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Opinion and views on what is and what is not being reported on... |
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The entries in this Blog are all based in reality, and most topics will come from my current readings in newspapers and books, or what I have heard on daily news shows. I have resisted the urge to do this as long as I possibly can. My only hope is to shed light and insight. I am alarmed at the number of people I talk to that do not have the time to read anymore. News is fast becomming nothing but an echo of sound bites that bounce off the walls as we get dressed for work. Maybe if you stumble across this blog, you will find the time to read again if for no other reason to try to prove that I am crazy. Let me assure, I am not crazy, but I am mad as hell. |
Relatively soon now the new item to replace this one will be open to the all who dare or care to take a peak.
Hope to see all of you very soon. Sincerely, The Critic |
| I'm moving on. This Blog has been fun and challenging, but I've had enough. As I see it, I done all I can do, said all I had to say, and I’m tired of the stupidity of the characters – Bush and his entire Administration. I feel pretty much the same way about all the current media personalities, and the spin they choose to put on whatever they claim to be reporting. Seems to me most of the media have become their own little darlings… forgetting their jobs are to report the news and not make it. I am changing directions. Change can be a good thing. In my humble opinion, there is no better time to change than at the beginning of a New Year. I am not only ending this Blog, and completely changing directions - I'm changing the format as well. I have heard from far too many people who don't necessarily want their comments to be publicly connected to my opinions. I understand how sometimes public comments can lead to criticism and reproach. I’m use to public criticism, and realize not everyone else is.  So to that end, I will create another item, probably a book item, with corresponding forum to replace this Blog. My aim is to have my next year's endeavor create a more interactive and probably more controversial item. I sort of like rocking the boat, so to speak. In my next endeavor I intend to stay away from political rants, raves, and reviews - enough is enough. I don't like following the pack... the view never changes.  |
| The day after Christmas I like to go to Radio Shack and other retail outlets to look for extraordinary buying opportunities – think SALES. This year I did NOT find any extraordinary sales at Radio Shack, but I did stumble upon a frightening dichotomy of beliefs and attitudes between the stores opportunity to make sales and individual shoppers’ attitudes surrounding soon to be made purchases. Radio Shack sells long range 2-way radios that require a license issued by the FCC. While discussing the possibility of purchasing a specific GMRS 2-way radio the customer clearly stated he had no intention of buying the required FCC license. The store manager then informed him that since he clearly stated he did not intend to purchase the required FCC license then he could not sell him the GMRS 2-way radio. The customer, obviously annoyed, then asked the store manager why he shouldn’t just go to Target to buy the 2-way radio where the Target employees would sell him a GMRS 2-way radio with no questions asked. The Radio Shack store manager explained that the FCC license cost $75.00 for a five year renewable license to operate the GMRS System. Note: The amount stated above is the GMRS license fee at the time of this writing. However, I recommend that you check with the FCC at: http://wireless.fcc.gov/services/personal/generalmobile/ to verify current fees. I listened to the customer justify his reasons for not buying the legally required license. The customer clearly stated that since everyone else, including the President of the United States of America, can pick and choose which laws they will abide by then he should be able to also. Of course, I don’t agree with the customer, and I’m amazed that the Radio Shack store manager chose to lose a sale to abide by the law. Maybe there is hope for humanity... This exchange between the customer and the Radio Shack store manager serves to fuel my belief that the morals of everyday Americans have been adversely impacted by the Bush Administration. If any of you reading this Blog entry have been reading my Blog for any length of time, then you’re certainly aware of my Trickle-Down Theory. Granted my Tickle-Down Theory is somewhat related to the fact that “people, like water, take the path of least resistance”, but either way that doesn’t make it right. I’m amazed that sells of these GMRS 2-way radios are still permitted to the general public, especially given the micro-management style and paranoid nature of the Bush Administration. Do any of you see the relationship between Bush going to war with Iraq based on bad, or false intelligence, or spying on American citizens without following long held, legal requirements to obtain the proper warrants, and some American citizens not following long held, legal requirements to obtain a proper radio licenses? Well, I do, and I find it very disturbing. I was raised to believe that two wrongs don’t make a right. I don’t know what is happening to the morals of Americans, but as I see it we may be fighting a multitude of wars simultaneously on terror, drugs, and poverty, etc... but we aren’t winning any moral victories. What has happened to everyday common, ordinary goodness, decency, and respectability? What has become of a person’s individual conscience? What has become of the measure of accepted standards between right and wrong? Sure, this was just one customer in Radio Shack justifying his intended illegal actions, but I also believe where there is smoke there is fire. What are the odds that many more people believe and act as this one Radio Shack customer? It’s terrifying, and it’s wrong to break the law just because you can. Can you hear me, Mr. President? Licensing will not prevent sinister use of GMRS 2-way radios, and I doubt that licensing can cause illegal activity to be traced back to one individual user, either. But I’d be willing to bet if this one customer is so willing to break this law, then he is likely to be willing to break other laws. Do any of you agree with me that lawlessness is not a good thing in any society? I really miss the days when I could simply just go shopping without being confronted with the growing moral decay in American society. Damn… |
