dickday's Blog

HEALTH CARE MUSINGS

2009-11-08T23:12:06Z

On a more important note:

There was a monumental, historical step taken yesterday in the People's House. There were sooooo many issues involved that we could do three hundred blogs (not that we could not find three hundred blogs on the subject over this calendar year) on the two thousand pages of legislation. And each blog could take a different angle.

]]> From a strategic standpoint, I believe that Pelosi went through with the vote knowing that she had the votes. How far left can you take the legislation without losing so many Dems that it would all go for naught?

And she probably thought she had 218 votes and was a little surprised to find a couple extra.

I also believe that the 39 who 'flew the coop' did so with permission from the top leaders for political reasons. Nobody was blind sided in this vote.

One who voted against this historical piece of legislation was Representative Kucinich. I believe that he suffers from something I call the "Nader Syndrome"; a form of mental illness that injures the left greatly along with the rest of our nation.

If the piece of legislation is not perfect, well we can not and will not vote for it.

We must have honor.

We must have sticktoitiveness at all times to our values.

We must never compromise with the infidels.

Well guess what? There are over 300 million people in this country. And only 435 people can represent the millions in the People's House.

And we have the third greatest area of any country in the world.

Which means that Montana's health issues vary greatly from New York City's health issues.

Now, we could have had the best legislation for our national health care problems, in my humble opinion, by simply enacting one sentence into law:

Hereinafter, all citizens of the United States of America qualify for Medicare once they reach the age of 21.

There. Kucinich would have signed on to this bill. But it would have been defeated by one or two hundred votes.

Now the fact is that the Senate will not sign onto everything contained in the two thousand pages. As a process, it will be more than interesting to see how this plays out in this undemocratic Upper House of Congress. Think about it. The Dakotas, Wyoming, Montana, Utah, Idaho, Vermont, Alaska, Maine, Hawaii and New Hampshire comprise less than twelve million people. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_and_territories_by_population

But these states get twenty two percent of the votes in the Upper House of Congress. Four percent of the population gets a twenty two percent vote.

California, Texas, NYS and Florida have a combined total of almost one hundred million people. One third of our entire population lives in four states and they get eight percent of the vote in the Senate.

What is is, and what is not is not. If you believe in our Constitution, then this is the structure of things.

North Dakota has different concerns from NYS. But despite the fact that ND has one fortieth of the population of NYS, it has an equal vote.

Well you get the idea. A Dakota Democrat has a different take on things than a NYS Democrat.

Now Minnesota is kind of a middle state. We have nine times the population of North Dakota but only a quarter of the population of NYS. But we are lucky to have two of the most liberal senators in the nation.

I believe that we as citizens must make our voices heard. We must communicate with our elected representatives.

But I think we have to step back a little from pronouncing Max Baucus as satan incarnate. I think we have to give a little slack to Senator Lincoln from Arkansas. These people will help get our Federal Judiciary straightened out. They are more likely to vote for important COLA legislation for the poorer among us. Later on they may help us in a number of different areas involving important. legislation.

There are life and death issues here folks. We will get no cooperation from repubs; although there might be a couple of exceptions involving the Senators from Maine.

The Democrats are our only hope. There are fifty eight Democrats and my favorite socialist from Vermont. Hahaha. That is it. I do not count on Lieberman for much of anything.

And there is the problem of cloture or modern filibuster that is correctly pointed out in Café blogs on occasion. But it becomes confusing at times.

The term first came into use in the United States Senate, where Senate rules permit a senator, or a series of senators, to speak for as long as they wish and on any topic they choose, unless a 3/5ths of the Senate (60 out of 100 Senators elected and sworn), brings debate to a close by invoking cloture. (For changing of senate rules the pre-1975 rule of a super-majority of senators present, i.e. 67 senators at most, is still used).[9

I think the confusion comes into play with the anticipation of a filibuster along the lines discussed in Wiki's short discussion.

Forty one senators can, at times, stop legislation in its tracks. So if all forty repubs and Lieberman work together, they could stop Health Care reform. Now at that point, I would vote to keep Lieberman out of any leadership position...hell I would vote to kick his ass out of the Democratic Caucus altogether.

But if legislation comparable to the legislation passed last night gets through the Senate, THERE IS NO LONGER AN ISSUE OF CLOTURE.

Representatives from the People's House meet with representatives from the Senate and come up with one bill. A vote is then had in the House and in the Senate. In order to pass that revised bill in the Senate, the Dems need fifty votes along with the vote by the Vice-President.

So what we need, in order to get health reform in this country, is almost any health bill passed by the Senate that can then be revised later on in Conference.

In order to complete the first step in health care reform in over 45 years, further compromises must be made. Then there will be chess games played after the Senate puts together its bill.

LET US PRAY.

This addendum has nothing to do with anything really but it caught my eye and I wondered what you thought about it:

"Do I condone the mention of Hitler in any discussion about politics?" said Cantor, who is the only Jewish Republican in Congress. "No, I don't, because obviously that is something that conjures up images that frankly are not, I think, very helpful."

In a climate where Republicans who criticize Limbaugh come crawling back on their knees (see TPM's "Forgive Me Rush" photo feature), Cantor's office has pointed reporters to the story, emailing the link to Glenn Thrush's post on Cantor's remarks.

It's worth noting that Limbaugh made the comment in question -- "Adolf Hitler, like Barack Obama, also ruled by dictate" -- on Aug. 6. Cantor at the time did not respond publicly to calls from Jewish groups to condemn the remarks

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/11/cantor-says-tea-partys-dachau-photos-inappropriate-takes-issue-with-limbaugh.php?ref=fpb

I do not like Representative Cantor. I have seen his appearances on cable. Usually he just repeats the talking points of the RNC...hell he is the RNC. It never occurred to me that he was Jewish.

But I did not know that he was THE ONLY JEWISH REPUBLICAN in the House of Representatives. I find that so strange. I mean there are no Black Republicans in the House, since that fellow from Oklahoma quit politics.

And I had thought that the Christian Right had accepted the Jews on this strange logic surrounding the end of times and such.

And I know there are hundreds of thousands of conservative Jews in this country; hell look at Michael (The Weiner) Savage.

I just found this interesting is all. And that ends my reading from the Hebrew Text for today.

BABIES, RACCOONS AND HEALTH CARE

2009-11-07T22:08:16Z

Representative Shadegg:

I wish this was my granddaughter," Shadegg said. "This is Maddie. Maddie believes in freedom. Maddie likes America because we have freedom here. And Maddie believes in patient choice health care. She asked to come here today to say she doesn't want the government to take over health care. She wants to keep her plan."
The chamber was either a bit freaked out or slightly humored. It was difficult to say.
"Mr. Speaker that was a remarkable child and a great ventriloquist," responded Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.).

Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/11/07/house-health-care-vote-br_n_349468.html&cp

Shortly thereafter, Representative John Boner brought his raccoon up to the dais:

Mr. Speaker, this is somebody's grandson; not my grandson. But this raccoon, sure as I am standing here today in the never ending fight for truth, justice and the American way, had a mother and a father. The raccoon's parents had their own parents. And, therefore, this raccoon is somebody's grandson.

Now political correctness will not allow me to refer to these critters as 'coons' anymore, but suffice it to say that they are really not the masked bandits as they were once portrayed. I will just refer to him as Rush, the magic raccoon.

Now Rush was born free in the forest. Rush was free from government interference and you can see that ole Rush is healthy, as healthy as a raccoon can ever be. Rush is free to see any vet his heart desires.

Of course he has to work hard and save up enough acorns--oops wrong word in this context--enough eggs to feed himself and his family. But Rush is free to visit that vet of choice and they can work out the details of payment. It is up to them. Not you or me or the govement.

I am so sick of all of this I could puke. Rush knows that he has to keep up his health, he cannot get too fat, he is not allowed to be come lazy. He cannot feign 'mental' debilitation.

Rush here is THE TRUE AMERICAN.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

I watched CSPAN this morning. A caller quoted some repub as saying that the Health Care Bill throws the baby out with the bathwater.

Shaking, the caller noted that he was one of the 47 million uninsured in this country and that he did not like to be referred to

AS BATHWATER.

STRING THEORY

2009-11-06T19:33:06Z

Theseus and the Minotaur on 6th-century black-figure pottery F.decorate(_ge('photo_notes'),

History Channel has gone Greek today. Not in the sense of Gay Spartans, but from an ancient religious perspective.

You might recall that King Minos ruled Crete, the great island of the Mediterranean that kind of served as a mediator between ancient Egypt culture and the culture of ancient Greece. We are talking about twelve or thirteen hundred BCE when we discuss these myths or religious mysteries.

Minos had Daedalus, the chief architect of the age, to build a great maze; a very confusing place much like our current Office of Management and Budget. And the mighty king put a Minotaur inside of the maze in order to eat people and wreck havoc and commit other unsavory acts. Theseus, the great Greek hero finds himself in the maze. His purpose is to slay the monster that is half human and half bull, kind of like what you might see on World Wrestling Tonight.

]]> But the maze was soooooooooo confusing and all. How did our hero ever find his way out once he completed his task? Well Ariadne had a talk with Daedalus and he suggested she give Theseus a 'clue'. Clue was another word for string. As Hansel and Gretal find their way out of the spooky wood by dropping crumbs, Theseus would find his way out of the maze by tying a string to the point where he entered the maze and using the string to find his way back.

And string is better than crumbs. Unless birds suddenly become hungry for dried and processed hemp, I suppose.

