Now that it's back to no business as usual for our congress (look no farther than the bills being debated) Though I'd delve into why there is such disfunction of the disfunctional. Our founding fathers started out with the right ideas in incorporating a simple majority vote into the constitution but somewhere along the way the best laid plans took a side track. What's the expression? Give a guy an inch. And such is the case with our congress. What once took 51 votes by our senators now requires 60 and we wonder how anything gets done. No the only time such a vote should require such a majority should be on extremely important issues like going to war and major changes to the constitution. Most other matters are not an urgent issue. In fact the naming of a post office or park could be done by email and avoid the tedious speeches by long winded senators who always manage to slip their current agenda into a speech complete with the accolades to Warren G. Harding.

When one party or the other makes it its' primary function to do nothing more than obstruct the other then the gridlock is akin to the office managers heading out to a gulf junket for the day or in this case the better part of four years. The filibuster is all well and good when it's used on rare occasions to make a differing point but as has been experienced with our current deadlocked congress it doesn't make the system run smoothly and surely makes no room for compromise. Exactly how someone could present a position and piece of legislation and then proceed to vote against it is beyond comprehension. As we attempt to move forward it will be interesting to see if any procedural changes can be made to make the process functional again. I have my doubts about that and can only envision yet another fruitless fight resulting in more of the same. It seems we have an ugly system but since everybody involved can game the system then nothing will change. As long as some obscure procedure remains on the books we know somebody will use it to their advantage at some point to slow things down.

So we can surmise three possible scenarios going forward. Either the congress will somehow magically come to a budget deal or the country falls off a cliff (not really as some would think more like a slow motion train wreck). The other option would be to undo the legislation there by kicking the can down the road once more. But even then there is only so much road left before we come to a dead end. At some point the game must end and real decisions must be made. I suspect those at the top of the economic food chain are making out quite nicely with our current frozen congress. Why change the game now when all the money is flowing your way? That is for the select few at the top.

The term filibuster comes from way back. A term that originally meant pirate or rob. In this case it's robbing us of a democracy when used to the extreme. Don't eliminate it all together just limit its' use to the most dire needs when a minority position should be examined and considered at length. Otherwise there can be no compromises or even a functioning government. Can't keep one foot on the gas and one on the brake and expect anything good to happen.  

The news that isn't making the news

Massive general strike floods across Europe as workers take to the streets. 

Lame Stream Media has neatly scrubbed the bulk of this story from the front pages and yet it's far more important than some generals playing slap and tickle, something that should be relegated to the tabloids, but I guess that's where the right gets its' strategies and tactics.
On Wednesday November 14 literally millions took to the streets to protest wage cuts, cuts to pensions and the raising of taxes on those who could least afford it. Furor was added to the anger when a woman in the process of eviction jumped to her death in Spain. With a youth unemployment rate of over 50% in the country and banks getting a bail out with no future in sight is it any wonder frustrations have come to a head. What we're witnessing in Spain has already begun in Greece with their country facing years more of recession. But what was truly shocking was a comment by a central bank representative Olli Rehn who said the cuts were not enough to bring economic stability, that more were needed. Maybe he'd like to suck the marrow off our dead bones.

It's just a matter of time before the UK, France and Germany get sucked into this debt black hole as they have skin in this game. Remember they are part of the IMF and the central bank who made these bail out loans. When nobody can pay they too will be faced with deficits and debt they can't pay. Maybe that will be a good thing though. Maybe they'll come to realize the mess they've created and we can all start to write off this massive burden and start anew.

What is apparent is that this story is not making it to the main stream media. We witnessed the effects through the markets today. Some would blame this on Israel's attack on Gaza but that is only a minor thing that happens quite often and rarely gets covered. Instability in Europe is a far bigger deal when there so much financial paper spread throughout the continent. Nothing scares a trader more than instability in a country but in this case it's many countries and spreading fast now.