| Wishing, waiting, and wanting my son, who is in Iraq, to call home. Turkey is in the oven and should be finished cooking between 7:30 and 8:00 am. My mincemeat pies are done, and they look and smell wonderful. The Ambrosia salad has been in the icebox since last night. I love holiday food. I cook all the time, but Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year meals are all day long major productions. My daughter is cooking the two hams, and the pumpkin and pecan pies. We usually cook at least one pumpkin pie for each person. Have I told ya'll that we are all really hearty eaters. We don't just eat because we are hungry; we eat because the food is so good. Eating in down the bayou south Louisiana is a social event. This year is especially special. We all have a lot to be thankful for in the wake of the hurricanes Katrina and Rita. I've got two new grandchildren. My last child turned eighteen this year, which frees me from legal responsibility from my son's often stupid actions - Praise God! My husband is sleeping soundly. We've almost recovered from some colds, or flu like symptoms that have made the last few weeks miserable for us both. We will be toting our turkey, pies, and salad down the bayou to Dulac to eat at my daughter's house. My husband refuses to let me bring the giblet gravy with us, which is okay since most everyone else is not as fond of giblet gravy as he is - I just find it so amusing. The turkey, which is stuffed with rosemary, apples, and oranges, is helping to make the house smell wonderful. We'll probably be feeding twenty or more people on and off all day today, not counting the kids. I just wish Jon-Ray would call. Billy is offshore. I'm mad at Billy, so I really don't care if he calls or not. Billy bought some fire works, and being stupid like he too often is, immediately got in trouble. Granted there are a lot worse things Billy could have done, but putting M-80's in mailboxes just isn't that funny - especially when the boy managed to get arrested. Idiot child. Now I would never say this to Billy, but I'm kinda relived... at least it's not drugs. Billy is working offshore as a night cook. Billy is eighteen years of age. At eighteen you'd think he'd be more mature, and know better. Maybe if I'd have let him buy fireworks when he was younger, he could have blown up mail boxes when he was younger and gotten this foolishness out of his system. He had to know that putting fireworks in mailboxes at 2:00 in the morning would get him in trouble. Idiot child. This foolishness is going to cost him thousands of dollars. You betcha it will. He didn't just blow up regular people's mailboxes. Oh no, he had to go to the most exclusive neighborhood in the city and make the fool. These rich people just don't tolerate this type of behavior from outsiders. Well, ya'll have a Merry Christmas. I'm going to take a little nap. Ho Ho Ho |
| The Fog of False Choices http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/20/opinion/20tue1.html?ex=1135314000&en=cf519c853... How many lies must a liar tell before regular, everyday, ordinary people don’t believe any thing else the liar says? Bush and his entire administration make me feel ashamed to be an American. I am appalled at all the lies George W. Bush tells, and evidently beliefs he is fooling everyone. Do ya’ll read? Personally, I think George W. Bush needs to be tried in a court of law for the crimes he has, and is committing, right along with Cheney, Rumsfeld, and all the entire list of other traitors in the current administration. If Congress and the Senate are a reflection on the people who elected them, then we’re all just screwed. Where is the public outrage? I am so tired of the lies, and propaganda. I am furious to the point of total distraction. What can I do? I written, e-mailed, phoned, whined, pissed and moaned about Bush, and his administration till even I’m beginning to think I’m crazy. I am one lowly, poor, average American citizen. For five years now I’ve watched the ranks of poverty in America grow, watched programs that benefit the masses cut or eliminated, watched as justice is unequally administered between the haves and the have-nots, and watched, like the rest of the world, as our great American Government failed to assist hundreds of thousands of American citizens in New Orleans as the city flooded and people died. And life goes on, as usual, day after day, lie after lie, anonymous tip after anonymous tip, and not a damn thing changes. We’re paying between two and three dollars a gallon for gasoline, while in Iraq gasoline cost between five and ten cents a gallon. The problems are not going to go away until the people creating the problems go away. Ya’ll can sit back and bury your heads up to your asses in the sand, but unlike ostriches you’ve still got a lot to lose; even when you compare what you still have to lose to what has already been lost – the lost is tragic and unbelievable. To compound tragedy after tragedy, by allowing a President of the United States to act as some kind of dictator, and allow his actions, and orders to go unchecked and unbalance by simply ignoring it is beyond shameful. People often condemn themselves with their own words, and Bush is no exception. The main problem, as I see it, is Bush is taking us all to hell with him. I don’t want to go to hell, and I didn’t vote for Bush. In my humble opinion, I hope that all of you who actually did vote for Bush reap your just rewards. Are you all proud of yourselves? The shame belongs squarely on the shoulders of those who elected this idiot to the Presidency of the United States of America. I pray that I learn to forgive you. I pray too for strength to have the patience to wait for the Lord to serve up his unique form of vengeance, as only the Lord is entitled to do. Merry Christmas |