See Theseus represents the new man, like Odysseus. He is not going to pray his way out of the maze although he might have uttered a few Hail Mary's on his way to do battle with the World Wrestling Champion. No. This new man has prepared himself for his journey without any aid from the gods.

Daedalus might have developed this 'string theory' but Theseus had to implement it. Incorporate the theory into his plan.

I am writing of this today because the story seems so compelling.

I mean seeing 'clue' as a string that will help us out of a maze is just awesome.

This really is the ultimate metaphor, or one of the first as a precursor to consciousness.

How much do you have to pay to keep from having to go through all these things twice? Or how do we best keep from going over the same ground twice, or three times or ten times for that matter?

Well we need a clue. We need a ball of string. We need to follow the string back to the place from whence we entered the maze. Assuming we tied the string properly to the place where we entered the maze.

We need to retrace our steps so to speak. Supposedly, that is why a good grasp of history is a good thing, like keeping a solid grasp upon the ball of string as we proceed through this maze.

Two or three thousand people showed up in DC to protest tea or taxes or taxes on tea and of course health care reform.

I could have set up a sidewalk sale in DC yesterday selling discounted Yankee T-Shirts and collected more than three thousand people.

God took the idiots including Bachman away from any coverage because some army shrink decided to kill twelve and wound another thirty.

These good people are attempting to find their way out of a maze.

The fascist from Iowa, Steve King tells us that 85% of all Americans are extremely happy about their health insurance coverage. 85%. http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/11/patriot_games_gop_reps_pick_tea_party_rally_over_n.php?

ref=fpblg

That is like saying that if we have 10% unemployment, then 90% of Americans are real happy with their jobs as well as their income. http://tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com/

This is the ultimate in deductive logic or dislogic I would suppose. If 45 million people have NO COVERAGE. Then we are to assume that 85% of Americans do have coverage because 45 million is fifteen percent of three hundred million.

Well how in the hell can 85% of Americans be happy about spending one thousand dollars a month (on average) on a health insurance plan that cost five hundred dollars a month in 2000 and 250 dollars in 1990? How is that possible? Add to this problem the prediction that within seven or eight years that same American Family is going to have to come up with two thousand dollars a month for the same coverage.

And since the average income of an American Family of four is about 55 grand, well you do the math.

The fascist from Iowa would have us conclude that the 85% of the population who have some coverage, are extremely happy with that coverage. This is the same guy who voted against a minimum wage of seven bucks an hour for our workers.

If you are making seven bucks an hour or three times that amount, you cannot afford one thousand dollars a month for health care. Hell you can barely afford that much for rent and utilities.

Now what has this to do with the price of string?

We need leaders with some clue as to how to lead us out of the maze(s).

We are lost and we are aching and we cannot find our way home, we cannot find our way out of the mazes.

Well there is some hope:

Palin has already launched the first scud missile in the coming conservative jihad, (naturally via Facebook): "To the tireless grass-roots patriots who worked so hard in that race and to future citizen-candidates like Doug," she wrote, "please remember Reagan's words of encouragement after his defeat in 1976: the cause goes on." What's more, South Carolina's Jim DeMint is signed up for the insurgency as well, promising to support the far right challenger in the race for California's Senate seat on the basis of her record of "rock solid conservatism" california-senate over former Hewlett-Packard chief executive and McCain economic adviser Carly Fiorina, who was the leading candidate in that liberal state, despite her awful record both at HP and with McCain.
In all likelihood, the Democrats will lose a few more seats next year but will be poised to run in 2012 against a party that looks and sounds a lot like George W. Bush, and I'm guessing that "Not George Bush" is a slogan with at least as much staying power for Obama as "Blame Jimmy Carter" had for Ronald Reagan. http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2009-11-05/why-democrats-are-smiling/2/

But do we have leaders who have a firm grasp of the ball of string? So I picked up this gem from Bill Maher today:

Logic tells me that really smart guys like Obama and Rahm Emanuel know better what they're doing than I do. They certainly know things I don't know. I think we have the same general goals and beliefs. And this is what they do for a living -- I wouldn't even try it. But I will never stop having this doubt: that maybe if they had really charged in there riding the forceful energy of the historic election, and acted like it was an emergency moment -- which it was -- they could have gotten some big victories right up front, and there really could have been an historic "first hundred days" for this administration and the country. Instead of what happened, which is the Obamas got a dog. It could have worked -- the country had given its endorsement to "...and now for something completely different." There might have been a way to knock the Republicans back on their heels right away, with the argument that "The American people demanded we make these changes, and you are unpatriotic to stand in their way."
We'll never know. Because that moment passed, and now it could follow the pattern of World War I and devolve into boring, static trench warfare where nothing really game changing happens while both sides slowly bleed to death. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bill-maher/is-this-as-good-as-it-get_b_343144.html&cp

Like Maher, I do not have access to the files. I have not been entrusted with the balls of string.

Hopefully some of our Democratic leaders do have a firm grasp of the tools necessary to help us find our way out of this maze.

NORTHCOXII-Secret Agent Man

2009-11-05T14:21:01Z

Frank awoke. Where...oh god the hospital again. Fear almost paralyzed him but he could move his fingers and toes. It was just a dream; a dream of previous torture.

He looked around, recognized his situation, and began to rise.

But I cannot rise, he thought. He was chained to the bed.

Reminds me of an overnight I had in Bangkok. Hahahahah.

]]> Just then the door opened to his private room. In walked a man in his late thirties with a white coat and badge along with a stethoscope around his neck. He was carrying a medical file along with a pad.

Frank, I see you are awake.

Uh, yeah. For sure. Say, can you do something about these restraints?

Frank I am Dr. Cliché.

Nice to meet you Doc, but can you do something about these restraints.

Open your eyes Frank. Cliché moved to the right side of the bed and sat down on the chair provided.

Frank opened his eyes. There were no restraints. What the hell.......

Would you like something to drink Frank?

It was like his mouth and throat were sealed shut. Fear gripped Frank again. Cliché brought him a glass of water from the loo. Take this slowly, slowly...that's it.

Slowly Frank sipped the liquid and his mouth and throat opened up. He sat up and noticed an intravenous tube in his left arm. Other than that, he was free. And he felt that relief; like he had had a long sleep.

Dr. Criche, I ...how long have I been here?

Your chart says two days Frank. And I am Cliché, like the French snap shot. Got it?

Cliché, right, got it. With that he pulled the tube out of his arm. The doctor applied some antiseptic to the wound and covered it with a bandage.

Thanks.

Do you know why you are here Frank?

I think I had a seizure. But I was in this dream; one of those real dreams. And instead of forgetting the experience as I do with most of my dreams, the plot...so to speak...is permanently etched onto my brain.

Well, I am your assigned therapist Frank. I am a psychiatrist. Only the best for management in NORTHCO you realize. Anyway, tell me about this dream.

A couple weeks ago, I was driving on the old road out of town. The one they closed off. I am not sure how I got there really. My car shut down or I stopped to look at something. I am not really sure.

I awoke on the steps of my friend's home. Everything is a blur as far as that period of what turned out to be three days.

And your current dream?

Well there I am, on the side of the road and outside of my car. Now I must preface this with an insight I have had from some prior dream experiences. I feel this paralysis. It is a slow process. Like my arms and legs become real heavy and my sight begins to go. And the situation becomes worse and worse and everything appears to get slower and slower. And the fear just grips me. I mean I am a grown man, a man with a responsible position with an important company and yet I am gripped with fear.

You ever wake up and find that you have wet the bed?

No. Never happened. Well wait a minute. My wife told me I did once. But I have no recollection.

Oh, you are married? Yes, well no. Not any more. The papers were signed a couple months ago, but I have been living alone for a long time; a year and a half actually.

Frank continued to relate the 'plot' of this dream while Dr. Cliché dutifully took notes.

Time, Doctor, it is time that I am missing. That is what really scares me. Although I am not in a hurry to catch a nap if you catch my meaning.

Following the session, Frank got up and went to the loo and then found his clothes in the closet provided.

I do not think you should leave right now Frank. It is not a good idea. You are in here for observation and such. They wish to take tests; certainly an EEG, an EKG and an MRI. We must scan your brain Frank.

Well I will set up something with the front desk later on Doc. I promise.

And with that Frank left the hospital for the parking ramp, got into his car and drove home.

He drove up to the house opened the garage door, parked and exited. He almost tripped over that goddamn bike again. EXCEPT HE DID NOT HAVE A BIKE. Now calm down, he thought. Look you are an epileptic. You have known this for at least five years now. You forget things....

Frank got into his kitchen and grabbed a beer from the fridge. He opened his secret drawer and pulled out a pack of cigs along with a lighter.

Sitting on his sofa, taking a deep drag from his favorite tube, he thought about his life. They are not going to let me keep working here. I have to make some arrangements.

And what exactly did he tell the shrink? Hell, Dr. Cliché seemed like a nice guy and all, but the NORTHCO Med Center was not the safest place for him to let his guard down. And speaking of guards, he should not have let his guard down to a potential guard employed by the corp.

He grabbed his phone from the coffee table and called the hospital. He still had the card in his top pocket.

NORTHCO Med Center. What can I do for you Frank?

How the hell does she know who I am? This is freaky.

How do you know my name?

Your ID Frank; it shows up right here on my receiver.

Do you know me?

Of course Frank. I met you at the Castle that one night. My name is Melanie.

Small town, everybody knows everybody I guess. Searching his mental files....Oh hi Melanie. I am sorry, getting old I suppose.

Oh Frank they made quite a fuss here a few minutes ago. You were not supposed to leave you know. But Dr. Creighton has a note here telling me to get some tests scheduled.