Generals and the scandals that weren't

The right wing is running around like a chicken with its' head cut off crying foul (pun intended) while Lame Stream Media is making this out to be something close to the Nuremberg trials but the truth has already been out there if anyone was actually paid attention. If you actually paid attention to what Joe Biden said during the vice presidential debate you would know that what the White House knew at the time of the Benghazi attacks was nothing to lose your head over. The initial reports were that the attack was connected to a protest. That information later turned out to be untrue but when information and speculation are passed up the chain of command that's what usually happens. Especially if the initial reports were from the military. The enemy casualty figures from Vietnam became inflated as they were passed from one desk to another because after all what's the difference when adding a casualty or two to the figures when nobody could check. In this case it would have followed logic of a protest gone ugly.

As for Petraeus I don't think he betrayed us in this little non melodrama. He may have brought about a bit of embarrassment to the outfits he served but no laws were broken and he did the right thing to resign. Had this been a Bush appointee it would have been buried on the back pages of the NY Times. But I'm sure the tin foil hat brigade will not let this one go because they have nothing better to do now that they lost the elections. No we don't need some blue ribbon committee to look into the matter and waste more tax dollars because as was mentioned no laws were broken and no security breeched. Even the FBI said as much.

You will also note that the other side of the aisle never gives up and steps down even when caught in unethical behavior. It wasn't until Craig was forced out by his own party while Ensign clung on until the very last. And there's no mention of the floozies who'd spread em at the drop of a hat. In Petraeus' case it looks like there were two fighting for his attention but again that is only a logical guess from the information we have. Not that I'd bother to look into the matter further because I could care less who is "embedded" with whom. It's all idol gossip.

I'm almost certain that the military has its' share of problems in dealing with hormone laden troops and that applies both male and female. The stories I've heard coming from the military would make for some interesting cable reality shows but they really don't run anything X rated now do they?

So save your breath and focus on what's really important. This has become the biggest smoke screen to take our attention off the real problems we face like jobs and how to feed the face before the whole thing collapses. And that's all I'll say about all this.  

Run for your lives the end is near. NOT!

I don't know if this stupid widget will work or not. It doesn't come up when I check it in compose. Thanks again blogger. At any rate there is a neat little widget from Oilprice.com that gives a running total of the energy consumption around the world. Who do you think is in first place? We in our glorious piggishness are no longer head of the pack but come in second place behind China. Shouldn't be surprised since they now make up 1/5 of the worlds' population and growing. As I mentioned yesterday we have this inherent need to aquire more even when we have enough. There is always an underlying fear that somehow it will magically disappear and we'll be left in the dark literally speaking.

Another widget displays energy consumption compared to production. We, meaning the world, are consuming 135,000 billion BTUs more than we produce. And the lions' share is done through oil and coal dumping tons of carbon emissions into our air. There is a near steady stream of pollutants that drifts our way from China while the U.S. sends out its' gaseous present for Europe to deal with. Deny all you like about climate change and global warming but the increase in respiratory illness and weather pattern changes is
undeniable.

Then there is the debt widget. That can be somewhat deceiving because most of us have personal debt but nothing like the debts of a nation but before you run around yelling the sky is falling like chicken little and most republicans consider that it's a matter of percentages. No one could expect to pay of their mortgage in a year or three or ten. And yet somehow our congress wants it done yesterday. Funny how it wasn't a problem when the boys from the last administration were busy spending on two wars, a homeland security system and massive tax cuts to their buddies. So in order to solve that problem it should be a matter of backing up and cutting programs in reverse order. For us on a home front level it's a matter of dumping the cable TV, skipping the bistro latte and brown bagging it for a year or two. And let us not forget revenue enhancements (tax increases) as Reagan called them. After all the cutting it's prudent to seek out another part time job at night or on weekends if ends don't meet.

And one last comment on the big scary "Fiscal Cliff". Remember they created it to begin with and they can change it just as easily. There's nobody standing over them with a gun waiting to pull the trigger and contrary to what is believed programs must be funded. I'm sure we won't be seeing any ten percent pay cuts to their salaries either.