I am disgusted, angry, and ashamed of our Federal Air Marshal Service, but truth be told, I am really not surprised. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10415851/site/newsweek/ Rigoberto Alpizar was a naturalized U.S. citizen born in Costa Rica. I wonder if his physical appearance made those two particular Air Marshals on the plane that day more likely to suspect him of being a terrorist bomber. It’s reported that Rigoberto Alpizar bolted from his seat, charged up the aisle clutching his backpack, while rushing to get off the plane. He was followed by two Air Marshals who were seated in First Class. We all know that people, who intend to blow up a plane fly first class, don’t we? I personally believe the Air Marshals are lying when they claim Rigoberto Alpizar said he had a bomb in his backpack. None of the seven passengers interviewed by NEWSWEEK heard Rigoberto Alpizar refer to having a bomb. I’ve not read any news reports where witnesses are reported to have heard the Air Marshals shout “Police” once, much less twice, as they claim they did, before shooting Rigoberto Alpizar six times. The Federal Air Marshal Service evidently does not have any confidence in the screening process that all passengers are required to go through before boarding a plane if they believe any passenger could bring a bomb onto the plane in his carry on bag. I’ve read Air Marshals are not trained to shoot to kill, and that is why the Air Marshals aim for a person’s torso rather than a person’s head. Excuse me, “Are the Air Marshals trained to believe that six shots to a person’s torso won’t kill them?” |
| Being bi-lingual is so important these days that one school suspends a student for speaking Spanish. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10372148/ Somebody needs to suspend the teacher and the Principal. How outragous  In Louisiana there was a time when Cajuns were forbidden to speak their native language, and because of such stupidity Cajun French is another lost language. What were these adult educators thinking?More later... |
| Seems the only way to get the attention of Politicians is to have a lot of money that the Politicians can foresee getting their grubby paws on. Money buys power and influence, and money gets results. http://www.campaignmoney.com/ So, who is the largest segment of society? The census bureau claims there are thirty-five million poor people in America. http://www.heritage.org/Research/Welfare/bg1713.cfm What do rich people have that poor people don’t have? I’m sure many of you are going to answer the above question with the simple, obvious answer – MONEY. But MONEY is the wrong answer. Rich people have a LOBBY. Yep, that’s right, the answer to the question: What do rich people have that poor people don’t have is a LOBBY. Rich people combined their donations to support various lobbies, and political action committees to buy INFLUENCE. Money does influence the legislation Senators and Congressmen create, vote on, and pass in Washington, DC. Rich people combine their donations. In other words, they save money by combining their financial resources, so one individual rich person does not to have to spend all their individual money. MONEY buys power and influence over politicians. POOR PEOPLE NEED A LOBBY. There are way more poor people than rich people. So, in reality, individual poor people could contribute far less money individually to acquire the same, more, or better political influence than any group of rich people. Think about it. Poor people combining their meager, hard earned dollars could become a force in the American Political game, which the likes of has never been seen before. Just imagine... Think of the story of the TEAMSTERS. Before the TEAMSTERS were the TEAMSTERS they were a just a bunch of hard working truck drivers. It was not until these truck drivers got together and pooled their resources (money) that they were able to influence their employers. The teamsters, as a group, were able to demand and get better wages, and working conditions. The teamsters were able to demand and get benefits, like overtime pay, paid holidays, sick days, medical insurance, and the like. If the teamsters had not joined together, and pooled their resources it is very unlikely that these hard-working truck drivers would have improved their lot as truck drivers. So, by knowing the story of how truck drivers became Teamsters is an important lesson for us all. And today, the list of occupations that have people who are dues paying, card carrying members of the Teamsters has grown by leaps and bounds. If it was not in their individual best interest to be Teamsters, and pool their resources, the teamsters would not be the shinning example of how money influences politics in America today. The very last thing America needs is third political party. What poor people need is a voice - A voice that politicians can’t ignore. Can you hear me now? So, today I was thinking we, the 35 million poor people, need a lobby - The PPL, Poor Peoples Lobby. Yep, the Poor People Lobby Group has the potential to be the biggest, the richest, and the most influential group in America today. We just need to unite. We, the poor people, are the majority in America, but we are the least represented in Government. We have the numbers, and by combining our resources we could: We, the PPL Group, could influence legislation that would raise the minimum wage. We could require better health insurance coverage from insurance companies and employers. The possibilities are endless. Even if only half of the poor people in America would pool their resources, we would have the most money. Of course, the rich people need us poor working stiffs more than we need them; they just don’t want us to know it. We could legally eliminate, and abolish Payday loan centers forever in every state in the Union. We could prevent men like Allen Greenspan from continually raising the interest rates on credit cards. We could make the