Frank thought for a sec.

Well Melanie, how about an appointment with Dr. Cliché?

Who?

Dr. Cliché, the shrink Melanie. Spent the morning with me.

Melanie paused. There is no Dr. Cliché at this center Frank. Never heard of a Dr. Cliché.

Frank looked down to the inside of his elbow. There was the bandage.

Click. Frank hung up the phone. His hand dropped the phone almost involuntarily. He felt his pate getting damp again. Like he had just drank an entire bottle of hot sauce. Geez what time is it anyway? Frank clicked on cable and drank down the beer. Seemed like one long gulp.

Suddenly cable came on:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9O5DU6i3g4

Sean woke up alone. Bernice had evidently left early. What a night. That woman could make him feel so goooooooooood. And he could smell her presence. Strange; but so nice.

He went to the kitchen a made some espresso. He grabbed a paper while the machine steamed. The Pierre Gazette, all fifteen pages of it. Thank god he also had the New York Times delivered at the same time.

GIANT STAG SHOT. NO SURVIVORS

What in the hell does that mean? No survivors? Must be those newbie interns from the college taking over the paper again. He grabbed his coffee and dropped down on his sofa, paper in hand. He leaned over the coffee table and turned on cable.

AP: Yesterday a giant stag was shot dead about twenty miles outside of Pierre. The hunting season does not begin for another week in this rural country. So the Highway Patrol was flummoxed when the team discovered the grand prey just off one of the main highways.

Three hunters, with full regalia were found less than 25 yards from the prize carcass. Their bodies had been drained of all blood after being gutted. The full autopsy report from the country coroner will not be published until next week according to Officer Barnes.

There is no way of telling how the locals lost their lives. No evidence of illegal conduct except the hunting itself. Assuming they were responsible of course for the death of the Stag. After the bodies were removed to the office of the country coroner, I had the grand stag transported to my barn for safe keeping. I have a refrigeration unit there.

The 35 point buck was the greatest single treasure ever found in the wild in these parts, said the Officer.

The officer added that the nearby deer droppings glowed blue.

Holy shite, Sean thought. Since half his coffee was now on the paper he rushed to the kitchen carefully fixing another brew as he deposited the paper in the sink.

Nothing of course regarding Thomas or Algernon or Frank. You know what we need here...here in the godforsaken projects? A NORTHCO Web Alert. Yeah An Alert!!!

Yeah, how long would that stay up?

Sparky wandered in and Sean took him for a quick walk. Good dog actually. Never acts up. Nothing ever destroyed in the home after he returned late from the office.

Sean shaved and showered and whatever and went to the office, early again. Frank would not be around the rest of this week. That was for sure. And as he arrived at the center in the shuttle, he saw the maintenance crew at work, again, on the driveway that led to the warehouse in the lower level.

Meanwhile, Bernice had made it home. I mean it was only ten blocks and the walk did her good. She was humming. No need for Extenz or any nonsense like that, she mused. Sean was a keeper.

She went through the garage door via the code. Her car was at the office parking facility of course. As she went through the door to her kitchen she noticed the wagon. She does not have a wagon. What the hell is that doing here?

Bernice got the green tea and put the bags and the cute little pot she received from her sister Suzanne into the microwave. She showered and the tea was waiting for her as she poured a cup of relief and made it to her sofa for the local news.

Bernice loved the local news. In the morning this guy with a rug that would scare Sean's doggy, read the script provided as best he could. 45 and sunny. That aint bad for November, she thought.

Nothing that exceptional by way of news; Judge Andrews was caught driving drunk again. Her brother had actually gone to school with the old sot. According to what her parents had told her, three decades ago there would have been no arrest, no booking. And now Andrews would be through as a judicial officer forever.

As she finished her tea and prepared to dress for work, she noted a strange line moving across the bottom of her television screen:

FBI INVESTIGATING NORTHCO.

http://forestroot125.blogspot.com/search?updated-min=2009-01-01T00%3A00%3A00-08%3A00&updated-max=2010-01-01T00%3A00%3A00-08%3A00&max-results=18

There's a man who leads a life of danger
To everyone he meets he stays a stranger
With every move he makes another chance he takes
Odds are he won't live to see tomorrow

Secret agent man, secret agent man
They've given you a number and taken away your name

Beware of pretty faces that you find
A pretty face can hide an evil mind
Ah, be careful what you say
Or you'll give yourself away
Odds are you won't live to see tomorrow

Secret agent man, secret agent man
They've given you a number and taken away your name

Secret agent man, secret agent man
They've given you a number and taken away your name

Swingin' on the Riviera one day
And then layin' in the Bombay alley next day
Oh no, you let the wrong word slip
While kissing persuasive lips
The odds are you won't live to see tomorrow
Secret agent man, secret agent man
They've given you a number and taken away your name

Secret agent man

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6iaR3WO71j4

DONKEY KONG AND ELEPHANT DUNG

2009-11-05T00:31:34Z

Max Blumenthall has me laughing today.

In the wake of defeat, some of Hoffman's enthusiastic backers attempted to spin his loss as a heroic moral victory. They included Erick Erickson, a popular blogger at the heavily trafficked right-wing blog, RedState.com. "This is a huge win for conservatives," Erickson declared. "...we did exactly what we set out to do - crush the establishment backed GOP candidate."
Besides Erickson, only Democrats seemed to be celebrating the news. "A Democrat close to the administration could only say: 'Holy f---ing sh--!' over and over when I called for comment [about Owens' victory]," reported Elizabeth Benjamin of the New York Daily News. http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2009-11-04/how-the-rights-point-man-went-down/2/

Yesterday's elections had little to do with me. Two gubernatorial elections in NJ and Virginia; and the repubs just trounced the dems.

But there were two congressional seats that were there for the taking and the Dems won.

I have never seen so many close, close elections go to Dems over a three year period. Ever. I mean it is like they cannot lose.

After the 2006 elections, the most fun I had had in decades of election nites, the dems won some off year elections in the House.

Genghis sees cycles in these elections. http://tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com/talk/blogs/genghis/2009/11/whats-the-matter-with-new-york.php

Remarkable, really. We just do not get breaks like this. That seat in NYS has been repub for over a hundred years or something. And only 100,000 showed up to vote. And the lib repub took enough votes to give the victory to the Dems to say nothing of the repub's last minute support for the Dem.

Palin and teabaggers all supported a conservative party candidate. So it is fun to see them lose. And Overreachthis noted the nice fight this morning between O'Donnell and Steele from TPM'S Video site.

Oh, every time there is a good fight on Morning Joe, you can tell the level of frustration by Joe Scarborough by his laugh. The louder the laugh, the more upset the conservative repub actually is.

And we get two more votes for health care and that vote might come by Friday or Saturday in the House.

Jim Webb won the Democratic nomination for the 2006 Virginia Senate race by defeating Harris Miller in the primary, then won the general election by defeating the Republican incumbent George Allen. Webb's thin margin in the general election (less than 0.5%) kept the outcome uncertain for nearly two days after polls closed on November 7, 2006, and provided the final seat that tilted the Senate to Democratic control.

Al Franken beat Coleman (A man I surely despise as I have stated countless times and I love taking the opportunity to state my dislike whenever I can which is why I am wasting your time right now) by 312 votes and eight months of litigation.

On June 6, 2006, Jon Tester won the Democratic primary by a margin of over 25 points, much larger than expected given the previous polling. Burns easily won the Republican primary. On election day, Tester received 198,302 votes versus 195,455 for Burns. Tester was declared the winner on Nov. 8, 2006.[9][10] His victory, along with that of Jim Webb in Virginia, was one of the two closest and last decided Senate races in the 2006 midterms, which saw the Democrats regain control of the Senate.

So go ahead and spin that you goddamn repubs. Hahahaha

Or as Matt Damon put it in Good Will Hunting:

You like apples?

I mean do you like apples?

WELL HOW DO YOU LIKE THEM APPLES?

I think the dems have accomplished some very important things over the last three years. For one thing, they stopped George W. Bush in his tracks, making the last two years of his administration useless as far as breaks for the rich, that is.

There has been important legislation that has already been signed sealed and delivered to the American people. SCHIPS, stimulus, and other help has been enacted.

Health insurance reform is coming. Hell a vote could be had in the House this week.

Yeah we are stuck in two wars.

Yeah we are stuck in a recession/depression.

But how would things be going if the repubs were in control?

Things could be worse.

Right now I feel like celebrating.

If nothing else, a lot of repubs are hurting, real bad, even if they do not wish to admit it.

THE MAN CHILD

2009-11-03T21:59:08Z

Well here is a new one. I watched Rush Limbaugh during his soft ball interview with baby boy Wallace and heard him accuse our President of being a man-child:

]]>

LIMBAUGH: And what they're really, really having a problem with out there is that I call Obama a man-child -- a man-child. Oh, they're just freaking out over that. Do you know what a man-child is? I'll -- it hits -- go look it up in the urban dictionary.

I looked it up in the Urban Dictionary, and here's what it says; "A man-child is a fully grown male that acts like a baby. A man-child usually whines, complains, and thinks everything is unfair. Man-children in the workplace can be recognized as one who is always complaining about the rules and/or shows too much emotion."

And Obama is constantly whining and complaining about Bush and what he inherited. He whines and complains about everything. He's a man-child. I'm proud I said it. I'm shouting it: He's a man-child!Mediamatters.com

The description is dead wrong. But it does describe someone else I see on cable all the time:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6HWKzobeya4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oumQl8neO6w&feature=related

What the hell is rush talking about? This quote is lifted from Mediamatters.com. Rush of course had been spewing out this crap on the radio before repeating it during the interview. First, his descriptions of President Obama are flat out wrong.

