Republican Senator believes that limiting high capacity rounds “restricts freedom.”

I want to know what, exactly, a regular non-military, non-law enforcement person really needs assault weapons and high capacity magazines.  What, exactly, are they going to do with those?  What possible purpose, besides the ones we have been witnessing, can there be for owning such firepower?

Well, a number of Republican senators certainly believe that, even if there may not be identifiable use, any attempt to restrict access would be a “restriction of our freedoms.”

Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) drew a fairly strict line in the sand on Sunday with respect to the coming debate over gun control, suggesting that there is a constitutional right to buy high-capacity clips and magazines. 

"Does something that would limit magazines that could carry 100 rounds, would that infringe on the constitutional right?" host Chris Wallace asked Johnson on "Fox News Sunday." 

"I believe so," Johnson replied. "People will talk about unusually lethal weapons, that could be potentially a discussion you could have. But the fact of the matter is there are 30-round magazines that are just common. You simply can't keep these weapons out of the hands of sick, demented individuals who want to do harm. And when you try to do it, you restrict our freedoms."

Yep, that certainly makes sense.  I definitely remember the Constitution, or maybe it was the Bill of Rights, or maybe it was the Gettysburg Address, that specifically said that a citizen of the U.S. must have access to firepower that can kill dozens and maybe hundreds of people in less than a minute.  Even though I believe that flintlocks were the order of the day back around 1775 and 1776.

For a political party that just LOVES to view the Constitution in what they believe was the original intent of the Founding Fathers, they certainly can stretch a point when it comes to guns.

This is the mentality I am looking at when I said in an earlier post on this subject that this country will never change.  Mass killings of innocent bystanders by lunatics with easy access to any weapon their hearts desire and a chip on their shoulder will not stop, because this country’s priorities have “absolute freedom with anything to do with high power weaponry” is much higher on our list than is keeping civilians safe.

Yeah, I know, if anyone were reading this blog and I got comments, someone would no doubt say that even with the type of restrictions I am talking about, we wouldn’t have stopped this particular person from killing people, if that is what he wanted to do.  And you know what?  You may be right.  But you also may be wrong.  Maybe low capacity clips might have slowed this guy down.  Maybe….  If he didn’t have an assault rifle, he might, must maybe, might have thought twice about his plan.  The thing is, we can’t know for certain until we try.  And we aren’t going to try.  Because this nation’s priorities are totally out of whack.

Now, of course, if this attack had been perpetrated by a fanatical Iranian, our course as a nation would have been very easy to determine.  We go bomb Iran and start another middle east war that will be much more difficult to win and/or extract ourselves from than Iraq.  The TSA would no doubt make it that much more difficult to get on a commercial airplane.  The Dept. of “Homeland Security” would issue more color-coded alerts.  The government would probably push for mass use of surveillance drones to spy on activities of anyone that looks suspicious.  But since this was a nutjob loner white guy, well…  There’s just nothing that can be done about that.

I just can’t fathom Senator Ron Johnson from the state of Wisconsin going on Fox News and saying something like this, three days after the horrific day in Denver.  He makes me a bit sick to my stomach.  But, to others, he is no doubt hailed as a “True American.”


UPDATE:  Sorry this is difficult to read.  I have absolutely no idea why Blogger decided to put this posts text in grey against a black background.  I didn't do that and can't figure out how to change it.

One more thought on guns and the lack of gun control in America.

Here's a comparison to think about when debating gun violence in this country.

On 9/11, one of the worst days in American history, somewhere around 3000 people were murdered in cold blood by a number of fanatics.  Over that event, this country ended up starting two wars (even if Iraq wasn't about 9/11 directly, George Bush certainly used the opportunity to get his war of choice), each of which set a record for the longest war this country had ever participated in.  Thousands of American soldiers were killed, and tens of thousands were maimed for life.  Over a trillion dollars was spent, and hundreds of thousands of civilians from both Iraq and Afghanistan were killed.  That's what this country did in the name of the 3000 people who died on 9/11.  "Never forget!"

On the other hand, somewhere between 9000 and 10,000 people in the U.S. are killed by gun violence each and every year, and we do absolutely nothing.  Let me repeat that.  Between 9000 and 10,000 people in the U.S. are killed by gun violence each and every year, and we do absolutely nothing.

The ability of Americans to rationalize away anything that contradicts with their established beliefs is nothing short of dumbfounding.

UPDATE:  Actually, Cognitive Dissonance was the term I was looking for.

UPDATE:  Here is actually what looks like to me a non-satirical commentary from The Onion, courtesy of Balloon Juice.

12 dead in a shooting rampage outside of Denver at a Batman movie.

This country is really, really sick. I am not sure I am not talking about a country which can continually produce nutjobs that believe they need to solve their grievances by taking out guns and blowing away innocent people. Yes, every country has the lunatics, such as Norway, for example, but this country seems to have more than our fair share.

But again, what I am talking about is the fact that these types of events are so damn commonplace. They seem to happen several times a year now. And I will absolutely goddamn guarantee that this event will be all but forgotten within six months, just like the shooting at Virginia Tech was. Just like the horrific shooing of Gabby Giffords at a campaign event outside a shopping mall in Tucson.  Those have all but been forgotten, except when someone brings up Giffords every now and then.

 Any attempt by anyone to actually DO anything about gun violence in this country will be met with overwhelming opposition, and the attempt will crumble. Any attempt will be labeled as “Political Opportunism” and “Government Overreach.” The country, as a whole (which is different than a majority of the population, because that doesn’t factor in money, the NRA, and political timidity), would rather have these sickening events a couple of times a year where countless innocent people die or come through the event with horrible physical and psychic scars, than actually curtail anyone’s easy access to as many guns as they want. THAT is what is important in this country. Innocent lives are not important in the face of letting crazy people have guns.

Don’t give me that crap about statistics. I can show you just as many statistics about how having guns in someone’s home increases the change, by a large amount, of someone getting shot accidently.

 Don’t give me that “guns don’t kill people, people kill people.” No, guns do kill people. That’s the predominate reason that many guns are manufactured and sold. Sure, there are rifles and shotguns made specifically for hunting of animals (which I think is cruel and absurd, but do recognize it as a legitimate form of “recreation”). But most guns are made to kill people.

I feel so badly, just like I do after every shooting. Nothing will happen. People will wring their hands and say, “how horrible.” And other people will immediately go into their defensive/pre-emptive offensive mode, ready to stomp on any attempt to do anything about curtailing gun violence. And absolutely nothing will happen. This is the norm. People die in car crashes, no one wants to take away people’s cars. (I have actually heard that one as an argument.) Therefore, by extension, why worry about a few nuts with guns which we can’t do anything about anyway? Don’t concern yourself that we haven’t actually TRIED to do anything. We just know that we can’t solve the problem. So, let’s just forget about this, shall we? Good. Too bad about all those kids that were killed and injured because they wanted to see the new Batman movie. That’s just how it goes.

I hate this country.