The brain. It's a terrible thing to waste

We know who'd win this race. The woman would have to stop somewhere along the way to check her makeup. :-)

I've tried for years to study exactly what we are as human beings. How our bodies work and why we do what we do. That's no easy task when trying to be objective or from the standpoint of being inside the thing you're trying to examine. Wrap your head around that thought for a second.

We know for a fact that we evolved. Look no further than ancient skeletons we've dug up and compare them to everyday man. But looking back on single celled critters that eventually became us is something fascinating. Swimming about in some primordial swamp looking for food to sustain itself and hoping none of its' neighbors took it for food gives one pause to ponder exactly what we are. We are after all nothing more than a collection of billions of cells all working in harmony to make us us. We have an awareness of what we are as a whole but never think once about the billions all working in unison. Even in this community there is a constant battle going on just to make you you. Outside forces are always trying to break in and muck things up but we have our own defense systems to handle it.

So it seems that the macro world is a reflection of what's happening on the microscopic level whether we think so or not. It's just that we're never in a state of complete balance. We may have moved past the ancient ways of seeking food and cannibalism is now unacceptable but the battle continues. Somewhere ingrained in our psyche is this unfulfilled need to acquire. Whether that be food or possessions we're usually happiest when we have a bit more than we need. That drive or selfishness I believe is part of our survival instinct. Don't tell me you don't have some closet full of things that you haven't used in years or a couple of cans of corn in the cupboard that haven't seen the light of day since the last century.

But it is interesting what we've evolved into after all these millennia and how we function as human beings. A simple rundown of our needs proved interesting when I made a study some 40 years ago. Think about it for a second. What exactly do we need to function as a human animal?

Air to breath - check

Water - check

Food - check

Clothing or protection from the elements - check

But in doing this study there was one overlooked item that never occurred to me until some years later until I heard it on a science program. And that would be respect. Call it deferential regard, esteem or self worth but the need is as great as food or water.

Then there is the matter of the male female brain. I suspect that was due to an evolutionary process as well. They function at polar opposites with good reason. Men as we all know are hunters in the way they think. They only seek the best of any heard when time and circumstance dictates. Most often it's more a matter of trying to drag the wild kill back to the cave because it was the easiest prey to catch. Better to come home with something than empty handed. No respect in that. Women however will browse looking for perfection. They will spend hours seeking what probably doesn't exist on the planet and when they don't find it will return home empty handed. That is to the bewilderment of any man on the planet. I fail to see the function of that fruitless exercise in the grand scheme of things but then I view that from a male perspective. And no if you're going shopping ladies don't take me with you, I'll stay here thank you very much. 

But I hope I gave you something to ponder. We are after all neither greater nor lesser than each other but there are great differences. Viva la difference.               

Smokin pot smokin pot everybody's smokin pot

Our new law making recreational pot use legal just passed. On the plus side our legal system dumped 175 cases against small time users there by freeing up our courts for more serious matters. But there is still the issue to be dealt with about the opening of state run pot stores and the federal laws that prevent that from happening. Who's going to want to work in a place where any day a DEA agent can swoop down and cart you off to a federal pen?
And there is still the issue of driving under the influence and legal limits. With no breath test or other standard to determine the extent of impairment a walk past the doughnut shop window might be in order. If the suspect desires the entire lower shelf dipped in butter with a side dish of Fruit Loops then it's off to jail.

There is also the issue of home grown cannabis something the state never thought about. Those millions of tax dollars might go up in smoke when people figure out they can easily grow their own. I'm hearing the proposed selling price at the state level would be $16 per gram which is three times what the street price is at the moment. And much like our liquor deregulation that just passed it could create a giant black market for the stuff. Sin taxes are all well and good until they become overbearing. The market for illegal smokes (cigarettes) is booming here with smugglers from as far away as Vietnam.