IRS once again allow us to deduct the outrageous interest we’ve paid on those damn credit cards. We could lobby for legislation that would make it forever and always illegal for states to take away a person’s personal property and give it to developers who want to build new shopping centers. The Supreme Court was just wrong for ruling that states could take peoples homes so states could profit. We could get legislation passed that would prevent America Corporations from exporting America jobs overseas. We really need to stop the practice of exporting American jobs. We could get legitimate legislation passed to fairly balance income taxes for all peoples. We could pass legislation that makes bankruptcy laws fair and equal for all individuals, and corporations. I just find it more than a little odd that Bush only changed bankruptcy laws that pertained to individuals. Our lives would no longer be at the whim and mercy of big corporations. We could sponsor and finance the candidate of our choice for President of the United States. I’ll admit I’ve had days in the past where I really wished I was President of the United States. I no longer want to be President of the United States. I want to be what Jimmy Hoffa was to the truck drivers. I want to be the founder of the PPL Group – the largest, richest, and most powerful group of Americans in America. There even exists the possibility we could make the Internet free and accessible to all people. The PPL Group could get legislation passed that would make FEMA what President Carter intended it to be when he created the Federal Emergency Management Administration, and once again make FEMA independent of the shameful debacle that is HOMELAND SECURITY! It’s the working people that make America great; we could restore America’s greatness without sacrificing her greatest resource - OUR CHILDREN. The wealthy politicians, Corporations, and local business owners in New Orleans are fast discovering who did all the work, who made the city operate as smoothly as they had become accustom to – it’s the work-a-day-everyday people, who mostly lived in the ninth ward. New Orleans is begging for her people to come home, but what is the city offering them? The PPL Group would need a Chief Financial Officer, you know, somebody that can do the math. So, what if fifteen or sixteen million joined the PPL Group, and everyone paid one dollar a month as dues? How much money is that? It’s having tremendous financial support that gets a person elected to the Presidency of the United States of America. The PPL Group could teach the current Bush Administration, Republicans, and Democrats a thing or two about democracy. NO, regular hard working, ass busting, work-a-day-everyday people don’t need a new political party – WE JUST NEED A VOICE in the way our government operates. The kind of money the combined resources of the PPL Group would have would guaranty that our voices are heard loud and clear. Who would you consider to be a deserving candidate for President in 2008? Nobody I know wants that Rice woman, who is a Bush protégé, to end up being elected President in 2008? What do ya’ll think? We have three years from now to create the PPL group? Interested? It’s just a thought… |
| Our American Government is spending our American tax dollars to pay Iraqi newspapers to print articles. Bush, and his Administration have no shame. Evidently Bush and his gang use news media outlets like their own personal vanity press. I believe that Bush and his gang think WE ARE ALL STUPID. Quote: "But far from being the heartfelt opinion of an Iraqi writer, as its language implied, the article was prepared by the United States military as part of a multimillion-dollar covert campaign to plant paid propaganda in the Iraqi news media and pay friendly Iraqi journalists monthly stipends, military contractors and officials said." I am not surprised, but I am disgusted. Our American Government paid for propaganda to be published right here, in America. Of course, government propaganda disguised as NEWS is illegal here in America, but being illegal or unconstitutional never stopped Bush and his current administration before, so why am I surprised our elected world representives would do in Iraq exactly what they're doing here? Write your Congressmen people. I don't know if it will really do any good, but it surely can't hurt to let them know that WE know how our government is spending OUR American Tax dollars. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/01/politics/01propaganda.html?hp&ex=1133413200&en... |
| The Good Life What is your definition of “The Good Life”? I figure the first thing most people think about when defining the Good Life is - money. Money enough to pay all the bills, money enough to buy the latest and greatest things, money enough to drive a new car, and money enough to never have to worry about not having enough money. Ah, the Good Life. When I was a child, every morning I would gather eggs from my grandmother’s chicken coop. In the afternoon, I’d pick vegetables from her garden. Everyday I’d watch as my grandmother would turn nature’s bounty into delicious meals. I do remember thinking she needed new forks. Her forks were sharp. Yes, sharp. Never before, and not since, have I encountered such sharp utensils. Everything my grandmother owned seemed old and worn, like her, but as a child I didn’t consider her ways fugal. I remember everyone’s grandmother seemed to be just like mine. I remember her old wringer type washing machine. There were no clothes dryers. We hung everything on the clothes line. I remember the fresh clean smell of the line dried bed sheets. There is a wonderful crispness to line dried bed sheets. In my grandmother’s time, there was a sense of self sufficiency - a do-it-yourself type attitude. My grandmother never had a dishwasher. I don’t think she ever served anything on paper plates. I don’t even think paper towels, or disposable plastic forks even existed. Yet, I remember picnics by the lake. There were not any fancy plastic ice chests either, but somehow we managed. Today, in the aftermath of hurricanes Katrina and Rita, I’m