UPDATE:  This is in response to the first comment I received on my post, only about 10 minutes after I hit post.  I thought about addressing this "argument" in my original post, but I was so upset and in a hurry that I didn't go there.  Not that it would have mattered to those people who think that the best/only solution to gun violence in this country is to arm EVERYONE.  Yep, sure can't see any problems with that....  No, I am sure that drunken disputes at 2 a.m. in a bar that currently only results in broken teeth and bloody knuckles would NEVER result in a gun fight.  Just like the case of Trayvon Martin in Florida didn't end up with a 17 year old kid dead because some hot shot with a gun and a chip on his shoulder (who wasn't even drunk at the time) decided he was going to instigate something.  No, guns certainly don't empower people with feelings of control, machismo and invulnerability.  No, and I am sure that when something did come up, no more innocent bystanders would be hurt or killed in the crossfire.  20 people shooting in a dark movie theater with smoke bombs and tear gas going off?  No, no chance of anyone else getting hurt.

Goddamn, I cannot understand this country.  People have lost sight of all perspective and ideology is REQUIRED to drive all responses anymore.  No logic.  No understanding of anyone's problems other than their own, either real or imaginary.  Only mindless tribalism.  "They" are against this, so "we" MUST be for it!  And vis versa.

I still maintain that the 2nd Amendment was written to address the issue of the government being able to raise a fighting force (i.e., "militia") very quickly, as there wasn't a standing army back then.  To me, that's simple logic.  But a huge percentage of the people in this country believe that it means that anyone, even those with a history of domestic violence and mental illness, should be allowed to have as many guns as they want, without any government "interference" at all.  It's perfectly fine to have to go through mandatory training and getting a drivers license to drive a car, but guns?  Hey, it's all good.  No regulations necessary.

And I am just as sure that I will get more crazy comments like that first one.  I may end up using my authority as owner of the blog to delete those comments, of course....  You want to advocate arming the entire country?  Go get your own damn blog.

UPDATE:  I revised the number of dead in the title from 14 to 12.  Initial reports on events like these are always confused/confusing and will always be subject to correction after things settle down a bit.

UPDATE:  Ah, great.  The shooter booby-trapped his apartment.  That's just great....  This guy really meant to go out in a blaze of glory, or whatever that amounted to in his sick, twisted mind.  I don't care how badly anyone may think that "society" or the government has treated them.  There is absolutely no justification for this.

More pretty cool public chalk art.

It just seems like a lot of work for something that won't last very long. But they are cool. Click on the photo for a bigger version.

What does and does not upset Conservatives in America today.

Here’s what Conservatives find outrageous these days.

So at an Obama fundraiser headlined by the First Lady, Robert DeNiro tossed out a moderately funny joke:

“Callista Gingrich. Karen Santorum. Ann Romney. Now do you really think our country is ready for a white first lady?” De Niro asked to cheers from the crowd. “Too soon, right?”

Yes, it was a joke, you see, because in 2008, a lot of people asked if America was ready for a black president. We’ve had 43 white presidents, and 42 white first ladies, you see, and we don’t tend to think of them as belonging to any race. It’s a reminder of selective race-consciousness. I’m typing this v-e-r-y s-l-o-w-l-y because some people don’t seem to get it.

Among the non-getters is Newt Gingrich, who has gone nuclear over the joke, and even tried to compare it to Rush Limbaugh’s sliming of Sandra Fluke:

“I do want to say one thing, both on behalf of my wife and on behalf of Karen Santorum and on behalf of Ann Romney — I think that Robert DeNiro’s wrong,” Gingrich said. “I think the country is ready for a new first lady, and he doesn’t have to describe it in racial terms.”

Gingrich went on to demand that President Obama apologize for the comments.

“What DeNiro said last night was inexcusable, and the president should apologize for him,” Gingrich said. “It was at an Obama fundraiser, it is exactly wrong, it divides the country. If people on the left want to talk about talk show hosts, then everybody in the country should hold the president accountable when someone at his event says something that is as utterly and terribly unacceptable as what Robert DeNiro said.”

Inexcusable.... Yep, that certainly is Inexcusable. But Gingrich wants an apology anyway, from the President, who had nothing to do with the joke in the first place.

And here is something that apparently doesn’t bother Conservatives at all.

Just moments before Trayvon Martin was shot and killed, he was on his cellphone talking with a 16-year-old girl. For the first time, the girl is speaking out about the last, horrifying moments of Martin's life.

"He said this man was watching him, so he put his hoodie on. He said he lost the man," the girl told ABC News. "I asked Trayvon to run, and he said he was going to walk fast. I told him to run but he said he was not going to run."

According to accounts gleaned from 911 audio recordings made the night of the killing and the teenage girl's statements, Martin eventually did run. But Zimmerman wasn't far behind, and soon the two would be face to face. Zimmerman, the self-appointed captain of the neighborhood watch, was armed with a 9mm pistol. Trayvon had little more than a bag of candy in his pocket.

"Trayvon said, 'What are you following me for?' and the man said, 'What are you doing here?' Next thing I hear is somebody pushing, and somebody pushed Trayvon because the headset just fell. I called him again and he didn't answer the phone."

The line went dead, according to the girl's account.

"He knew he was being followed and tried to get away from the guy, and the guy still caught up with him," Tracey Martin, Trayvon's father, told ABC. "And that's the most disturbing part: He thought he had got away from the guy, and the guy back-tracked for him."

It’s apparently fine for a white guy with a gun and a history of calling the police every time he saw a “scary black person”, essentially stalk, initiate a confrontation, and then shoot a black 17 year old kid who was armed with nothing more than a box of skittles, and then claim “self-defense” and the laws of the state of Florida are perfectly fine with this. But lord, have some liberal make a joke that has some racial component, and everyone has a grand mal seizure. But killing an unarmed kid who was walking home from the local 7-11? That’s apparently fine and dandy.

I am so sick of these fucking assholes. And I feel so sorry for the family of Trayvon Martin….

I just don’t know how these racist cretins can live with themselves.

UPDATE: Read this, from BlackSnob, for an up close and personal perspective on this outright murder of a black kid. And much as this angers me, I could never really understand it from a black person's perspective. This will give you one. Highly recommended read.

Natural ice sculptures.

From National Geographic, natch.

Rush Limbaugh is a truly despicable human being.

May I offer my apologies to all females in the world.

Worth 16 owls in the bush, but a bit difficult to carry.

Exceptionally cool crop circles in the snow.

I always enjoy artist endeavors that are outside the norm but still very artistic. Here are some pretty fantastic designs drawn in the snow by Simon Beck.

From Yahoo.

Are aliens giving up cornfields for cold, mountain air?

Nope. Turns out these incredibly awesome snow designs are the work of decidedly human artist Simon Beck, who takes the concept of a crop circle to new heights by strapping on a pair snowshoes and getting to work.

"They are made by a kind of reverse orienteering," he explains on his Yahoo! Groups page. "The main lines and points are surveyed using a sighting compass (as used for surveying orienteering maps), with distance either by pace counting or string."

It can take Beck hours of trudging around in the snow to create his masterpieces, which can run the size of a soccer field. Why go to the trouble?