And what's next? Prostitution? That would be a great way to get the girls off the street out of the rain and under covers (if you get the drift) :-). But I'm amazed there's still a profession left with all the free adult dating sights out there. So what's left for the big Tonys and the other mob bosses? Extortion kidnapping and blackmail just aren't what they used to be. But I forgot they're already doing their damage on Wall Street and nobody seems to care. Plus the rewards are far greater than some penny anti local scam.

Pussy Friday and she might need some help

A quick scan of nations around the world is like looking into the swirling waters of a toilet bowl recently flushed for your viewing pleasure. You think I kid? Only the kitty photo is the joke here. A run down professor if you would.

Greece - Riots in the streets from austerity and tax increases all due to corruption.

Spain - The same.

Italy - More of the same.

Portugal - Ditto

Ireland - Who needs a potato famine?

But as was discovered this was only the tip of the sinking iceberg.  This is not confined to the old union of europe. Corruption is an equal opportunity employer.

China - Corruption from authorities and now on a corporate market level.

Argentina - Can't cry for her when they froze everybody's bank accounts and people are getting there home stash of cash ripped off.

Ecuador - Same scammy goodness complete with real estate swindles.

Chile - Just when the miners though they were safe and sound up top more corruption raised it's ugly head.
Ukraine and Russia - Hard to count the back room deals and who gets to walk away with the nations' bounty. We do know Putin is set for life.

And lest we forget the other fun vacation spots of the world (just don't forget to take a flack jacket). We have:

Burma - Where you can experience a close shave but not the kind that rids your beard.

Somalia - You'd have to have a death wish to go there.

Libya - No government established there just yet. Take plenty of bribe money.

Sudan -  Better wait till they're finished fighting over the oil.

Syria - That's obvious unless you're part of Assads' inner circle of friends. On second thought maybe not.

Egypt - A momentary lull from conflict as they decide who will gain the real power.

Lebanon - Not too happy about dodging incoming artillery fire.

Turkey - Same situation with a whole bunch of house guests now.

Iran - Feeling the pinch of sanctions even while it sent troops to fight next door.

Iraq - We high tailed it out of there just in time to avoid the Suuni Shiite conflict.

The list goes on and on but the root causes are quite simple and two fold. On the one hand there's greed and corruption while on the other the conflict between conservatives and progressives. In the latter case an ideological shift will occur when the old guys die off or get killed. Yet we will always have to some degree greed and corruption. But at the moment there's a world imbalance to deal with.

Bank fails later as usual.

UPDATE: No fails this week.

Random equine thoughts

Not to beat a dead horse but... Okay then we'll beat the old nag again.

As the republicon party once again licks it wounds from the shellacking it got the other night it might want to go over what it's said the last several months. From the vitriol primaries where they used every dog whistle to their mouth breathing base to the feeble attempt at etch - a sketching a path from the crime scene they neatly left out the "Job Creators" er make that financial backers during their tirades against what they called "the moochers" of this land. And no one was left unscathed in their remarks. It was like watching a criminal blame the cop for his actions.  And yes even police and firefighters were on their list of excuses when it was they who disabled the alarm, broke into the treasury and made off with a generation of wealth. What they fail to see is the demographic shift this country is taking. No more a majority right handed white man's land but a proverbial vegetable soup all stirred up with cultures and skin tones from the world over makes up the masses now.

What they fail to see is that you can't come to this party and insult the hosts for it is us the American public who host this party every four years. The other issue long forgotten is that we are the employer not them. They work for us and not the other way around. This has become more of a coronation than a job interview. Perhaps the wrong image, more like a circus wanting to take over your house and financial affairs.