feeling a sense of loss. Not merely a sense of loss of material possessions, but a loss of independence, and a loss of self-sufficiency. It has become painfully obvious that somehow we have become too dependant on government, and other organized entities to provide basic necessities – shelter, food and water. Why shouldn’t we be dependant on government? We pay taxes. We have elections whereby we vote our community leaders into various government positions. For too many years, we have watched televised disasters, one after the other, in other countries. Collectively we have donated millions upon millions of dollars to non-profit agencies, like the Red Cross, to care and feed disaster victims. Our government has created agency after agency to address human needs in this country and others. All across America, for decades, private faith based groups have contributed immeasurable time, supplies, and assistance to various peoples. Today, I am thinking about that Chinese Proverb, “Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day; teach a man to fish and he will eat for a lifetime.” Today, I am thinking about what it truly means to be self-sufficient, and feeling totally inadequate. As a child: I don’t remember acid rain. There were no genetically altered crops. Mad cow disease did not exist. AIDS was a dietetic candy. Etc… For all of our technological advancements, what has mankind gained? Seems today, there are more drugs to treat sicknesses that never existed before. I often wonder if these diseases were discovered, or created. Seems today, people are more vulnerable than ever before. I don’t think I’m just being paranoid. It is with mixed feelings, nostalgia if you will, I find myself longing for life as it was many yesterday’s ago – a more independent, self sufficient time, when people actually had time to hang their laundry on a clothes line, cooked fried chicken at home, and didn’t watch so much television. |
| Turkey came out good. My son, Jon-Ray, called from Iraq. My son, Billy, came home from offshore about 7 am this morning. My daughter and new granddaughter are here. My son, Ray, is outside building a boat, and making a mess of sawdust. My new grandson is here too. His mother is out shopping for screws that Ray needs to build the boat.  All is well. Happy Thanksgiving. Sincerely, The Critic All is well |
| The phone rang. I answered. A man's voice was saying something, but I can only describe his manner of speaking as "mush mouth". Three times I had to ask him to repeat himself. The first time he spoke I understood that he said he was verifying phone numbers. Upon repeating himself the second time, I understood him to say he was with the Rear Detachment. The third time was not charming. This young man said he had been told to verify family contact numbers, so that when our soldiers come home we can go meet them. Huh? I lost it a little. "When is my son coming home?" I asked, while checking the caller ID to see where this call originated from. "Oh, we don't know when their coming home. We are just verifying phone numbers." "Is MY SON HURT?" "Oh no, we're just verifying phone numbers." The caller ID showed the call was sure enough coming from Fort Benning, GA. The breath left my lungs. "ARE YOU SURE MY SON IS NOT HURT?" I hung up and called my husband at work, gave him the number on the caller ID, and told him I feared that this was some kind of way to checking to see if anyone was home before they dispatched some kind of notification crew. At first I had trouble convincing my husband that the conversation I had just had went the way I said it did. It's not that my husband did not want to believe me; it’s just that he spent 32 years in the military, and in all his years of experience in the military this just seemed odd. About 20 minutes later my husband called me back. Yes, the guy was a mush mouth, and he could not believe that a military phone was being answered in this manner. My husband, Rick, is a retired Chief Warrant Officer, and I think the young man that called me, and answered the phone when my husband called back, will now and forever more speak more clearly, and choose his words more carefully in the future. God knows at least I hope so. I do realize how young the majority of our soldiers are. They are frighteningly young. Their youth may serve them well in combat, but dealing with long worried parents is a whole other situation. These young men, mere boys, if you ask me, are doing the absolute best they can do. God help them. My son, Jon-Ray, who is in Iraq called yesterday. There is no greater justification to have a cell phone. I told him the story of the call from the Rear Detachment. He laughed, and said, "Maw, that's what they do." I'm a News junkie. Anyone reading this has to understand that when I say, "No NEWS is GOOD NEWS"  that is a major contradiction.I only want my son calling me, not some inexperienced, mush mouth kid assigned to the Rear Detachment with orders to verify phone numbers. Gawd!!! I want my son to call me everyday. I don't care how irrational that WANT is... that is what I want. Since he can't call me everyday, it is like my life is on hold between phone calls. I'm living with extreme dread. Yes, I pray, a lot and often. No mother should have to pray the prayers I'm praying. We, the mothers of soldiers need to make war much more difficult for our elected officials to have as a choice for dealing with INTERNATIONAL problems (most international problems are of their own making anyway). Enough said on that... ****************************** When my son called Saturday, I was in Books-A-Million. If I had to choose between a land line phone in my house of a cell phone - I'd choose cell phone. Anyway, do ya'll want to know where the employees of the Books-A-Million had the book Character Is Destiny? Are you sure you want to know? The book Character Is Destiny is located in the children's section of my Books-A-Million. Yep. I'm usually really distracted when I go to the book store. So many books! Anyway, I am beginning to believe that the people who work at my particular Books-A-Million don't actually read - they just have a job. God, forgive me. Senator John McCain’s book is so obviously NOT a children’s book, although I certainly think parents could share it some of its content with their children. I know I emailed Jon some excerpts, ever before I bought the book. Isn’t the Internet just grand? Ya’ll that have grown up having the Internet all your lives can’t possibly appreciate it the way us old guys can, and do. My own limited technical savvy only adds to my awe and wonder of such a marvelous device. I could expound for days and days on my opinions about the Internet, but I won’t, not today. Today, I just offer my thanks to God that my son is alive and well. Sincerely. |