No other conservative I have seen on cable or on the web has described Barack Obama as a whiner or a complainer. He is attacked for not showing more emotion. And rush describes him as demonstrating too much emotion.

I swear, these Nazis test descriptions with target audiences first and then see if they 'play out'.

Anyway, I could not let it go so I went to the Urban Dictionary, whateverthehell that is and found:

A young boy that hits puberty early and has features of a man. Also known as Man-Child Syndrome, this disease affects a few children every day and causes them to feel out of place in the world because of their ridiculous strength, looks and the ability to get older women. http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Man-Child%20Syndrome

Then I just 'googled' the damn term and found this:

We all know the type. He hits middle age and suddenly he's Jack-the-lad again. He's done marriage and divorce. The kids have grown up and gone. He's got time and money to burn -- and he wants to have serious fun. Not for him a slow descent into old codgerdom. Oh, no -- he wants to be a Manchild.

And can you blame him? Nobody likes to feel washed up, at least not at 45. Manchild is simply trying to salvage the flotsam of his youth.

He seeks refuge in cars, bikes, girls and unsuitable clothes.

Unsuitable because, frankly, your average middle-aged bloke is more of a Jeremy Clarkson than a Mick Jagger. http://women.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/women/style/article877250.ece

I was wondering what the political purpose of this latest rant of rush could be. I know that if you repeat a line over and over and over again--assuming you have an audience of millions--that it will eventually catch on.

I mean, why doesn't he just label my President as a Pontiac, or a wagon or a canoe?

Is there anyone in the world who is as wealthy and powerful as rush, who insists on complaining as much as he does?

He complains about taxes, he complains about election results, he complains about poor people, he complains about welfare, he complains about women, he complains about black quarterbacks, he complains about those who wish to improve the human condition, and he complains that he cannot buy a football team. He complains about black people being too successful, he complains about women being too successful, he complains about liberals being too successful, he complains about moderates being too successful....

The complaints from this billionaire never stop.

I mean, according to his own definition he is describing himself; and Glenn Beck of course.

Except rush has defined man-child in a manner heretofore not recognized.

There is really no point to this blog. Not really. I am just flummoxed by this new tirade.

NORTHCO-XI: What's It All About Algie?

2009-11-03T00:04:39Z

The room was white; white as a new blanket of South Dakota snow; before the car tracks, before the animal tracks and before the other inevitable pollution by nature or man. Virgin is the appropriate word here.

And it was padded; the cell that is. But some shadows remain

Sitting alone, without so much as a pencil or a shoe lace, Algie contemplated his fate. What was he doing here?

]]> I have accomplished all that was ever asked of me.

I mean I turned in my homework on time.

I studied while others were out having fun.

I finished my undergrad work before my eighteenth birthday.

I had a Dr. before my name by my 21st.

I never stole money. I never killed my brother. I never bribed or extorted anyone. I never intended anyone any harm. I never lied about anything 'material'.

I always paid my taxes.

I was kind to others, especially mumsy.

No music available, no stereo, no IPOD. Yet the words from the latest bard keep reverberating in my brain.

Darkness at the break of noon
Shadows even the silver spoon
The handmade blade, the child's balloon
Eclipses both the sun and moon
To understand you know too soon
There is no sense in trying.

Pointed threats, they bluff with scorn
Suicide remarks are torn
From the fools gold mouthpiece
The hollow horn plays wasted words
Proved to warn
That he not busy being born
Is busy dying.

Why in God's name was I meant to go through all this? There is no one here and I am stripped of all human dignity. And I am alone. But why? I never eschewed the norm really. I mean I went to work for the man. I took the corporate clothes. I responded affirmatively.

WHAT DID YOU WISH ME TO DO? WHAT DO YOU WISH ME TO DO?

My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me?

I certainly never wished to trod upon new ground. I took the road more traveled; not the other way around. And yet here I find myself. I never wished to risk.

I was always doing THE BEST I COULD. And it was not good enough in the end.

People, some people, just hated me the entire trip; the entire journey through this veil of tears.

What did I ever do to THEM?

There was all this blood. All this carnage. The most violent thing I ever did was to draw equations on a white board and get paid for it. It was not my job to apply the equations in any particular manner.

There was a knock while Algie was musing and the door opened. In stepped Dr. Andrews.

How are we doing Dr. Flowers?

Algie, I am just Algie.

All right Algie. Why don't you just call me Ben? Algie how are you feeling today?

I am inside a white box, all alone, and I need a cigarette.

Ben reached into his white coat and pulled out a pack of Marlboroughs, handed the patient a cig and gave him a light from his flame. Ben broke the rules when it suited him and when he felt it might help him get through to a patient.

Now you do something for me Algie.

Algie took a long toke off of the cigarette and blew out the smoke in rings; it was the first feeling of relief he had felt since...since he got here, he guessed. What is that? Algie responded with a question. These were the first words he had uttered since he got here.

Put your pj's on and don your robe again Algie.

Algie looked down. My God, I have been sitting here buck naked. The patient had not really noticed his 'condition'. He duly complied, taking several more deep drags off his smoke and depositing the ashes in a plastic cup partially filled with water. He finished the cig and extinguished the butt in the cup.

Algie, I like to start at the beginning of things. You are a highly educated scientist and I realize this, so I do not wish you to think I am talking down to you. Do you believe that?

Yes, he responded. Compliance is the best policy when you are powerless, Algie thought.

Why are you here Algie?

Algie's heartbeat quickened. His breathing became shallower. Perspiration appeared on his pate and his forehead.

Now slow down. Take a deep breath Algie. That's right. Hold it in a second. Now let it out.

The sight came back into his left eye and Algie began feeling more at ease. He continued this deep breathing exercise another five minutes. He looked carefully at his therapist and said: My friend was brutally murdered and I survived. I am being punished for surviving.

This is the first time you have responded to anybody since that night Algie. It has been over a week since you arrived here. I would like to take a risk Algie. No matter what course of treatment I suggest, there is risk. Are you ready to take a risk Algie?

Algie thought for a second; a week? Damn. He had no idea he had been there that long.

Yes I am Doctor. Yes I am.

Good. Then come with me.

The door that had magically opened upon the arrival of Ben had remained open and the two simply waltzed out into the hall. And they walked on down the hall....

What's it all about, Algie?
Can you tell us just how Thomas died?
What's it all about when you sort it out, Algie?
Because we think that perhaps you have lied
Or are we meant to be kind?
And if only fools are kind, Algie,
Then I guess it's wise to be cruel.
And if you do not tell us what went wrong, Algie

We have no choice but to call you a fool

And you'll be stuck in here in the psych ward, Algie
we know there's something going on
Something ain't quite right in transvestite land...

We believe in love, Algie
but not men wearing stockings at all, Algie
Until you tell us what happened there that night, Algie
You won't walk out of here some day
You won't find love in here, Algie
Algie
What's it all about?
Algie?
Algie...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0lDSf0A9RTk&feature=PlayList&p=E82F8EA9BF55CB85&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=42 (lyrics furnished by LISB)

Sean and Bernice from accounting finally 'retired' to Bernice's place. They had learned at lot that evening at the Castle. Hanson had divulged some secrets about NORTHCO and the fourth floor.

Following the narrative concerning UFO's and such, Sean had inquired about maintenance. It must be difficult to keep that building so clean. Well Hanson could not shut up after that. Even though the janitor never had been allowed access to the basement of the office building, he had been to the fourth floor on occasion.

And what a mess Hanson had found there. Shredded paper all over the place...the floor, the desks. Costumes for Christsakes. What the hell was that all about. And cages with animals stacked on the wall, the west wall he thought. There were no windows as such and the lighting was strange.

He could never bring help when he was ordered up there. And every time he had completed his 'tour', Sphincter would show up and order him to take this blue pill.

At least he surmised this because the last time he cleaned up the top floor he was given the pill and tucked it under his tongue, spitting it out later. He was certain that it gave him headaches and he was not going through that again. So even though that last tour was the only one he recalled, there was enough familiarity there to cue him; to indicate that that had not been the first time in the mysterious attic.

There was something else about the ten or so caged animals. Even though they all appeared to be examples of local breeds like raccoons and rabbits, THEY ALL GLOWED ORANGE.

Where the piece to this puzzle fit was the question. But the late night ale had made the couple too whimsical for such inquiry.

There She Blows, Miss America!!!

2009-11-02T00:19:07Z

I just caught something at the Baltimore Sun. It is kind of a rehash of Rush Limbaugh by two of the reporters from Mediamatters.com. But it is short and hilarious.

The point of the article is that Rush is going to judge the 2010 Miss America Pageant. After my diatribe against the late Grace Kelly, I just cannot pass up a chance to discuss the intersection of pageant fluff, women's rights and rush.

Some months ago I was laughing because rush was crying on the radio, whining on the radio, and complaining on the radio that women do not seem to like him. Hahahaa

Here is part of the article;

This is the man who famously declared that his cat has "taught" him "more about women than anything my whole life" because his cat is "smart enough to know she can't feed herself" and gets "loved," "adoration," "petted," and "fed," without having "to do anything for it." He has speculated that women "would love to be hired as eye candy" and has claimed that "[w]omen still live longer than men because their lives are easier."