Where we go from here is anyone's guess. Will they cave and finally agree to any shred of common sense or continue on a path of childish stubbornness? It was truly laughable when Trump suggested revolution. He seems to have forgotten who loses their heads at the beginning of turmoil. It's not the axe wielding former homeowner who lost everything. And I think this is the last time you can they can try and fool the masses. Blaming the victims is not going to fly from here on out. The emperor is naked now and we all know it. There's no more tricks to instill self loathing in your Rovian magic bag. So knock it off and get to work you've wasted enough time and money while the rest of us suffer. Okay I guess it's time to bury the horse and dump the riding crop.

Election hangover

It's almost official with the election results in and being set for the final tally (and you thought I wouldn't speak of politics) with some less than expected results. Seems you may now be able to take on a bride or groom even if you're the bride or groom. Does make for some awkward moments as in which are you the husband or the wife? Reminds me of a prison joke but I'll be nice and won't go there.

Another initiative makes it legal to get high in this state. As for me I could care less what you do in the comfort of your own castle but get behind the wheel of a car and it's a different story. This will present some sticky legal issues and I'm not talking about the resins at the bottom of the pot pipe here either. Nobody thought about how to determine impaired driving as the THC remains in in your system for a couple of days and there is no instant breath test. It's bad enough we have idiots who think they can tweet their boyfriends while behind the wheel now this. The roads just got very dangerous. And be careful at the 7-11 when munchy time hits there could be a stampede. Who will have the nerve to open a pot shop with the Feds looking over your shoulder?

Another brilliant initiative to pass here makes it impossible for our state legislature to pass a tax hike without a 2/3 majority. You may think that's a wonderful thing but it now leaves only one alternative to balancing the state budget and that's spending cuts. Anyone paying attention to our states situation knows that the legislature just hacked a whole bunch of money out of the budget and it's still far from balanced. Add to that the fact that our educational system has been underfunded (a constitutional requirement) for some years and you begin to see the problem. So without being able to raise taxes and spending cut beyond the bone the only other alternative would be to raise fees. Hum? That would be things like hunting and fishing licenses. And who are the ones most apt to use them? Wouldn't be the gun tote'n fishing pole slinging pick up driven republicans now would it? I snicker as it looks like they just shot themselves in the foot once again.

I'd post a photo here but it's impossible to find image a gun tote'n fishing pole slinging gay republican. A shot of big foot would be easier to find.  

The end is near

But it can't come soon enough. If I hear Romney or Obama (make that Oromney or Robama) I think I'm going to puke. That little crying girl is right, this thing has gone on too long. Forget term limits we need election limits along with a spending cap like some of the sports. At this point I care less about somebody's dirty laundry. Just get it over with would you? Mommy make them stop! Let's just make it a cage match next cycle, short and sweet, no holds barred. That just might keep everybody's gnat sized attention span. An ultimate debate pay per view with no censors might get massive ratings the likes this nation has never seen. Can't afford it? Kick in a buck and watch it at a local bar. Bring it out into the open with N-words flying and dirty white Mormon underwear. "I'll show you my birth certificate when you show me your lying tax returns ya cheater!". Could be quite interesting, just don't forget to put the kiddies to bed before it started. A gloves off bare knuckle "let's get ready to rumble" event just might shake up some sleepy heads. Who said civics couldn't be interesting?

Okay okay enough of this. Now get back to work because us 47% low lying couch setting moochers need more Cheetos. Just overlook the fact that we worked 35 or 40 years and got thrown out on our ear without so much as a thank you. And a good day to you sir.

We now return you to your mundane life. Thanks for watching. Tune in tomorrow for another not so exciting adventure.

Monday morning blues and no I won't get a life.

I have to ask which Godly values they refer to here. The ones in Leviticus where women and children are stoned to death or Revelations where most everybody is burned to death.

Grizzly news this morning.

Man mauled to death in Montana by grizzly.

Child mauled to death by dogs in Pittsburgh.

Gunman wounds 7 at fair.

Police chopper hits pole and crashes killing 2.

And the icing on the morbid news is another Nor-easter headed to NYC.