"The main reason for making them was because I can no longer run properly due to problems with my feet, so plodding about on level snow is the least painful way of getting exercise," he says. "Gradually the reason has become photographing them, and I am considering buying a better camera."

It would have never, ever occurred to me to actually do something like this....

See more of his work/trudging around in the snow on his facebook page here.

Yet another right wing politician that feels “God has called on him.”

This one happens to be Craig James, ex-college football jock, taker of illegal payments to student athletes, and meddling dad who appeared to get a coach fired from Texas Tech by using his clout as ESPN analyst.

I could say all sorts of things about why someone like James thinks he would be a good Senator, but I will leave that to another time.

This is the line that caught my eye, however, right at this end of this article.

The Republican primary is scheduled for April 3, but it could be delayed depending on the outcome of legal challenges to congressional voting districts. A later primary would give James more time to raise money and promote his campaign.

James dismisses a suggestion he's considered a long shot and believes he was called by God to run for office.

"That doesn't mean God says, 'You're going to win, Craig,'" he said. "But I would far rather have done this than let God down and not do what he had called me to do."

I am just astounded about how many right wing politicians that claim God is in his or her corner. Michele Bachmann, Gingrich, Rick Perry, Rick Santorum, all have claimed at one time or another, that God had called upon him or her to run for office, which was really interesting, since it was the same Office of the Presidency that they were running for. God apparently can’t make up His mind.

But I find it astounding, if God exists and He created the entire universe, with its billions upon billions of stars and in which Earth does not even rate being called an infinitesimal speck, that He would care one single bit about whether or not one politician would or would not run for office of one of about 180 countries that inhabit the Earth.

Perhaps it just that these people overestimate their own importance. The monumental ego involved in even supposing that he could "let God down" is astounding. I got news for you, James. If there is a God, one that could create the entire universe and everything that resides within it, He does not give One Big Goddam about you, period. You are about as insignificant as an amoeba is to you. And I will tell you another thing. If you read sports blogs like SB Nation, no one liked you an a sports analyst or a color commentator. You sucked there, why do you think you would make a good politician? Oh, yeah. You can "criticize Obamacare."

These pricks really piss me off, with their sanctimonious hypocritical bullshit.

Upon reading an anthology of stories by H.P. Lovecraft, or why I will never, ever own a Kindle.

Artistic rendering of Cthulhu, which also sort of represents my feeling towards complex electronic devices in general.

Yes, I recognize the fact that I am somewhat of a technophobe. Anything more complex than a ratcheting socket wrench usually ends up not working for me. Computers do not work. Wireless connections do not work. OK, my cell phone usually works, but that seems to be an exception, probably because it is one of the very low end devices that really does not do anything other than make and receive phone calls and text messages. I will never own a “smart phone.” I absolutely hate crap that doesn't work for me and I have to spend more time figuring out how to make them work correctly than the time I want to use them for.

So, I know that I am already predisposed not to be very enamored of a Kindle or other similar “electronic book” device. But here are some thoughts about why real books – for me, in any case – are vastly superior to a Kindle.

As the title states, I just finished reading an anthology by the great horror writer, H.P. Lovecraft. Click the link if you don’t know who he is. I realize that some younger folks in America might not have a clue as to the influence Howard Phillips Lovecraft had on American horror, and still exerts to this day. Horror writers such as Stephen King freely acknowledge Lovecraft’s influence on their own work. Films such as the Nightmare on Elm Street franchise, many films by John Carpenter such as “The Thing,” probably all of the films by Wes Craven, etc. etc. owe their existence to the work of Lovecraft.

That doesn’t do a lot to explain my love of real books over a Kindle, other than to set the stage. I picked up my Lovecraft anthology in a used bookstore (absolutely the best kind of bookstore) for seven bucks a few weeks ago. This particular one was printed in 1945. The cover is in pretty good shape for something that old, although the top of the spine is pretty frayed looking and the corners are rather smashed with the cardboard sticking through the cloth covering. The pages are all very yellow, especially around the edges, as are many books that were printed during the war years of the 1940’s when they used much cheaper paper with a higher acid content than normal. There are water stains on the edges and the book has this very “old book-ish” smell to it. In other words, it is an absolutely perfect vehicle from which to read a little Lovecraft. In case I have whetted your interest, you might go looking for a version of “The Colour Out of Space.” That might be the most frightening short story I have ever read. I remember reading it when I was in jr. high school, probably at 11 o’clock at night. It made quite an impact. “The Cult of Cthulhu” is also a very good read, and is probably his most famous story. I just could not envision reading something like that from an electronic reader, where you are just scrolling up and down an LED powered screen. Where are the browning pages? Where is that interesting smell? An e-book would just not have worked for me.

I just like books as the means to deliver the words to the reader. Books have a substance to them that a Kindle could never have. Books, especially older books that have been read many times, develop a character all their own. They become unlike the next book you pick up off the shelf. I even love paperback books. I enjoy flipping back and forth between pages when I am taking a break from actual reading, which I do rather often. I go back and look at the cover art. My, isn’t that an interesting piece of artwork? I contemplate the creases in the spine and the missing chips from the cover. The more dog-eared the copy, the better. One book that I have that I re-read about every other year is “The Magus” by John Fowles. I won’t go into a literary discussion of that particular novel at this time. Many people don’t like it; as it sometimes seems to be an exercise in the worst excesses of that particular writing style, “Let’s try to confuse the hell out of the reader.” But I somehow find it fascinating. It just has a very unique, mysterious air to it, even when I know what is coming. My original copy of that book split into two pieces because of multiple readings and admittedly less than careful handling. I put lots of Elmer’s glue on the outside of the spine and then several layers of Scotch tape. That worked fine and it gives a very unique feeling to the book. I know exactly which book from my collection I am holding when I have that in my hand.

Yes, I am somewhat of a collector of old books, which also no doubt colors my perception of a Kindle. I have a number of very interesting editions, such as a what appears to be a first edition from 1901 of “Mr. Munchausen,” from spawned several films over the years, including Terry Gilliam’s “The Adventures of Baron Munchausen,” and a 1894 first edition of “Trilby,” which gave us the evil manipulator, Svengali, and popularized the notion of “animal magnetism,” also known as hypnotism. I could go on, as I have quite a number of interesting volumes in my collection. I just don’t see the attraction of reading any of those books on a Kindle device. Any book that I would read purely for enjoyment, I really want that book. I may get rid of it later, but I want to hold that copy in my hand while I am reading it. Being able to download it from Amazon for a couple of bucks instantaneously holds no attraction for me.

Now, this is not to say that I think that the Kindle should not exist. I have heard a number of stories about how someone’s mother has started reading again, mostly because of the ease of use and the fact that you can make the font really big for someone who would otherwise have to strain to read smaller print. Great. Maybe it would be good for a collection of technical books as well, although I still like being able to flip back and forth between pages, where you can easily see where you are in the volume, rather than try to scroll around or jump around between pages. I have enough of that with these technical documents I have to read on the computer for my job. And I can see where a search function would come in really handy from time to time. But I grew up with books. My mom had lots of books lying around. She read to me from some very old copies of “Winnie the Pooh.” I avidly read all the Hardy Boy books when I was a kid. I have always had a large collection of books that has followed me to place to place as I moved around during my life. When I remodeled my house, I specifically included a largish library/computer room with two walls covered with built-in bookshelves, which were filled immediately when I unloaded all the boxes that contained my books.