Mr. Limbaugh frequently laments the "chickification" of society, particularly in government and the media. In his world, female media figures (some of whom are former Miss America Pageant winners) are "infobabes" or "anchorettes"; female professors are "professorettes"; the cable network MSNBC is dubbed "PMS- NBC," and female Cabinet secretaries find their title changed to "Sexretary."

He has shared with listeners his "pet name" for the National Organization for Women (NOW): "National Association of Gals" (his acronym: "NAG")....
On Pelosi he says: "Why, she can multitask. She can breastfeed, she can clip her toenails, she can direct the House."

Based on this abysmal record, it's hard to imagine what Miss America Pageant officials were thinking when they selected Mr. Limbaugh as a judge. © 2009, The Baltimore Sun http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/oped/bal-op.limbaugh30oct30,0,3655374.story

I find it hilarious because I think the two deserve each other. When I was a kid and heard that idiot singing:

There she goes, Miss America.....

It was time to go outside and skate, or ride my bike or go over to Dave's house and have a smoke. Those vacuous teenage girls spouting their hope for world peace....

And its not any better today. That fascist winner last year (ex winner I guess) with the boob job whom Trump finally fired, is regularly seen giving speeches at RNC functions.

What about a national Ms. Chemistry Pageant? Or a Ms. Pre-Med Pageant? Or a Ms. Applied Mathematics Pageant?

No friggin bathing suits allowed; unless there is a swimming competition of course.

Push rush up on the podium, that is what I say!!! The repubs are in charge of vacuous contests for vacuous broads anyway.

THEY DESERVE EACH OTHER.

How I Know I Am Not A Good American

2009-10-31T22:51:11Z

In order to decide whether or not you are part of a community, part of a culture, part of a nation; you must examine your values. I mean if all those around you worship something that you despise, you are the odd man out.

I have decided that I am not a very good American. It has to do with my likes and dislikes. So I figure it is a genetic disorder. I must admit all my disagreements with American Culture. Supposedly, if we first admit our faults we may have an opportunity to take more steps in the healing process and I might become a good American after all.

GRACE KELLY

I despised Grace Kelly (Her Serene Highness The Princess of Monaco") when I was ten. Do you realize that The American Film Institute ranked her #13 amongst the Greatest Female Stars of All Time?

I would have no problems at all rating her one of the thirteen worst actresses I have ever seen on the screen. Her affectations in speech and in her walk did nothing for a young boy or an old slob like me. Phony, phony, phony. She died drunk driving an automobile.

She had grown up as the daughter of a millionaire in Philly, went to the finest schools while living in the finest neighborhoods. She did not apply herself in school and got theatrical parts due to the American love for Cinderella. And she was one of those two faced traitors who chose 'duel citizenship' when our country absolutely bans such things.

I remember watching High Noon and thinking...this is the dumbest movie I ever saw.

HIGH NOON

Plot: This stupid film is supposed to be number 27 on the 'all time list'. I mean, we are supposed to believe that a little 22 year old aristocratic cream puff just falls in love with a 51 year old alcoholic in some dirt town in what is supposed to become New Mexico. Just after the wedding, we find out that, them liberal and corrupt politicians up north let loose some killer the sheriff had brung down a few years earlier.

And one by one the local citizens demur as Cooper begs for a posse to stop black bart or whatever the frick he is from comin to destroy the town. I have to admit that the last demurer gives the all time dumbest line ever given in a western; a line that would be repeated in thousands of films and TV Westerns:

But I have a wife and children Sheriff.

As if only gay caballeros can ever take up the challenge to rid this earth of Black Barts.

Even his own deputy demurs and sits in a bar getting drunk all day. Lloyd Bridges (whom I have always idolized) plays the spiteful coward who had somehow inherited Cooper's old lady friend. He is mad because he does not get to be the new sheriff in town after Cooper leaves. The showdown between Cooper and Black Bart's men is so badly shot that it DEFIES credulity. I mean the film does not flow,

Rather, it continues in fits and starts, badly choreographed. And the stunt man for Cooper performs feats that no 51 year old alcoholic could achieve.

Needless to say, I never liked Cooper either. His aw shucks persona just pisses me off. I must admit, having sat through the film recently, it was fun to see actors like Elam who would go on to appear in some of the greatest westerns ever made, like Once Upon a Time in The West.

JULIA ROBERTS

I just got through watching buttlips (the first buttlips that I can remember) in the Pelican Brief. Her feigning of fear and such is sooooooooooooooo aggravating; I suddenly remembered why I could never sit through the damn movie. I just cannot stand looking at this pretense of thespianism.

I have never hit a woman or a child in my life, but I swear to god almighty (blesses himself) I have the strongest urge to just slap her silly in this film if only to wake her up and challenge her affectations.

Just take a minute and think of someone like Susan Sarandon. She would not stand for some director telling her to curl up her 90 lb body in some chair wearing some oversized undershirt panting and sobbing and such.

The plot is terrible anyway. I mean I could see the conservative oligarchy plotting to kill some liberal Supreme Court Justices in order to solidify the fascist America in which we now reside, but one billionaire oil guy would never do this alone.

I mean I like pelicans and all, but we are facing the economic torture of millions of Americans everyday due to the fascists who sit on our present court together with our fascist legislators. Instead of pelicans, why not choose asthmatic children as the victims of fascism; those who die in Emergency rooms all over this country every year.

JOHN WAYNE

I hate John Wayne and I do not think I need to lay out my reasons here. He was a bad actor, a bad husband, a bad father and a bad fascist repub.

JIMMY STEWART

I hate Jimmy Stewart. I mean I hate Rear Window, It's a Wonderful Life, and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. I despise all his films except for Harvey. Psychosis is charming to me in a way which may explain my unamericanism.

In the fifties he would wear a rug that I would not put on my dog and in his fifties he always had some 22 year old like Novak or Kelly fawning over him.

And compare his movies and his 'acting ability' to someone like Henry Fonda. Come on!!!!

He was a life long repub and fascist.

BOB HOPE

I hate Bob Hope. I hate Bob Hope's movies. Can you imagine, the idiot could not understand why he never received an Oscar nomination?

Patty cake patty cake baker's man. Fine, five year olds might enjoy Hope/Crosby slap stick.

Oh I know, he would take half naked girls overseas and 'celebrate' our troops. But I just know he did it for the money. He died a billionaire when a billion dollars was a lot of money.

RONALD REAGAN

Bedtime for Bonzo. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pwIOEN6XamA

Do not even get me started. I hope he and Wayne are stuck in some hell hole in hell; forced to watch their own movies.

So there you have it. Oh I idolized and still do idolize Douglas Fairbanks & Son, the Barrymores, Henry Fonda, Errol Flynn, Carol Lumbard, Cary Grant (30's & 40's anyway), along with hundreds of others on the so called 'Silver Screen'. But I was taught somewhere or other that if you can't stand Grace Kelly, Gary Cooper, Julia Roberts, John Wayne, Jimmy Stewart, Bob Hope or Ronald Rayguns....well you just aint a real American.

p.s.: I am out of sorts and cigs for twelve more hours, so please forgive my callousness today. And I pick a day where I will stay up 25 instead of 24 hours. Go figure.

NORTHCO-X: Invasion of the UFO's

2009-10-30T21:10:48Z

Sean got to the Castle Bar with the full intent of making the shuttle a designated driver. The word was that Frank was awake, like nothing had happened. But they were keeping him in the hospital for observation.

He looked for his favorite table and there was Bernice from accounting with a pitcher and two mugs. She had not even taken a sip out of general courtesy along with the personal protocol never to drink alone.

Oh Bernice, you made it.

Hi Sean. We are all set. How is Frank?

Sean quickly grabbed a mug, which Bernice had filled, and drank it down like it was a canteen full of water and he was in the desert.

]]>

Well, I happened to get through to the attending nurse--Frank had listed me as next of kin, can you imagine?--and she said Frank was awake but would remain in the hospital for observation and there will be some testing performed as I predicted.

When you found him, was he bleeding or anything?

No Bernice, he was just lying there on this side. I checked for breathing and called the EMT's. That is about it.

What is going on Sean. Everything seems so weird lately.

ll I am working on a recap Bernice. I mean a summary of all of what has happened. Which reminds me, I found an envelope marked 'Top Secret'. We should review that later when we get home.

Home? My goodness. Bernice smiled and Sean blushed. She loved it when Sean blushed.

Okay let us summarize what we have so far. Frank, who is the number three or four person in management-my direct supervisor-has no idea what his own company actually does. Me, I am manager of the third floor of a three story building and I have no idea exactly what NORTHCO produces. Except there are not three floors and a rather large warehouse basement; there is actually a fourth floor where short people are present.

You, Bernice, have worked in the accounting division for six years; reviewed thousands upon thousands of ledgers; and you do not know what NORTHCO does either.

And I have a dog who glows. And my dog and I have seen other animals residing in the outskirts of the forest who also glow. And the colors seem to vary from blue to orange. And if this is not enough, I swear I saw a pack of armadillos, armadillos for Chrissakes, running to the forest.

And you know what else Bernice. It appears that Thomas is dead; had his head ripped from his body. And the head is still missing and Algie, who appears to have been Thomas' consort, is now under observation in a mental hospital in Pierre.

Have I missed anything here Bernice?

Well, I had heard that Algie was not going to be back at the office for awhile But that was about it. I feel so bad for Thomas though. Where did all this occur?

In Algie's home. It was a tryst of some kind. There were police all over the place. Whenever Algie is released, he will not be going home for awhile because they are doing all they can to keep it a secured crime scene. Animals might even have been involved, but everyone is keeping rather tight lipped about all this.