But the good news is that this time tomorrow night the whole excruciating ordeal will be over and we can get back to our regularly scheduled programs sans the mud slinging and name calling. And we though there was enough mud to clean up in lower Manhattan.

Tons of things to do while there's a break from the rain. Keep your drums upright and your powder dry.... later.

Forget the Spanish inquisition we have republicans

Always like to call things out for what they really are. Some insurance nerd would love to sell you "life" insurance but that's not what it truly is. It's death insurance plain and simple. They don't pay you for living, only when you die. Same thinking with funeral homes which is a real load of baloney. Trying to preserve a rotting corpse in some hermetically sealed package is plan stupid. It's a feeble attempt at going against the laws of nature. I've covered the possibilities in my mind and come to the conclusion that cheap is better. A simple cremation and a cardboard box will suffice. It's only deciding on which piece of ground I'll be fertilizing that has me stumped as I don't care to be fish food. We never seem to step back and look at the entire picture realistically on so many fronts and facets of our lives.

An aircraft looses cabin pressure and the oxygen masks falls into position. A mother with baby at her side grasps a mask and first places it over the baby's mouth and nose all the while forgetting her own need for air. This would be one of the few cases where self sacrifice will result in the death of both involved. The mother will die from lack of oxygen and the baby won't make it either when mom is gone. But such is the case of backward thinking. You would think that after a few thousand years we'd start to get things at least a little right but no.

Take the economy for example. It can be ours or anyone else's in the world. They all pretty much work the same. We know from history what has worked in the past and what won't. The last major downturn "the Great Depression" resulted in the creation of Roosevelt's New Deal. And believe it or not it is still providing benefits to our economy some 75 years later! And yet somehow the bill of goods is being promoted that we can cut our revenues (taxes) cut spending and by some magic Tinkerbell fairy dust everything will work out. Look no further than Greece to see what will happen with that plan. Austerity does not make for good times and yet we have a whole bunch of folks buying into the myth. The Kool aid must be mighty tasty. They either aren't paying attention or they don't read. Jeez if I were hiking and I saw the guy in front of me go off a cliff you think I'd follow the same path? But I guess there's some, make that a whole bunch, in this country that can be lead around by the nose even when it's not in their own best self interests.

There still remains the issue of exactly how we got to our present situation. It was an easy matter of "boiling the frog". Gradually taxes went down for the upper income class. They did after all take over our government. And as funds shrank our educational systems lagged. Case in point a university degree was two thirds paid for by state and federal funds. Now it's 40% or less. The income of the upper class went up several hundred percent while those in the middle and bottom saw their income shrink. And while costs kept going up the benefits and profits went to a select few. There was a time when a CEO made four or five times what the average worker made. Now that figure is more like four or five thousand times.

Eventually there will be a breaking point and that may be very soon. There is the great budget debate coming as the December surprise. We'll have to wait and see. Once again it will be like a Mexican standoff with us as the hostages. But what the other side seems to fail to see is that the people they represent will be the victims of their draconian cuts. For their constituents it will be like the cheering on of the torturer. "Beat me again because the last time felt so good." Should they have their way with us like the rape victim we are then this nation will begin to look more like 1912 than 2012. They'll not be satisfied until they squeeze us for our last drop of blood.

Gad and I thought Halloween was over.

Master disaster

While the pundits play with all the political issues of this disaster real people are faced with the realities of this situation. To all of them I say "save the banter for later this is real folks". I have to agree with Christie on one aspect of the situation. This is no time to play politics with people's lives. I'm of the type who ignores such foolishness when an emergency arises. There's a time to debate and a time to roll up the sleeves and get things done. More than once I've come short of telling the boss to FO when I see a greater need than to sit around and constantly rehash a problem and get nothing done. Complaining is all well and good if you actually have a plan to fix problems. If not, shut the hell up and get out of the way. As I see it you're either part of the solution or you have now become part of the problem. And most situations are easy to fix if you follow a logical progression. The current situation will take months if not years to fix but arguing about it and placing blame will fix nothing. We have created such artificial differences within society that it takes a natural disaster to remind us that we're all pretty much the same. When your house collapses it matters not at the moment how much education you have, your political views or the color of your skin. We are truly all in this together. Unless you happen to be a home builder with the necessary skills and funds you aren't going to pull yourself up by any bootstraps. It takes a community to be a community and no one part is more important than the rest.