Carrying around an electronic tablet thingy that probably wouldn’t work the way I wanted it to and the battery would run out when I needed it and didn’t have the recharger just wouldn’t cut it for me.

Wildlife rule number 1. Squirrels do not share.

Birdseed. Not always for birds.

Shih-Tzu blogging.

Shih-Tzus may be cold weather dogs (and I base this on the prodigious amount of hair they grown in a very short period of time), but their height seems to be very much an issue when prancing about in a foot of snow.

OK, if Gandalf is so damn smart, why didn't he know about this?

Comet Lovejoy from the International Space Station.

Photo from Universe Today.

Nigel Tufnel comes home from war.

I must have slept through the other nine.

Why no... No, I didn't.

Or wait.... Maybe I did. I can't remember.

From Found Shit.

Weird Science News of the Day: Sailing Stones of Death Valley

Aha. This is just what I needed to put a little pep into my day. Here is a bit of the story about these sailing stones that come from EnvironmentalGraffitti.com, as well as the photos used in this post.

Death Valley National Park in California is home to a place called The Racetrack Playa. The Racetrack is a dry lake situated 1130m above sea level, and even though it is 4.5km long, the ground is surprisingly flat, with only a 4cm height differential between the north and south ends. The mountains surrounding the Racetrack, comprised primarily of dark dolomite, reach as high as 1731m above the lake bed. When the heavy rains come, water rushes down the mountains and onto the lake bed, forming a shallow endorheic lake. Due to the hot temperatures of the region, the water evaporates, leaving behind a layer of soft mud. When the liquid fully evaporates, the ground cracks and leaves a mosaic pattern behind. While all of this is interesting, the feature that makes this area truly unique is something that has yet to be fully understood by the scientific community.

Over time, stones have fallen from the mountainsides onto the lake bed. Some of the stones are small, though others weigh as much as 700 pounds. Once they are situated on the incredibly flat surface, one might be inclined to think that they would sit undisturbed for thousands of years. This, however, is not the case. These gigantic rocks and boulders (known as Sailing Stones, Sliding Rocks, or Moving Rocks) are found all over the dry lake bed with long trails, or racetracks, having formed behind them, extending for hundreds of meters. Since there is no evidence of human or animal intervention in the movement of these stones, one has to wonder how the phenomenon is happening.

Not only to the stones move, but they move in completely different directions. Two stones could start next to one another, and start moving at approximately the same speed, but one will suddenly stop or change directions. Sometimes the sailing stones will turn around completely, moving back towards their point of origin. The tracks left behind are generally no wider that 30 cm, and less than 2.5cm deep. The longest tracks have been forming for numerous years, though to date, nobody has ever witnessed the event.

Ok, that is some really strange shit. Moving stones that leave trails that no one has ever seen move. And stones that are sitting next to each other might move in different directions or one might move and the other not.

I am fully vested in science, in that I think science is the only way that natural phenomena can be explained (i.e., I don't go in for explanations that involve religion or the supernatural). But this one, apparently, is resisting all attempts at rational scientific explanations, at least to date. I will be very interested in hearing if this is every explained.

UPDATE: Well, that didn't take long. Ask and you shall receive, I guess.

http://onemansblog.com/2007/09/06/death-valleys-sailing-stones-mystery-solved/

However, I am not totally convinced about this. If the incoming water has enough power to push the stones around for many hundreds of feet, then why isn't it powerful enough to also wash away the tracks in the mud?

This just about sums it all up.....

Science moment of the day: Jupiter's Great Red Spot

Wow. That's about all the narrative necessary for this one. Just, wow....

Snapped from the New Horizons spacecraft on its way to Saturn.

Photo from NASA. Click on the photo for a (slightly) enlarged version.

Sorry for yet another college football thread: Missouri going to seek membership in the SEC.

See here for the very latest, which will no doubt be totally out of date in the next 15 minutes.

Ok, but here's one thing that I haven't seen anyone mention before. If Missouri goes to the SEC, do you realize that will give that league THREE TEAMS named Tigers? LSU, Auburn and now Missouri. And two other teams are named Bulldogs; Georgia and Miss. State. Yes, the SEC plays great football. They should apply to the NFL, they are so good. But seriously, you are looking very, very unimaginative with the names.

Seatle Times and Seattle P-I have a much different take on Occupy Seattle.

This is how the lead story on the web version of the Times presents the story.

Occupy protest waning; just ask hot-dog vendor

Hum. If you are hoping that the "Occupy" movement really starts to coalesce and influence the political direction in this country, "waning" is not a word you really want to hear. Synonyms for that word include, "diminishing" and "shrinking." Not really good.

And this is how the lead story on the web version (which is, unfortunately, the only version of the P-I anymore) plays the same story.

Occupy Seattle Heats Up.

Wow. The movement is really heating up. Getting hotter, bigger. That’s quite a radical difference, isn’t it, about how two news organizations play the same story.?

Personally, I would go with the Times version, because, you know, who would have their fingers on the pulse of a grass roots movement that is going global than a seller of pork products who operates from a corner stand? If the view of a political movement by a hot dog seller isn't worthy of a front page story, I certainly don't know what is.

I suppose the P-I version might be talking about how one goes about heating up your hot dogs, but I rather doubt it.

Every once in a while, the Times runs a story that just tells you what their world view is.

Perhaps the most ill-conceived advertising campaign ever.

Well, they are British, after all.....

From Picture is Unrelated.

The Rapture is now on for Oct. 21st. How many times does one have to fail completely and utterly before they understand they are wrong?

Apparently never, I guess. Remember Harold Camping, the lunatic fundamentalist who convinced a lot of True Believers that Judgment Day was going to occur last May 21st? A large number of truly deluded and easily lead people got rid of all their possessions in order to be ready to ascend to Heaven when the Rapture occurred.

Of course, Camping got it wrong, in that said event never happened.

Well, now he is back and is now completely confident that the Rapture will occur on Oct. 21st. That whole May 21st thing? That was just the last-ditch date for everyone to get their respective houses in order. Oct. 21st is when the Hammer is going to fall. Jesus is really upset with everyone who isn’t a True Believer, and is going to met out the appropriate punishment for our wicked ways.

That is apparently how Camping sees it. Given what a complete and utter lunatic he looked like on May 22nd, I can’t imagine this guy even showing himself in public anymore, much less making yet another prediction that will be shown to be exactly what it is, total horseshit, on Oct. 23rd.

What is it with the human psyche that allows this kind of behavior? How can this guy believe any of this? And how could anyone listen to him and say, “Yeah, he may have been wrong last time, but boy, he is really spot-on this time! Wait until those non-believers see all those earthquakes and Jesus bringing fire and brimstone down on the world!”