| After reading the story at the following link, will someone tell me who hired this guy, and why is whoever hired this guy not being investigated, and prosecuted right along with him? http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/18/international/middleeast/18reconstruct.html?pa... ON THE CONTINUED MORAL DECAY OF SOCIETY Prostitution has been considered illegal for as long as I can remember, but it was always the Prostitutes taking the heat. I've always believed that the Law of Supply and Demand drives the market - any market, legal or not. I guess most people, especially women, think the ERA (Equal Rights Amendment) was a “Good Thing” – NOT ME. The ERA then legally made us, women, equal to men. Any of us seeking non-traditional employment, in a male dominated field, fast became “The Token Woman”. As I see it, Pimps and Madams have always been equal. We didn’t need the ERA to bring equality into that situation now, did we? I have often said, and been severely chastised for saying, “Some of the best whores I’ve ever known were married.” As you read the following link, think about who is going to be in need of the new services being offered in Nevada. http://cbs4boston.com/watercooler/watercooler_story_321000838.html In regards to the following link: And here is part of the problem with being convicted of a crime, and serving time in prison: Tax dollars are spent on sting operations conducted by police, and more tax dollars go to pay the salaries of District Attorneys. Lots more tax dollars are spent to house people convicted of crimes. And in the end, those convicted of crimes against society come out of prison, write books, and make more money off of their life of crime than they were making while living a life of crime. Martha Stewart doesn’t seem to have any regrets either, just like Heidi Fleiss. In Heidi Fleiss’s own words: Quote: "I don't regret what I did at all. It's consensual sex," http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/02/28/cnn25.tan.fleiss/ In desperate search of MANKINDS REDEEMING VALUE: I’m going to go out today and buy John McCain’s book, "Character Is Destiny”: I read the book contains, “Inspiring Stories Every Young Person Should Know and Every Adult Should Remember." McCain is said to tell 34 stories of heroes whose lives embody qualities ranging from honesty and loyalty to curiosity and enthusiasm. I’m wondering if there are any of my contemporaries in the book? More later… Sincerely, The Critic |
| When my phone rings at 5:00 in the morning, I fear the worse. My four children are all old enough to be considered legally adults, but knowing they are not sound asleep, tucked safely in their beds, under my roof - only adds to my fears. Aaaaaaarrrrrgggggggh - For some strange reason, I thought that when they grew up my worries my life would be easier. I have never been so wrong. At five o'clock in the morning,long before I was due to have my first cup of coffee, I am forced to answer a ringing phone... I have to wonder if I make any sense at all. When the phone rings at 5:00 am, I fear the absolute worse. Maybe one of my kids is hurt, sick, in jail, or injured. Why do I think these things? It's partly because my kids often play phone tricks on me. Billy, who is 18, will often call and pretend to be someone in the sheriffs office calling to tell me they have my son in custody. Why does he think this is funny? My daughter will call and say she is comming over. Hell could freeze over waiting for her to show up. She does not do this to be funny - she is just inconsiderate and irresponsible. My oldest son almost never calls, so when I hear his voice on the phone I immediately think something is wrong. Jon-Ray has been real good about remembering the time difference between here and Iraq, but this morning, for the first time, he forgot. Luckily, I got to spend an hour talking to my son, so I am sure by the time we hung up at 6:00 AM I was awake, more social, and more coherent. There are a lot of really bad things going on in Iraq. My son told me his platoon lost nine soldiers in less than 30 days. Most of these guys had wives and children. I had to argue with him about the value of his own life My son is talking like the lives of these other young men are more important, have more worth than his own life - because they had wives and young children. Ya'll have no idea how tragic and disturbing this is to me. No mother should have to remind her son how important his own life is. I had to tell my son that as sad as it is for a husband and father to die in combat; it is just as tragic for an unmarried man with no children to be killed in combat - NO DAMN DIFFERENCE - one man never gets to have the life he planned with his wife and kids, and the other never gets to know what it is to even have a wife and kids. My son is comming home in about two months. This tour of duty will be over. When I talk to Jon-Ray about the hope and possiblility of him never having to go back to Iraq - of Bush's War on Terror ending, he tells me I'm delusional. In the same breath, he tells me that American soldiers are making matters worse in Iraq - NOT BETTER. My son tells me the nine soldiers died because of the Rules of Engagement they are required to follow. I find it difficult to know what to say to him. I don't want him to hesitate to pull the trigger knowing that any hesitation could mean the difference between his life or someone else's. He told me he almost killed a seven year old boy, who