His head was ripped right off his body? The picture just got to Bernice. My God she thought. Maybe I gotta get as far away from the Dakotas as possible.

Yes. But nobody is talking.

Just then Hanson came by. Hanson was the head of Janitorial Operations at NORTHCO. It seemed like Hanson had always been there. Hanson was truly one of the dumbest human beings Sean had ever met. It seemed like every time Sean spoke with him, Sean ended up in stitches.

The last time he spoke with Hanson at the office he told him that the third floor lady's room needed to be cleaned pronto. Hanson looked at him and asked what the lady's room had to do with the Lone Ranger's companion.

Hanson, mug in hand, addressed the couple: Mind if I join you for a bit?

Well Hanson, good to see you but....

No, just the right time Hanson, Bernice interjected. She called over the maiden and ordered another pitcher as Hanson sat down at the table.

I need to talk to somebody about this. Can I trust you two? You have always been kind to me and I just need to talk to somebody.

Of course Hanson, we are all ears said Bernice.

Hanson looked quizzically at their ears, shook his head and began:

I saw some lights in the night sky last night. Strange lights. Have either of you seen any strange lights?

Sean looked at Bernice. What kind of lights Hanson. I mean were they overhead cause you know we have a lot of night military flights and all around here.

No, these lights were horizontal.

You mean the lights were just over the horizon?

Yeah, like that. Kind of a glow coming from the northern forest.

Then Sean made one of the biggest mistakes he had made in days. Have you ever seen these lights before?

Oh there is stuff goin on in South Dakota all the time. Me and Ralphy, Ralphy was my high school buddy and after we graduated high school we went to work for a horse farm, just outside of Pierre. And the things we saw.

I mean one night, we was surveyin the sky. It was just beautiful that night and the stars were triple clear, believe you me. I mean there was no moon and the sky was just lit up so beautiful and all. It was about midnite and while we was watchin, there appeared, out of nowhere, a bunch of lights in like an octagon shape, you know like a ten sided object.

And it started spinnin and spinnin, kind a like a quarter on slate, you know what I mean? So I says, Ralphy do you see that?

And so Ralphy says, wow. And if you knew Ralphy...well he aint none for conversing and all. When Ralphy says: WOW, I mean that means something.

So all of a sudden, the object with the lights stopped spinning and took off. No sound whatsoever and you know how quiet it can be in the night here. Well let me tell you something, no sound at all emanated from that there object.

So we were on the road anyway, the damn car ran out of gas. We found out later there had been some sort of gas leak. I mean Timmy, my brother, found part of an antler in it...well anyhooo we decided to use Ralphy's new cell phone. And after figuring out how to use it, we called 911.

So Sheriff Johnston shows up about an hour or so later. We were not sure of the time because it was getting chilly in the night air even though it was June and all and so we got into the car and fell asleep.

So I hear a knock at the window and it's the Sheriff. So I get out of the car and start telling him about what was in the sky.

Do you know of any other witnesses Hanson to this great event?

Oh no Sheriff, see we had closed up Popper's and all so everyone was gone.

Oh, closed up Popper's again Hanson, did ya? The Sheriff remarked.

Well I ended up taking a trip in his patrol car and lost my license and everything. I told my lawyer all about it and he just shook his head the same way as Sheriff Johnston.

Let me tell you, the next time that ever happened I would remember to have Ralphy sleep in the driver's side.

Well let me tell you two, this was proof to me of the giant conspiracy. I mean that sheriff just filed charges to shut me up. And the lawyer was in on it, I could tell by the way he shook his head and all after I TOLD HIM THE TRUTH.

So this is really the first time I ever related this story to another human being. And if you repeat it or try to quote me I will deny it because they will just come after me again.

But another time, when I was in Pierre, about one in the morning I should think, Ralphy and I had just closed up Poppers...it was Emily's birthday and all so Sam kept the bar opened till real closing time...and we were outside and there were two speeding rocket type objects traveling right over our heads. I mean we had not even gotten into our car yet (Ralphy kind of forgot where he parked that night) when we saw these visions. And since there was no moon and the sky was clear and Sam had shut off the lights and all,

And so Ralphy, he looks up and points this time and says: WOW WOW.

I mean it was something to behold. And as I watched the arc the two rockets were making, the one rocket on the west side just vanished. Into thin air. I had never seen anything like that ever before in my life and never once since then.

And you can bet we did not call 911 that time. No sirree bob.

Just then, Hanson let one rip. I mean really, really rip. Bernice and Sean looked down as Hanson turned bright red.

I apologize for that. I really do. I have intestinal issues that my doctor is helping me with.

I will be right back Hanson. I got something in my throat, said Sean as he rushed toward the back of the Castle.

Sean began laughing uncontrollably. He had never ever heard a UFO story related like this in his entire life and it was the single funniest thing he ever heard. He thought about all those great stand up comics and thought that Hanson had really missed his calling. And every time he thought he had himself together, Sean started snorting again. So Sean went into the loo and washed his face and thought about the most tragic things he could think of before he came back to the table.

A trio, all of a sudden appeared on stage and began singing:

Autumn in New York can't compare

To the Fall of South Dakota

Rather be in good old Pierre

Than stuck in murky Saratoga

Nothin like the pure open air

To naturally cure your ills

And when all else seems to fail

There's always the good ole Black Hills

Nothin like the pretty prairie

Nothin like good ole prairie dogs

Nothin like beautiful aeries

Compared to New York smog

Suppose there are sights things in New York

That you cannot find in Dakota

But we do have Kevin Costner

While they just have Abe Vigoda

http://forestroot125.blogspot.com/2009_10_01_archive.html

PROFESSIONAL DISTANCE: A Discussion of Health Care Reform

2009-10-29T21:00:55Z

On April 13, 1919 there was a massacre at a place known as the Jallianwala Bagh (Garden) in the northern Indian city of Amritsar.

Thousands of people gathered in the Jallianwala Bagh (garden) near the Golden Temple in Amritsar, on Baisakhi, both a harvest festival and the Sikh religious new year. There were speakers present to discuss a number of issues.
British Indian Army soldiers under the command of Brigadier-General Reginald Dyer opened fire on an unarmed gathering of men, women and children. The firing lasted for 10 to 15 minutes, until they ran out of ammunition.[1] Official British Raj sources placed the fatalities at 379, and with 1100 wounded.[2] Civil Surgeon Dr. Smith indicated that there were 1,526 casualties.[3] For more see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jallianwala_Bagh_massacre

I was introduced to this modern day example of human sacrifice when I first saw the movie Gandhi.

]]> In the movie, following the depiction of the carnage, there was a Military Commission of Inquiry. I tracked down the script and found this:

A Government Advocate (English) turns 
to face Dyer.

ADVOCATE: General Dyer, is it correct 
that you ordered your troops to fire 
at the thickest part of the crowd?

Dyer glances woodenly at the panel--a 
man in some shock at the consequences 
of what he assumed was an act worthy 
of praise.

DYER (righteously): That is so.

The Advocate looks at him with a degree 
of disbelief -more at his attitude than
 his statement.

ADVOCATE: One thousand five hundred and 
sixteen casualties with one thousand six
hundred and fifty bullets.

A slight reaction from the public section. 
Dyer's jaw tightens.

DYER: My intention was to inflict a lesson 
that would have an impact throughout all 
India.

He stares at the panel like a reasonable man
making a reasonable point. The evasiveness, 
the only half-buried embarrassment of their
response only deepens his own withdrawal 
into himself.

INDIAN BARRISTER: General, had you been able 
to take in the armored car, would you have 
opened fire with the machine gun?

Dyer thinks about it. Then unashamedly -

DYER: I think, probably - yes.

A muted reaction from the public section.

The Indian barrister stares at him a moment,
then simply lowers his eyes to his notes.

HUNTER: General, did you realize there were 
children - and women - in the crowd?

DYER (a beat): I did.

For the first time there is the hint of 
uncertainty in his manner.

ADVOCATE: But that was irrelevant to the
point you were making?

DYER: That is correct.

There is just a tremor of distaste quickly 
suppressed among the panel. Not so quickly 
in the public section.

ADVOCATE: Could I ask you what provision 
you made for the wounded?

Dyer looks at him quickly. The question is 
unexpected, even a little"clever." The 
officers listening clearly resent it.

DYER (a moment, then firmly): I was ready to

help any who applied.

And that answer stops the Advocate. He 
smiles dryly.

ADVOCATE: General . . . how does a child 
shot with a 3-0-3 Enfield "apply" for 
help?

Dyer faces him stonily, a seed of panic
taking root deep in his gut.

I watched this within the last month I should think, and every time I see this epic, I am drawn to this particular scene. There is something about Dyer. Edward Fox, who also starred in Day of the Jackal http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0069947/ does a remarkable job of depicting the evil British General.

There is a concept in psychotherapy known as 'professional distance'.

In the following link, the psychotherapist wraps it up for a woman who over a course of only a few years struggled with cancer, first losing her arm, then her life. During this ordeal she met with a psychotherapist through a referral from her oncologist:

Although we had each struggled to maintain professional distance, it is hard to watch someone you work with lose their life to cancer at such an early age. The feelings that are rarely expressed come easily to the fore at a funeral. Knowing that you may have helped someone to adapt to a difficult life situation eases, but never eliminates, the pain. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2660155/

And just for the hell of it, check out this link

http://aic.gov.au/en/criminal_justice_system/policing/~/media/conferences/policewomen3/crehan.ashx

The first link deals with the problem of 'professionals' getting to close to their patients; become overly sympathetic to their plight so that it interferes with the professional's ability to help the patient.