Don't forget to turn your clocks back.

Some Friday pussy and other irrelevant things

Hard to say how things will all turn out weather-wise but one thing is for sure we get tired of one pattern or another in short order. First 81 days without rain and now this. Anyone getting moldy here yet?

Don't you just love it when Mitt Romney gets caught in a lie or other embarrassing moment? He gets that constipated grin on his face like a baby trying to pass a load. This followed by stumbling and prefacing his response with "of course".  And we know the next thing out of his mouth will have nothing to do with the actual question.

And now that the east coast clean up begins you watch. The right wing will now start to blame the victims for all the destruction and expect those that can least afford pay for it to foot the bill. What's the plan? Cut grandma off her heating subsidy? End school lunches for the poor? Or maybe end help for rape victims. It's how they roll. And I'm almost positive they're looking into ways to profit from all this misfortune. I'd bet anything Bane just invested some big bucks in some local construction companies and material suppliers. Romney's like the morbid undertaker in the western who measures the gunfighters for their coffin just before the showdown. You know the little weasel.

Jobs report
The unemployment figures ticked up by a whopping point one percent. You know the right will try to make hay out of this but if memory serves correct this is about the time of year when the crops are finished with harvest but not close enough to the Christmas buying binge to hire more help. And with Sandy it just might put a crimp in sales of the cheap chinese doo dads we waste our money on. More focused on basic survival in Jersey or NYC than impressing aunt Martha with an oh so cute stuffed toy or singing wall mounted fish. I feel for them as every huckster and scammer will be out in full force trying to bilk the vulnerable out of their life savings. Happens every disaster.

Banks
Interesting to note that the foreign banks are getting their knuckles cracked for their excesses and wrong doing while we hear little of our own Wall Street crooks. True enough three of our major banks are being sued but I'll bet a weeks wages we won't be seeing a perp walk any time soon.

Bank fails later.
UPDATE: Two bank fails this week one in FL. and one in IL.

The adverse effects of slacking

Chocolate covered sticky fingers wiped clean with a cold water wash cloth. The pillow case candy stuffed bounty hidden in the closet where Dad and little brother can't find it only to be forgotten until sometime around Christmas. And only four more days of mud slinging political ads to endure as November rains wash orange leaves into the gutter drains. A momentary lull until the next turkey ladened don't let uncle Harry get drunk and spill the gravy on the newly cleaned carpets family get together. And no talking about aunt Minnies'  divorce at the dinner table. Traditions have become too traditional but that's what we do and that's how we roll. No smoked aardvark adorning Americas' tables on a day of thanks. And thanks for what? That we're all still alive in this rat race? Oops forgot some have stopped running on the treadmill and are just watching the parade.

So stuff another chocolate bar in the old pie hole before the blood sugar drops too low. Kick back listen to the rain because it'll be here for a while. They don't call it the pineapple express for nothing. But for us just make it a double tall monster mocha because that's how we get by here unless you're of the younger set in which case it's sexting, medicine cabinet drugs, and rock and roll or is that hip hop I forgot?  We sit and count the navel lint (too wet to go outside) and wait for the next "did you see/hear about that"? Knowing all well that it will be but a faded memory in a day/week or two. Thought it was supposed to clear up today for a little bit anyway. I had plans but the best laid of men and mice and all that. Just can no longer bring myself to flip on the box for the next round of the three ring political circus. The amusing has lost its' amusement value. The joke has gone too long. We have reached the saturation point. I'd watch paint dry at this point but right now it won't. Any ideas?