I am totally convinced that perhaps a quarter of the human population of this planet is completely insane. They have lost the ability to deal with actual reality, and have retreated into a complete fantasyland just in order to survive. And then, when facts show reality to be something other than what they fantasize, they somehow find a way to rationalize it all away, just so they can maintain their fantasy that they are the only ones that understand and everyone else is in for their comeuppance.

Cross-posted at Pithy Cabbages.

Photo from the Seattle PI blog.

Shih-Tzu blogging.

Just because it's been a while since I have done this....




I wonder if there are doggies on the moon?



What? I was kind of busy here.



Well, since you interrupted my deep contemplation of the mysteries of the universe, I would really, really like for you to rub my tummy, if you have the time.

I really feel for the parents and spouses of the 31 Americans killed in Afghanistan.

Read the story here in HuffPo if you haven't seen the news.

This is reminding me so much of the Vietnam war. I am old enough to have lived through that time, but young enough not to have been made to go and fight and possibly die for some reason that no one could really explain. Oh, there was probably a valid reason at the beginning for both wars, but as time dragged on and things changed, no one could really explain why we were there and expending our military, other than some vague Domino Theory and communists overrunning the world. In Afghanistan, I have no idea what is going on anymore and why we are there. Al Queida has either been destroyed or picked up stakes and moved into Pakistan. The Taliban LIVE in Afghanistan and it has been proven time and time again that foreign forces have huge problems when they are trying to subdue local forces. Just ask the Soviet Union. Oh yeah, the Soviet Union does not exist anymore, and their foray into Afghanistan was one of the main reasons it collapsed.

Why are we in Afghanistan? Really, why?

This is an e-mail I wrote this morning to my local TV station about the FAA shutdown.

Why can't you say it's the Republicans who have partially shut down the FAA?

I saw your lead story on the 5:00 news last night (Aug. 3). All I gathered from it was that "Congress" couldn't come to an agreement on the FAA and that the lady you interviewed was upset with "Congress" for not doing its job. None of the Washington state politicians could tell you why this happened? Come on. A 30 second Google search would tell you exactly what is going on, and that it the House of Representative, under Republican control, inserted language into the FAA funding bill that would make it much more difficult for airline and railroad workers to unionize. That is not a secret! Plus, John MIca (R, Fl) admitted that he added language about defunding the rural airport program, mostly in Democratic states, just to "get people's attention." It was the Republicans who decided to use the FAA as a hostage to get what they want, after agitation by the CEO of Delta Airlines. The Democrats asked for a clean reauthorization bill, one that would fund the FAA without strings attached and Republicans refused. This is not a secret!

Are you afraid to say that it is the Republicans yet again who are throwing a wrench into government and are putting 10's of thousands of people out of work during a time of high unemployment? Why did you just incorrectly identify "Congress" as the bad guys here? That is so wrong, and I can't believe you can't get this right. This is one of the first times I have seen your news program lead off with a real hard news story, rather than the normal stuff involving sex or car crashes or house fires. You guys are really good at floods and snow. But come on. If you are going to try to cover a major news story like the FAA shutting down (for which I work, so I have a big stake in this), try to inform your viewing audience about what is REALLY behind it all. Otherwise, you are doing a great disservice to everyone and it looks like you are frightened of the truth. Even Kay Bailey Hutchison, a Republican Senator from Texas, said that the action by John Beohner's House was "not honorable", to send to the Senate a bill with riders like that that were not negotiated and that had such a drastic consequence. And then, it was the Republicans who decided to take their August break. Not Democrats. Not "Congress." Republicans.

I really, really expected better from you. Tell the truth, why don't you?

I wish I had said more, or in stronger terms, but I thought that this might be the maximum I could get away with and actually have someone read this. It won't help, of course. I would have thought that in a liberal place like Seattle, the TV and newspapers wouldn't be so unwilling to actually identify the culprits here. KOMO 4 TV, owned by Fisher Broadcasting. Anyone in the Puget Sound area, drop them a line if you don't like this hiding of the truth.

One thing I really wish I would have said is this. Republicans have voluntarily CHOSEN to govern by threats, intimidation, coercion and hostage taking. This is their new way of operating, and they are proud of it! John McConnell said as much after the debt deal was signed. This was so successful for them that they plan on doing it the next time! He admitted it, and was proud of it. So, if that is true, then why can't the press actually REPORT this? Why hide the fact, if Republicans themselves are patting themselves on the back?

Lest anyone forget in the midst of this discussion about the debt ceiling debacle, the FAA remains partially shut down.

Here’s the HuffPo version to get your started.

The Senate, with the federal debt crisis resolved, is expected to leave by the end of the week for its August recess. The House has already left. Unless the Senate accepts the House bill, lost revenue from uncollected airline ticket taxes could exceed $1.2 billion before lawmakers return to work a month later, senators said.

The FAA's long-term operating authority expired in 2007. Since then, Congress has been unable to agree on a long-term funding plan. The agency has continued to operate under a series of 20 short-term extensions.

The latest extension expired at midnight on July 22 after Senate Democrats rejected a temporary extension bill passed by the House that contained the subsidy cuts. Senate Republicans blocked a Democratic extension that didn't include cuts.

The lost ticket tax revenue is costing the government an estimated $200 million a week. The FAA has furloughed nearly 4,000 employees and issued stop-work orders on more than 200 construction projects.

Air traffic controllers have remained on the job. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood has vowed that safety won't be compromised and travelers won't be inconvenienced.
...

Three times in the last 10 days, senators' efforts to pass a bill to end the shutdown without making air service subsidy cuts have been blocked by Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah. Each time, Hatch has focused his remarks on the labor provision.

"I've been asked by our leadership to make these objections," Hatch explained Monday night. "What is important here – and it's not some itty-bitty little thing – is that you have labor regulators out of control."

To end the shutdown, he said, the Senate must agree to the House's labor provision. Then, the shutdown "would be solved in a nanosecond," he said.

The labor provision would overturn a National Mediation Board rule approved last year that allows airline and railroad employees to form a union by a simple majority of those voting. Under the old rule, workers who didn't vote were treated as "no" votes.

Republicans complain that the new rule reverses 75 years of precedent to favor labor unions. Democrats and union officials say the change puts airline and railroad elections under the same democratic rules required for unionizing all other companies.

The White House warned in March that President Barack Obama would veto an FAA bill containing the labor provision.

So, I will recap a couple of important points here.

• The FAA has been operating without a full authorization budget since 2007. They have been operating on a series of extensions that are good for some period of time, a year or less. This is because the Republicans won’t sign a full reauthorization bill until they get everything they want. (Sound familiar?)

• Now, the Republicans won’t even sign a short-term extension of the FAA’s budget without including several provisions that the Democrats really, really don’t like. (Sound familiar?)

• The one provision included by the Republicans that most people are talking about has to do with government support of rural airports designated as important but don’t earn enough money on their own. However, the big kicker is the one discussed above regarding changes to election laws. The Republicans want to make it much, much more difficult for railroad and aviation employees to unionize. The Democrats really can’t accept that, but the FAA is being held hostage until the Dems capitulate. (Sound familiar?)