was playing in the streets with a toy gun. He was angry, and I can understand. Will someone explain to me why Iraqi parents would let their kids play in the streets with realistic looking toy guns the whole time knowing American Troops are out on patrol? And just like in Vietnam, some kids are carrying real weapons, and really shooting at American soldiers. My son is telling me horrid things about Iraqi people. And I have no doubt Iraqis can say horrid things about American soldiers, too. OUR American elected government officials just need to bring our soldiers home, and let the Iraqi people fight this out among themselves. Their dictator is in custody. Iraqis are free now. America can help the Iraqis that are still alive when they quit killing each other. American troops are only covering up the fact that there is already a Civil War raging in Iraq. The cost of Bush's War on Terror is too damn high - and I'm not talking about the money either. |
| The following link is to a story that quotes Bush as saying, "We do not torture." http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2005-11-07-bush-terror-suspects_x.htm?PO... My son is in Iraq, and has been since January 2005. Bush would have been more truthful if he would have said, "No, we don't torture, we interrogate." Please read the definition of the word, "Interrogate": to question somebody throughly, often in an aggressive and threatening manner So far almost every statement that has been made by President Bush has been proven to be a fabrication, or an out right lie, i.e. as in the reasons he gave for invading Iraq, and starting a war. I watched Bush on television lying about his lack of knowledge concerning the resignation of Michael Brown as the head of FEMA - turns out Bush did know about it, but didn't know Brown's resignation had been made public. Bush lied quite well. Could have been believable if later news coverage did not reveal he did know about Michael Brown's resignation. We have a President that is very comfortable telling untruths. Know that I can't believe him when he says, "We do not torture." After everything we (the citizens of the United States of America) now know about Bush and his hand-picked administration, can you honestly say you actually still believe whatever comes out of Bush's mouth? |
| I was sitting here, enjoying my first cup of coffee of the morning, and for some strange reason the phrase, “The more things change the more things stay the same” popped into my yet under caffeinated brain. Since I already had too many things I needed to do other than explore the meaning of the aforementioned phrase, and being the Master Procrastinator that I am, I decided to explore the question in excruciating detail. Why? For days, I have been trying to decide from whose point of view I will tell a story that I’m writing. (It is NaNoWriMo month after all) Most of the characters in this particular story are way smarter than I am, and this is causing me untold grief. So it occurred to me to search for someone that absolutely everyone could hold in common, regardless of whether the characters in my story be highly educated, world renowned, rich, have friends in the highest places, or just have an abundance of plain, old dumb luck. Thinking back to my college days (luckily my college days are not that long ago, or I wouldn’t be able to remember them), I remember how much I appreciated the janitors. Okay, so I was older than most of the other students, and especially older than all of the students that were living in the dorms. To make a long story short, I realized that no matter how smart, rich, or connected any individual is there is always a need to have someone there to clean up their mess. Viola! I'm content and relived to think I am at least as smart as any janitor I’ve ever met. Maybe? I wonder what type of security clearance the janitors have to have that clean up the mess all the folks at the Pentagon make? Don’t think for one minute I am belittling janitors; I am not! I would never do that. I think Janitors, along with all the other types of service related employees, are highly unappreciated, and I bet the majority of them could tell hair-raising tales about what is really going on. I’ve given this considerable thought this morning, and it is titillating to think about telling my story from the janitors POV. For the most part I think people employed in service related occupations are better grounded in reality. That is not to say that people in service related jobs are not like everyone else – of course they have their dreams and aspirations, too. And who is to say that a janitor couldn’t be a covert operative, or shift shape changing alien, operating under the guise of being a janitor, or cook? Of course, I’ll have a few more cups of coffee, and expound on my current train of thought about the tales a janitor can tell about the other characters in my story. |
| I have been very quiet about what has been going on in the News lately for a couple of reasons: I can't believe, but I can hope that maybe finally Bush and his gang of marauding liars and theives are finally going to reap their just rewards. With the Tom Delay indictment, maybe more everyday ordinary people will see and understand that the Bush White House has used vast amounts of money illegally to gain power and control over America. My question is, how long will these troubled Republicans protect Bush? Don't tell me you believe that Bush did not, dose not, and never did know what his people have done, and what they are doing. I'm worried about the health and safety of Patrick J. Fitzgerald, the special prosecutor who has directed the C.I.A. leak investigation. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/22/politics/22fitzgerald.html?incamp=article_popu... Excerp: Mr. Fitzgerald was appointed in December 2003 by James B. Comey, then the deputy attorney general and an old friend, to investigate the disclosure in a column by Robert Novak of the identity of an undercover operative for the Central Intelligence Agency, Valerie Wilson, also referred to by her maiden name, Valerie Plame. Her husband, Joseph C. Wilson IV, a former diplomat who had traveled to Niger on behalf of the C.I.A. to check on reports that Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein was seeking uranium there, had publicly accused the White House of twisting the evidence to justify war against Iraq. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/21/politics/21wilkerson.html?ex=1130212800&en=751... Excerp: Mr. Wilkerson, a retired Army colonel and former director of the Marine Corps War College, said that in his years in or close to government, he had seen its national security apparatus twisted in many ways. But what he saw in Mr. Bush's first term "was a case that I have never seen in my studies of aberration, bastardizations" and "perturbations." "What I saw was a cabal between the vice president of the United States, Richard Cheney, and the secretary of defense, Donald Rumsfeld, on critical issues," he said. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/23/politics/23strategy.ready.html Excerp: "The way in which the leak investigation is being pursued is becoming a symbol of who was right and who was wrong about the war," said Ivo H. Daalder, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution who worked at the National Security Council during the Clinton administration. "The possibility of Libby being indicted, and the whole Cheney angle, is all about proving in some sense that they were wrong and therefore that those who opposed the war and never thought the intelligence was right have been proven correct." I commend Special Prosecutor Patrick J. Fitzgerald, for his effort to get to the truth. Maybe there is still hope for America. http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&contentId=A42104-2003D...¬Found=true Providing a little history in regards to Patrick J. Fitzgerald, the special prosecutor being appointed... Excerp: White House spokesman Trent Duffy said Bush, who is spending the week at his Texas ranch, was informed of the decision by his staff about an hour before Comey's appearance. "The White House was not consulted on the decision," he said, adding that the Justice Department notified the White House "as a courtesy." Comey said attorneys at the State Department, the Pentagon and the CIA were also notified. http://www.news24.com/News24/World/News/0,,2-10-1462_1821709,00.html Excerp: Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald has spent 22 months investigating whether senior White House aides committed a crime by blowing the cover of spy Valerie Plame to avenge her husband Joseph Wilson's fierce criticism in 2003 of the intelligence used to justify the war in Iraq. What is happening in the Bush White House is huge. It is difficult to read and think about - I know. This is bigger than Clinton's lie to the Grand Jury about his affair with Monika Lewinsky, which in my opinion was just stupid. This is bigger than Watergate. The Bush Presidency & the Cost of War in Iraq: http://www.ips-dc.org/iraq/quagmire/ In my opinion, the Bush White House is a vengeful, and hatefilled place. The current Republican Administration is, and has since the beginning, been the biggest National Disaster to have ever befall America. I'm hurt, ashamed, and concerned about the total lack of regard concerning Democracy. When did America become more vested in Corporations, over the best interest of everyday American citizens? The War in Iraq is not, and has never been about spreading Democracy throughout the Middle East. Our National Guard, our Military, have been put in harms way out of greed for money and power. Our America has been put in grave risk, and our Constitution usurped by people seeking only money, and the power with which to obtain the money. It angers me to think that a political machine somehow managed to delude the majority of the voters in this country. It sickens me that this has costs so many American lives. I can only hope that somehow the evil that now occupies the White House will be stopped, and those responsible will get their just desserts, but this will not bring back the men and women who have died, and are dying. OUR men and women in the military need to come home now. Iraq needs to be allow to find their own way. |
| My daughter had her baby Thursday afternoon, about 3 O'CLOCK, October 13th. She is beautiful of course... 7 lbs, 14 oz., and 19 inches long. They named her Jessi Lynn, after telling me they were going to spell it "Jessie", they dropped the e. Oh well, she's healthy and beautiful. My son's baby was born August 31st, but I've only seen Hayden once... seems my son and Amy are too busy to be bothered with me... oh well... Hayden was premature, only weighted about 4 pounds, and spent his first ten days in the hospital, and had three complete blood transfusions... Damn. Somethings wrong but neither my son nor Amy has told me anything. My daughter lost everything in the flooding brought on by hurricane Rita. She is rebuilding her nest in my house. She is completely rearranging my nest. I guess I really don't care, and I'm just really glad everybody is alive. Ya'll need to believe me when I tell you Red Cross is a sham. FEMA is a really bad joke, and if it was not for local church groups who provided a baby crib and mattress, a baby swing, and lots of necessary baby clothes - we'd be in a bind. I got the baby car seat/stoller combo at Sears. Do ya'll know how expensive baby stuff has gotten?Unbelievable. My daughter does not appreciate my political views or rants, so for the time being... I'm not saying a word. I don't think babies need much more than love, diapers, lots of blankets for wraping, and lots of holding. I nursed all four of mine, so baby formula was not an issue. I don't believe a baby can be held too much, and I certainly don't believe a baby can be spoiled. |
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I am making a peach pie and a mincemeat pie, myself. No point even starting, yet, though - turkey's just over 10 lbs, and company doesn't arrive until around 1:00 PM. Santa was good to us - how about you? Just imagine the damage I can do in the kitchen now, between a Cuisinart food processor and my slow cooker?! 