The second link has to do with boinking your secretary or back stabbing your co worker. Basically it is telling you to stay out of a fellow employee's shite.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Nearly 45,000 people die in the United States each year -- one every 12 minutes -- in large part because they lack health insurance and can not get good care, Harvard Medical School researchers found in an analysis released on Thursday.
"We're losing more Americans every day because of inaction ... than drunk driving and homicide combined," Dr. David Himmelstein, a co-author of the study and an associate professor of medicine at Harvard, said in an interview with Reuters.
Overall, researchers said American adults age 64 and younger who lack health insurance have a 40 percent higher risk of death than those who have coverage.
The findings come amid a fierce debate over Democrats' efforts to reform the nation's $2.5 trillion U.S. healthcare industry by expanding coverage and reducing healthcare costs.
President Barack Obama's has made the overhaul a top domestic policy priority, but his plan has been besieged by critics and slowed by intense political battles in Congress, with the insurance and healthcare industries fighting some parts of the plan.
The Harvard study, funded by a federal research grant, was published in the online edition of the American Journal of Public Health. It was released by Physicians for a National Health Program, which favors government-backed or "single-payer" health insurance.
An similar study in 1993 found those without insurance had a 25 percent greater risk of death, according to the Harvard group. The Institute of Medicine later used that data in its 2002 estimate showing about 18,000 people a year died because they lacked coverage.
Part of the increased risk now is due to the growing ranks of the uninsured, Himmelstein said. Roughly 46.3 million people in the United States lacked coverage in 2008, the U.S. Census Bureau reported last week, up from 45.7 million in 2007. http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSTRE58G6W520090917

Many at Café have related their individual confrontation with pain and suffering along with the prospects of death. Scores of posts have related individual struggles with the powers that be for the right to be treated for their diseases or injuries. It is not fruitful to merely read articles like the one from reuters without also reviewing the individual cases. The instances where our health care system just shuts the door on someone's pain and suffering and even death.

Death panels. JESUS CHRIST THE DEATH PANELS HAVE BEEN SET UP AND WORKING DAILY FOR DECADES. Who is kidding whom? But I digress.

Alan Grayson is not afraid of crossing that line, the line of professional distance:

On Wednesday afternoon, Rep. Alan Grayson (D-Fla.) shed tears on the House floor during a speech on the need for health insurance reform. Reading letters from people who have lost their loved ones because they did not have health coverage, the emotional Congressman paid tribute to victims who he said "aren't often heard from."

"There are 44,789, who die every year from lack of health insurance," Grayson said. "In the course of my speech tonight, there will be five more."

The moving stories narrated by Grayson came from his website namesofthedead.com. Unveiled on the House floor last week, the congressman's initiative aims to shine light on the innocent victims of the U.S. health care system. "I hope that honoring them will help us end this senseless loss of American lives," Grayson wrote. Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/29/alan-grayson-cries-on-the_n_338324.html

Peggy Noonan

I think the health plan is being slowed and may well be stopped not by ideology, or even by philosophy in a strict sense, but by simple American common sense. I suspect voters, the past few weeks, have been giving themselves an internal Q-and-A that goes something like this:
Will whatever health care bill is produced by Congress increase the deficit? "Of course." Will it mean tax increases? "Of course." Will it mean new fees or fines? "Probably." Can I afford it right now? "No, I'm already getting clobbered." Will it make the marketplace freer and better? "Probably not." Is our health care system in crisis? "Yeah, it has been for years." Is it the most pressing crisis right now? "No, the economy is." Will a health-care bill improve the economy? "I doubt it." http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203517304574306533556532364.html

Peggy always likes to tweak her nose like on bewitched and commiserate with Joe Scarborough about how this is just not the right time to revise our health care system.

Mitch McConnell

"Forcing free market plans to compete with these government-run programs would create an unlevel playing field and inevitably doom true competition," the letter stated. "Ultimately, we would be left with a single government-run program controlling all of the market. This would take health care decisions out of doctors and patients and place them in the hands of another Washington bureaucracy." http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0309/19633.html

Joe Lieberman

This afternoon, Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) appeared on Fox News to defend his intention to filibuster any health care reform bill that includes a national public option. Lieberman argued that a public plan would "stifle" the economic recovery and increase "the debt." "It's just unnecessary," Lieberman said. The public option is "a new entitlement program and the taxpayers and the premium-payers are going to end up paying for it, or else the debt will go higher."
Responding to proponents of the public plan who argue that it would actually lower costs, Lieberman insisted that if the public option paid lower reimbursement rates than private insurers, medical providers would shift costs to Americans with private coverage:
LIEBERMAN: If the public option, the government run health insurance company negotiates hard to lower the reimbursement -- the money it's paying to hospitals, doctors -- they're [providers] going to have to get that money somewhere. And where they're going to get it is from the 200 million Americans who today have private health insurance. Premiums will go up. It's exactly what's happened with Medicare and Medicaid. [...]
When people hear public option, I think they think it's for free. It's not for free. Somebody is going to have to pay for it and you can bet it's going to be the taxpayers and the people who pay health insurance premiums now. http://thinkprogress.org/2009/10/28/lieberman-public-option/

I may wish to delve further into this at a later date. Suffice it to say that Noonan, Scarborough, McConnell and Lieberman all kind of stick to the same arguments in their battle against real health care reform. Basically:

IT'S A BAD TIME RIGHT NOW

IT IS ONE OF THE SEVEN DEADLY SINS TO GO AHEAD AND RAISE TAXES.

TOO MANY OTHER ISSUES ON THE TABLE RIGHT NOW

THE SICKLY WILL ALWAYS BE WITH US

THOSE WITH INSURANCE WILL BE HURT

CAPITALISM WORKS FOR RESPONSIBLE PEOPLE

Whatever.....What they really mean is:

READY, AIM, FIRE

Oh there are those who outright lie about the blood in the streets like Anthony Perkins, http://tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com/talk/blogs/dikkday48yahoocom/2009/10/anthony-perkins-the-newest-psy.php#more

I mean Perkins talks about the five million in this country without health insurance who are taken good care of anyway.

It does not matter. Every time I see these people defending the status quo I hear General Dyer saying:

I was ready to

help any who applied.

NOW THAT IS PROFESSIONAL DISTANCE

NORTHCO-IX: Onslaught of the Armadillos

2009-10-28T21:47:20Z

Sean got to work that morning early. More than an hour early; which was strange for the man who never wished to give more than one minute extra to the slave owners, as he mentally referred to them. It was late October which meant it was still dark. He immediately went to his computer to check something out.

Armadillos are small placental mammals, known for having a leathery armor shell. The Dasypodidae are the only surviving family in the order Cingulata, part of the superorder Xenarthra along with the anteaters and sloths. The word armadillo is Spanish for "little armored one".
There are approximately 10 extant genera and around 20 extant species of armadillo, some of which are distinguished by the number of bands on their armor. Their average length is about 75 centimeters (30 in), including tail; the Giant Armadillo grows up to 1.5 m (5 ft) and weighs 59 kg (130 lbs), while the Pink Fairy Armadillos are diminutive species with an overall length of 12-15 cm (4-5 in). All species are native to the Americas, where they inhabit a variety of environments.
In the United States, the sole resident armadillo is the Nine-banded Armadillo (Dasypus novemcinctus), which is most common in the central southernmost states, particularly Texas. Their range is as far east as South Carolina and Florida and as far north as Nebraska; they have been consistently expanding their range over the last century due to a lack of natural predators and have been found as far north as Illinois and Indiana.

]]> Jesus. Nebraska and Illinois. Then its true. I did see a herd of armadillos this morning on the way to work. They were just on the edge of the forest across from my house. This might be the first sighting of these strange creatures in this state. Ha. What the hell are they moving up here for? I mean is it global warming? I mean it has not been that brutally hot up here and according to Wiki they like heat and even like to swim a little.

There was one other thing that really got to Sean. All the pictures show grey as a primary color of the little buggers. There are not supposed to be any orange armadillos. And are they really supposed to be six feet or more long? And he could have sworn one of them stood up on its hind legs. After this, Sean would go nowhere without his nifty new camera. The one Bernice from accounting bought him.

t was 11:30 when Sean showed up for the meeting with Frank.

Hi Jenny. The old man ready for the brains of this outfit?

He has not come in yet Sean.

Did he call in?

No. And I have left three messages for him.

Tell you what. I finished all my paperwork early. I am going to take an early lunch and drop by his place.

Sean packed up, got into his car and made the fifteen minute journey to Frank's abode.

It was one of those kind of rainy days in the fall. The fear was that the temp would go down to something under 30 and then there was hell to pay. That road condition is one you do not wish to face sober, let alone party cloudy as they say. Sean grabbed a dooby from the luxury ashtray and played some WHO.

Who are you? Who are you? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_FZVD5lsAw

As soon as he got in Frank's driveway, Sean knew something was amiss. He could not put his finger on it, but something was not quite right. He got out and walked up to the garage door. First the door of the garage was not completely closed. There was kind of a three inch gap between the bottom of the door and the floor. He peeked through the window and saw Frank's car. But the tarp--the cover Frank always used for his old Ferrari--as in shreds on the floor.

He knew that Frank had got the car back after the highway patrol found it on the old road a couple days before. He knew because Frank told him the day he it was returned.

He went to the front door and knocked and rang the bell. No response.

He tried the knob, the door opened right up.

Frank! Frank!!