• Without an operation budget, the FAA cannot collect fees from airlines and airports to the tune of about $200 million a week. All the people in the FAA who get their salary paid from this pot of money have been furloughed. All the contractors and subcontractors throughout the country who depend on getting paid by the FAA for work done on airports and other safety related projects are also out of work.

• After their hard work on getting almost total surrender from the Democrats during the debt ceiling debate, the Republicans in the House have decided to adjourn for the summer until sometime in August without giving the FAA an operating budget. Which means this mess we have now is going to continue for at least two more months.

I find this absolutely unconscionable. During a time of very high unemployment and also during a time when the Republican Party has declared that the federal debt was THE absolute most important thing that must be addressed, they are holding the FAA hostage until their demands are met. They are creating very real safety concerns, all because they do not like unions. The money that would fund the rural airports would have been able to be paid out of the missing revenue in a week!

There is one thing that I don’t think has really been emphasized in the media yet about this issue. There are about 4000 FAA employees on furlough right now. There are a small number of employees within that 4000 that are critical to the safety of the flying public. They travel extensively, going around to airports around the country and inspecting the facilities and supporting infrastructure, such as the transmitters for the Instrument Landing Systems. These are critical functions. These people have been asked by the FAA Administrator to continue working, without pay, and to put all their travel expenses on the credit cards, which are in their own names. The FAA employees get the bill, the FAA doesn’t. These people are dedicated enough to continue with their jobs, even though our totally screwed up government has decided that the FAA can be used as just one more hostage in their new way of “governing.”

The Republicans don’t care about unemployment. They apparently don’t care they are creating the potential for a very real safety issue. This isn’t democracy. I don’t know what it is, but it isn’t democracy.

I also know that when there is another commercial aviation accident or serious incident in this country, there will continue to be calls for the FAA to be more involved, that we aren’t providing enough oversight of the industry, and that we are too “cozy” with the industry we are regulating. There may be some validity in some of those arguments, but I think the despicable actions by the Republicans and by John Mica in particular have undercut any criticisms that they and the people who support them could point our way. They are saying that the safety of the commercial aviation system in this country is NOT a priority. Making it more difficult for some industry workers to unionize is much more important than aviation safety.

I don’t know what those people who are continuing to work without pay and who are putting their travel expenses (which are significant) on credit cards with their personal names on them will do if this continues.

Update: Here's more from Washington Monthly and Crooks and Liars.

Just to remind everyone which party caused this "debt crisis" in the first place.

And that is why it is ABSOLUTELY IMPERATIVE to cut Social Security and Medicare, but not important enough to actually raise any taxes or cut defense spending.

I swear, I may never vote in another political election in my life.

Yeah, yeah, I know. Giving in to defeatism. Letting the bad guys wins. Go down swinging, and all that other rot. Not that I don't believe that there is a large amount of truth in each of those statements, or that I would encourage anyone I talk with to do the same. It's just me, on a personal level. I pretty much have lost faith in a democratic government where one half apparently is insane and their overall driving force is to destroy the other half. I can live with differences of opinion on how government should operate and differing points of view on policy issues. But I can't deal with a government that is being driven more and more to the right by a MINORITY of people who don't seem to have a clue about what governing actually means. And unlimited money coming in from undisclosed corporations, many probably foreign, just has so poisoned this form of government that very little will happen that will truly be for the good of the everyday citizen. It's all about how the rich and powerful get more rich and powerful. It's a rigged game, so why bother? That is the emotional state I am in right now.

Like many other Americans, I had just great hopes when Barack Obama was elected president. That was incredible feeling. I truly believed him when he was saying "Yes, we can." But that has turned out to be yet one more hollow campaign slogan, and President Obama has turned out to be a major disappointment. Whether this is because he truly believes in all the actions he is taking or whether he is just turning into a center-right politician because he so strongly desires to be seen as the "adult in the room," I don't know. He just never seems to catch on that negotiating with lunatics who really WANT to kill the hostage and get everything they want as well, which includes making Obama look bad on every single occasion, no matter how large or how insignificant it might be, DOES NOT WORK. All we ever seem to get is "political creep," where the country seems to start in one place and then is slowly dragged and coerced to the right, and we don't even seem to realize it's happening. Eight months ago, who would have thought we would have been looking at major changes to our social safety net to try to satisfy lunatics who think that the country defaulting on its financial obligations is a good thing? Yet, we all seem to have accepted that premise now, because the only thing that seems to matter at this point is to raise the debt ceiling, so worse things don't happen. And this is just what the extreme right wing of the Republican Party planned all the time. And we went for it.

Whatever Obama's driving motivations, we are now going to end up with a disastrous bill that will make major changes to Social Security and Medicare, neither of which add to the deficit, as well as make huge cuts in spending during a huge recession when we are getting close to 10% unemployment, and the Democrats are getting almost zero in return. There will be nothing in this final agreement, whatever it ends up looking like, that one could point to and say, "Look, that is a very progressive piece of legislation." No, it will all be big steaming piles of attempts at appeasing the radical right that really, really doesn't want to negotiate, even if negotiation were to give them 100% of what they want. The fact that they negotiated in the first place would be a major defeat for them, which is insane. That cannot continue if this country is to survive.

I don't know where this is all going to end and where the country will be when the Tea Party, a full 30% of the voting population of this country, gets its way. But I do know I probably won't recognize this country. At an emotional level, all I feel I can do at this point is to position myself as best I can, which luckily isn't that bad. I have a pretty good government job that will be there when I need it, unless the Tea Party decides that the FAA should be killed entirely, along with the EPA and all other government agencies that provide oversight and regulation of industry. I am not going to be rich in retirement, but it's beginning to appear that I'll do OK.

But actively trying to fight against this insanity that's gripped this country? And that's what it is, insanity.... I don't feel I can cope. My state votes exclusively by mail, so it's pretty easy for me to actually vote, so I might just throw it out there anyway. But really, enthusiasm about re-electing President Obama? Nope, my heart's not in it.

So, Obama's "bully pulpit" is to tell us we should call and twitter Congress?

Jesus H. Christ.

Here is the image that comes to mind for me when I think of the Tea Party.

I hope that everyone remembers what happened to Colin Clive at the end of the film.

What do you want to bet....?

If the U.S. government defaults on its payments and, as a result, Social Security checks do not get mailed out, the Republicans will try to blame Obama?

OK, that's not much of a wager. That is pretty much a given.

Republicans: Rioting the night after their team lost the NBA finals.

That my latest analogy to explain this madness. Republicans are still terribly, terribly pissed off because their team lost the NBA finals, aka Barack Obama won the 2008 presidential elections. They still cannot accept this reality, so they are really, really upset, and just to show everyone how upset they are, they are storming their own city (the U.S.A.) and proceeding to set cars on fire and throw anything they can find through plate glass windows. It won't stop the reality that their team lost, but it feels SO... DARN... GOOD!! It doesn't matter that those same people have to live in this country in the future. They are just out to show how awful it is that Obama is the president.

I hope that these white, elderly Tea Party types are really happy when they discover that their Social Security checks, the ones that they are either currently depending on or will in the very near future, are going to be for less than they were if they hadn't thrown their hissy fit.

(To be fully fair about this, that photo is from Vancouver, in Canada you know, after their team lost the NHL finals. But I thought that basketball is a bit more relevant of an analogy than is hockey, and a picture of a riot is a picture of a riot, regardless of the place or circumstances.)

Thank you, Texas, for being a leader in the drive to let crazy people carry guns anywhere.

From Huffington Post:

GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas -- A gunman opened fire at a child's birthday celebration at a Texas roller rink, killing five people, wounding four others and then killing himself as the private party turned to panic and some fled screaming in their skates, police and witnesses say.

Authorities ascribed the gunman's rampage to an apparent domestic dispute and said no young children or rink employees were killed during the shooting that erupted about 7 p.m. at Forum Roller World in Grand Prairie, about 20 miles west of Dallas. Some people at nearby businesses said they watched as adults and children spilled from the rink in horror.
...

Police said the gunman began arguing with a woman in Forum Roller World's front area where the party was being held, although the rink was not open to the public because the family had rented it for several hours for the private party.

Clearly, this is a perfectly valid reason to pull a gun on someone, because they couldn't get into a roller rink when they wanted to. But by gosh, if all those kiddies going to a birthday party at a roller skating rink would have been packing heat, you know, then this would have never happened.

I guess if places like Norway get almost 100 of their young people slaughtered by a madman with a gun and a grudge, then I guess it's OK if the U.S. has our own "incidents" every now and again. Like almost every single day....

Republicans have lost their entire grip on reality.

Crazy doesn't even begin to explain this. One huge reason that I haven't been blogging in the last month is that I can't even begin to talk about how crazy this all is.... It's all been said before, so there really isn't any reason for me to try to reword what has already been written by more literate writers than I.

Parts of the FAA will be shut down tonight because Republicans want to make it more difficult for railroad and airline workers to unionize. Although I am safe for the moment, if the impasse goes on for too long (and I have absolutely no idea how long is "too long"), I will probably be out of a job as well. The government will probably end up going into default on payments on money that has already been spent because Republicans want.... I don't even know what they want anymore. For every single instance of someone on the right saying "This is what we are fighting for," you can find several instances of them doing exactly the opposite of what they are saying they support.

I am just in awe about how insane one of our two main political parties has gotten. Let's all hope the consequences of defaulting by the U.S. government are as bad as many are saying they will be, and these warnings are coming from BOTH the left and right. But the current Republicans absolutely don't care. They want to blow stuff up.

I see absolutely no path for this country ever to recover from this mess that started (in my mind) with George Bush getting the 2000 election handed to him by the Supreme Court. All we need is for a horse to somehow get appointed as a senator. The craziness will be complete at that point.

Incredibly, both David Brooks and Richard Cohen come to the conclusion that the Republican Party has lost its mind.

I am paraphrasing, of course. If you want to see the gist of what they both said, here is a summary from Washington Monthly.

First, Cohen:

Someone ought to study the Republican Party. I am not referring to yet another political scientist but to a mental health professional, preferably a specialist in the power of fixations, obsessions and the like. The GOP needs an intervention. It has become a cult. […]

The hallmark of a cult is to replace reason with feverish belief…. This intellectual rigidity has produced a GOP presidential field that’s a virtual political Jonestown. The Grand Old Party, so named when it really did evoke America, has so narrowed its base that it has become a political cult. It is a redoubt of certainty over reason and in itself significantly responsible for the government deficit that matters most: leadership.

Then Brooks:

If the Republican Party were a normal party, it would take advantage of this amazing moment. It is being offered the deal of the century: trillions of dollars in spending cuts in exchange for a few hundred million dollars of revenue increases.

A normal Republican Party would seize the opportunity to put a long-term limit on the growth of government. It would seize the opportunity to put the country on a sound fiscal footing. It would seize the opportunity to do these things without putting any real crimp in economic growth.

The party is not being asked to raise marginal tax rates in a way that might pervert incentives. On the contrary, Republicans are merely being asked to close loopholes and eliminate tax expenditures that are themselves distortionary.
This, as I say, is the mother of all no-brainers.

But we can have no confidence that the Republicans will seize this opportunity. That’s because the Republican Party may no longer be a normal party. Over the past few years, it has been infected by a faction that is more of a psychological protest than a practical, governing alternative.

The members of this movement do not accept the logic of compromise, no matter how sweet the terms. If you ask them to raise taxes by an inch in order to cut government by a foot, they will say no. If you ask them to raise taxes by an inch to cut government by a yard, they will still say no.

The members of this movement do not accept the legitimacy of scholars and intellectual authorities. A thousand impartial experts may tell them that a default on the debt would have calamitous effects, far worse than raising tax revenues a bit. But the members of this movement refuse to believe it.

The members of this movement have no sense of moral decency. A nation makes a sacred pledge to pay the money back when it borrows money. But the members of this movement talk blandly of default and are willing to stain their nation’s honor.

The members of this movement have no economic theory worthy of the name. Economists have identified many factors that contribute to economic growth, ranging from the productivity of the work force to the share of private savings that is available for private investment. Tax levels matter, but they are far from the only or even the most important factor.

I usually don’t read either of these columnists. Brooks sometimes makes some great points and comes across as a thinking, rational conservative. And then he spoils the moment by saying something completely insane. Cohen, well, I have no understanding about why he is thought of as a “center-left” journalist. I can’t think of much that he has written that I agreed with. I think he represents about the worst of the “beltway thinking.” But to have these two people put out columns on the same week that essentially say the same thing, that the Republican Party has lost it’s mind (yes, paraphrasing, but “Jonestown” and “cult” are pretty damning), that’s saying something.

Maybe the tide is finally turning. Maybe our press is finally going to find the backbone to stand up to the Republican Party and report on what is really going on in American politics these days.

Maybe.

Until then, I remain with a deep sense of despondency over the state of American politics. It’s like riding in a car going 90 mph with a madman at the wheel who really doesn’t care if he crashes the car or not, because he doesn’t believe in traveling by cars and if he does crash, well, that sort of “proves” his point, doesn’t it?

Update: Harsh words for Brooks from Driftglass, via Balloon Juice.

And while I am at it, I detest Comcast as well.

I've been dealing with a "hi speed internet" connection problem on my home network that has been getting progressively worse. It's now to the point that, at many times, it's no better than a dial up connection. Bad, in other words. Bad and slow. So, I finally work up the energy to call Comcast, because I know it is going to be an ordeal. I sit through their damn automated menu system and push the right buttons, and I finally do get someone to talk to. Lo and behold, this is actually a nice, seemingly helpful person who wants to help me with my problem. Looks to me to be a bad wireless router. If the computers are right next to it, everything is fine. You get 40 feet from it, and things barely work at all. OK, I think I need a new router. After all, this is Comcast's property, they are "leasing" it to me or something. It's their equipment. Finally, the guy on the phone transfers me to someone else called "Xfinity Signature Support." I figure it's now their arm that supports the high speed internet stuff. After talking with this nice, helpful lady for about 10 minutes, I finally figure out that she is attempting to SELL me a support package, which I will have to pay about 20 bucks a month and a one-time sign up fee of $79. All to fix a problem with a service (high speed internet) that I am already paying for from Comcast, that doesn't work, and I want them to fix it. That's all. I am buying something from them that doesn't work. I want it to work. And they send me to some other "fee for service" part of their company that wants to sell me a 20 buck a month, plus a sign up fee, to fix something that doesn't work!

FU, Comcast. Jesus Christ, what happened to a customer focus in American business? Can't they do ANYTHING without trying to soak their customers just a little bit more? Goddamn..... Once I get my energy back, I am going to call back Comcast, and sit through their stupid automated phone menu that takes five minutes before you get to actually talk to a person, and demand someone come out and fix this without requiring me to sign up for some sort of "Signature Service."

The American business mentality sucks so bad. All they can do is think about how to make more money.

Yet another reason to hate Apple, Macs, and everything "i" related.

I have spent the last half hour trying to get iTunes on my Mac to play some of my old CD's. It appears that if a new disc gets put in the computer that it hasn't seen before, iTunes goes and "queries" some database about the CD. I guess it is trying to get the name and all the songs and other info that iTunes likes to put into it's information. But apparently either there is some problem about contacting that database or else maybe the database doesn't know about these discs. It refuses to play almost every CD I put in. Nope, I don't know what that is, so I am not going to play it. I didn't know this, but there is not a PLAY CD command anywhere. Not until the CD gets a thumbs up from this database.... Oh, I did get it to play Revolver from the Beatles. I guess it knows who the Beatles are. It doesn't like Firefall, or any of the "new age" instrumental music I have from the 80's. It just won't play them.

I can't express how much I detest working with computers which were designed by people who think that they know everything and limit, on purpose, what the user can do.

I am about ready to pitch this stupid Mac out the window. And that is the entire reason I went with a Mac in the first place, because I hated my PC.

Here’s some interesting headlines from today’s Huffington Post.

Tom Matlack Should Women Really "Go Ugly?”

AOL Real Estate: Real-Estate Disclosure: What You Don't Know Can Hurt You

PopEater: 'Jackass' Star Ryan Dunn, 34, Dies in Car Crash

WATCH: Jon Stewart Live On Fox News, Tells Host 'You're Insane'

Oh, and then there is this little item…..

'Shocking' Oceans Report Warns Of Impending Mass Extinction

Yeah. Nothing important to see here. Let’s go back and talk some more about why Megan Fox REALLY got fired from the Transformers movie.

Crap. What a society we have. We are currently hearing some of the most dire predictions mankind has ever seen about the environment, and it mostly rates a big, collective yawn. Mankind is going to richly deserve everything that happens to us.

Ummm.... OK, if you say so.

I am assuming this has something to do with the presidential aspirations of Tim Pawlenty...

Here are some reasons I think the United States is in decline.

There are a number of reasons why I can’t say that this country “is doomed” or will be “totally irrelevant on the world stage.” Sheer inertia, for one thing. Plus we are still one of the biggest consumer nations on the planet. Plus we have a huge standing military with nukes. Other countries will have to pay attention to us, even if it is to humor us while privately rolling their eyes at each other in private when our name comes up.

Here are some things that will lead to our increasing irrelevance and eventual downfall as a world power.

• The country is being run by the rich and powerful solely for the benefit of the rich and powerful. Everyone else absolutely does not matter. The only time we get any of the crumbs is if our self-interests also coincides with the self-interests of the rich and powerful, which isn’t that often. The country, the most rich and powerful on earth, no longer cares for its citizenry.

• Ideology trumps good results. One political party has decided that government is evil and is doing everything it can to destroy that government. Yet, these are the same people who mouth patriotic slogans and the drop of a hat and will accuse their “enemies” of being un-American for disagreeing with their ideology.

• Making vast amounts of money is the only thing that matters. Just “making money” doesn’t cut it anymore. Companies have to make the absolute maximum they can, 100% of the time. Doing the right thing by their customers is a thing of the past.

• We have a large number of politicians who will say and do absolutely anything to get elected, even if it means contradicting themselves from two weeks ago and flat out lying through their teeth.

• We have one political party dedicated to destroying the other, and any means, regardless of the ethics or non-legality, will suffice. The end justifies the means. Government will be sabotaged in order to gain a perceived political advantage, even if most of the people in the U.S. will suffer in the short term, and probably the long term as well.

• The Republican Party has lost track of the overall vision of this country. What has been substituted is to object to every single thing the Democrats propose or try to accomplish. Again, the outcome is the only thing that matters. The cost to the country as a whole is not considered.

• Politicians and powerful people with a lot of influence will make up the most outlandish fabrications and outright lies in order to gain some sort of political advantage.

• Our media is no longer dedicated to getting to the truth. The reporters are driven by favoritism, “good old boy” politics, and a desire to remain in “the club.” The conglomerates that own the media outlets are interested in making as much money as possible. News is no longer outside that “for profit” box. Plus, they have huge stakes in the political game so that they can retain their position of vast wealth and power. Neither party has any desire to change.

• We have one media outlet that controls the political discussion and also acts as kingmaker that is totally dedicated to destroying anyone who disagrees with them, and will fabricate anything the can to achieve that goal.

• Our voting population includes a very large percentage of very ignorant people. They can be easily stampeded into voting against their own interests, as long as the issues are framed in a way that it is “us against them” and their own “values.”

• Science, regardless of the subject matter, is now on par with “strong opinions.” Scientific findings can be ignored when inconvenient, but will be trumpeted when a scientific finding happens to coincide with someone’s predetermined beliefs.

• We no longer desire to invest in this country, for things like education and infrastructure. It is more important that "shareholders" get a large return on their stock investments. Anything not collapsing right now can be ignored.

• We celebrate ignorance. Knowledge and experience are now suspect.

• A large percentage of the American people do not care to become knowledgeable about anything. They want to be entertained. Video games, high def/3D television, smart phones that will do almost anything, are apparently all that is required to keep a majority of Americans happy.

• A large percentage of Americans seem to think that America is “exceptional.” However, they have absolutely no basis for this belief. We are behind the rest of the world in almost every category that means anything.

I sure I will think about more. I really, really hate this country right now. If I were in a position to move to another one, I would probably do it. I have about seven years until retirement. I think emigrating is a definite possibility at that time.

Yep, this is exactly what it looks like when I take my family on vacation.

I saw a quote from somewhere this morning that had Piper Palin saying to someone in the media who was part of the Moose Entourage, "Thanks for ruining our vacation." Je-sus.

You know, I really feel sorry for the Palin kids. They are growing up with such an extremely warped view of society and their own self-importance.

Update: Damn, this woman is a moron. This is her take on Paul Revere.

"...he who warned, uh, the...the British that they weren’t gonna be takin' away our arms...uh, by ringin' those bells and um...makin' sure as he's ridin' his horse through town...to send those warning shots and bells...that, uh, we were gonna be secure and...and we were gonna be free...and we were gonna be armed."

Click on this link for a YouTube of this mess, if you don't believe me.

This is such an embarrassment to this country that someone like Sarah Palin could even be considered to be worthy of running for the Presidency of the United States.