Sean called several times as he went further and further into the house. There was Frank, on the floor by his desk and his magic PC. He got down and felt his neck. Blood was pumping and he was breathing. He grabbed his cell and called 9-11. Sean pushed the secret button to close up the computer. As he did so he noticed an envelope labeled 'top secret'. He took it back to his car. Then he went back inside to wait for the EMT's.

Meanwhile, back on the old road....

Frank could barely see a thing and he could only move inches at a time, attempting to drag himself...to where. Ahhhhhhh forget it. Come and get me.

The sound was not exactly thumping. It was more like skipping on the cement/asphalt freeway. Louder and louder...THEY WERE GETTING CLOSER.

He felt breathing, heavy breathing on his neck. His fear increased to the point where he was having trouble breathing again.

TEEN AGE MUTANT NINJAS?

His sight was sooooooooooo bad. These creatures just mulled around him. All of a sudden he felt himself being dragged into the woods, he would guess. But why? I mean if THEY are just wild animals of some kind why should they care where they have their dinner?

He found himself in the forest, almost totally blind and he was filthy and totally wiped out. As exhausted as he ever felt. He was almost totally paralyzed. All that he kept thinking was helpless.

Helpless, helpless, helpless, helpless.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9gKwjxF7ilI

Suddenly, he felt as if he were being dragged into a hole.

Frank suddenly awoke in a hospital bed at the NORTHCO Medical Center.

Back at Eastern Headquarters, Langdon was getting more confused as each day passed. He had a board filled with notes and pictures and other odds and ends. The attempt was to get the full picture as it were. And all he had so far was a Picasso; just a twisted jumbo of nothing. Yet there were messages in all this muck.

Langdon started a list.

Algernon Flowers, a gay part-time transvestite invites his lover Thomas Corkland over for din din.

They both work at NORTHCO.

Thomas definitely enters Algernon's abode and the party begins.

Animals arrive in a wagon of some kind through the front door. At least one of these animals was a raccoon. The domestic feline had nothing to do with the entire affair and probably was in hiding at some point during the proceedings.

Besides nibbling by raccoons, there were other indications of a much larger animal as far as damage to the corpse. And Sam figured the nibblings by the raccoons took place following the death of Thomas. It was most probably an alligator that took the head off, according to forensics. At least that was the best guess. The DNA testing would be accomplished in Pierre and would take a month. I mean they have to narrow down the species responsible for this heinous crime.

My aim has to be to discover who the human perps are in this mess.

Algernon is nuts but he probably was not able to carry out anything close to this. That file is not closed, but...come on.

But there is one place that he needs to investigate and that is NORTHCO. NORTHCO has to have something to do with this...

Langdon began to review the files discovered at Thomas Corkland's home. After meeting Mrs. Corkland, he had no inclination to go back there. Thomas' mom was nuts. He needed some more information but Sherry can go back and glean more from that psycho.

But some of Corkland's notes read like they were written in some sort of code. I mean, what the hell is this conspiracy crap claiming NORTHCO and Obama were somehow conspiring to bring down America?

And yet, here was a guy who had been with NORTHCO for six years and cannot figure out what NORTHCO actually does. And even Langdon himself never got a straight answer as to what this corporate dictator manufactured or produced. So the detective now had made this mystery his prime concern. He would certainly have enough information to gather regarding Corkland's pension, life insurance, pay, etc to present probable cause to delve further into this.

I must set up an appointment to speak with that Spincter guy. I hope he is less anal than his moniker but somehow I know that hope is not going to be fulfilled.

SALLY, GET YOUR FANNY IN HERE.

If I did not absolutely love the guy, I would file a civil rights complaint tomorrow, sighed Sally.

Sean was beside himself. By the time he got back to work he had about an hour and a half left of his work day. And he had to spend it with Spincter.

What the hell was he doing on the floor anyway? Did you find drugs or paraphernalia. AND WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU DOING IN FRANK'S HOUSE IN THE FIRST PLACE?

Mr. Spincter, please. I am in as much a quandary over all this as you are. More actually, I know the guy. He is my friend. He has been to my place, I have been to his place. Our wives use to socialize together, before they both left us to the single life.

I mean, I have to watch my demeanor here Mr. Spincter. I was at Frank's home because just last week he missed three days of work due to illness and he was not at our scheduled meeting a half hour before noon today. I was concerned when I was told that calls had been made to his house and those calles received no response. It was my duty, as floor manager to find out what, if anything, went wrong.

Okay, okay Sean. I stepped over a line here. I should not blame all my troubles on you or Frank. But I have to know...did you find any evidence of drug use.

Just when we share a reefer from time to time on Frank's porch, Sean thought.

No, of course not. The only drugs available around here are caffeine and alcohol available at our local Castle.

You better not be lying....okay, okay. That is not fair. He is at the medical center now, right?

Yes. I will visit him tomorrow on my way to work. And you have all the authorizations, hell its NORTHCO's center. My cousin was an epileptic and I have an inkling that that is what we are dealing with now. I am sure there will be an MRI along with an EEG. Hell probably an EKG also. Blood tests, etc. etc. etc. Mr. Spincter, you will be getting the answers to all your questions in the next couple of days.

All right. That is more than fair. Thank you Sean. You are dismissed.

Thank you Sir, Sean said as he turned to leave. God I hate that guy. YOU ARE DISMISSED. And you are a hairy asshole, he thought.

Friday already. Oh, he was going to meet with Bernice from accounting at the Castle.

You know, I really do miss that ale when I have been away too long, Sean thought.

(all my previous chapters are available at:

http://forestroot125.blogspot.com/2009_10_01_archive.html )

THE MORTGAGE JIHAD

2009-10-27T22:18:54Z

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - As Los Angeles housing advocates launched a campaign warning of mortgage rescue scams, a couple hit by foreclosure are charged with torturing two loan-modification agents they suspected of fraud, authorities said on Monday.
The couple, Daniel Weston and Mary Ann Parmelee, and three other people are accused of luring their two victims to an office where the men were tied up, held for hours and beaten, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County district attorney said.
Police were called after one of the victims managed to escape, said the spokeswoman, Shiara Davila-Morales. The incident occurred on Wednesday in the town of Glendale, just north of Los Angeles.
Weston, Parmelee and the three other defendants each were charged with two counts of torture, two counts of false imprisonment by violence and two counts of second-degree robbery, according to a criminal complaint filed against them.
Weston, 52, and Parmelee, 51, both arrested last week and jailed on $1 million bond, shared a house in the suburb of La Canada-Flintridge that is in foreclosure, authorities said.
"The two allegedly sought loan modification assistance from the victims but believed that nothing was being done and wanted their money back," a statement from the district attorney's office said.
Davila-Morales added that the couple, according to investigators, believed they had been swindled.
http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSTRE59Q03Q20091027

Weston and Parmelee held a press conference following their arrest that was only covered by our ACTION NEWS TEAM:

At no time have we perpetrated torture. We were simply using enhanced interrogation techniques on members of a group of people who hate America and all it stands for. A group may I add, that threatens and has threatened the American Dream for tens of millions of people.

This year alone has produced almost two million forclosures in this country:

The Mortgage Bankers Association reports that a record 1 in 7.6 homeowners with a mortgage were either late making a payment or in foreclosure from April to June while delinquencies have expanded to prime loans.The trade group's quarterly National Delinquency Survey reviews 45 million loans that represent 80-85 percent of all outstanding first mortgages. It found that 9.24 percent of all mortgage holders were at least one month late making a payment and 4.3 percent of loans were in foreclosure.
"Florida continues to establish itself as the worst state in the union for mortgage performance, closely followed only by Nevada," said Jay Brinkmann, chief economist at the trade association. In a sign that has troubled many economists, an increasing number of mortgage holders with prime loans - those provided to people with good credit who made down payments - were delinquent.
5.23 percent of prime fixed rate mortgages were delinquent making payments compared with 3.07 percent a year ago. http://abcnews.go.com/Business/mortgage-delinquencies-foreclosures-surge/story?id=8373550

The amount of pain and suffering caused by members of the banking Jihad keeps mounting and it is time to fight back. Fight them here before they run away with their billions to some other country, snickering as they get away with their ill gotten gain.

The economic crisis started with home foreclosures, and the numbers are getting worse: 6,600 new foreclosures a day; one every 13 seconds. (See foreclosures in your state.) Washington needs to understand that helping homeowners is key to helping the entire economy.
To stop the downward spiral, policymakers must stop relying on voluntary actions by lenders. TARP funds should be used to reduce home losses and encourage more loan modifications. There's also another effective, tax-free way to stop foreclosures: Congress could allow homeowners to get loan modifications through the courts. http://www.responsiblelending.org/mortgage-lending/tools-resources/national-foreclosure-ticker.html?gclid=CL3j3u6V3p0CFRPyDAodXFK_OA

We have now been arrested on the charge of torture.

But in point of fact we abided by the standards for enhanced interrogation techniques as laid out by George W Bush, Dick Cheney and by his legal staff. As Mr. Bybee put it:

We further conclude that certain acts may be cruel, inhuman, or degrading, but still not produce pain and suffering of the requisite intensity to fall within Section 2340A's proscription against torture. We conclude by examining possible defenses that would negate any claim that certain interrogation methods violate the statute. http://www.tomjoad.org/bybeememo.htm

Did we degrade this enemy of the people? Yes we did and we did it for the greater good.

Were we cruel to a member of the Banking Jihad who threatens this country? Yes we were and we were so for the greater good.

Were we inhumane to this felon who stole everything we have? Yes we were inhumane but not as inhumane as he and his like have been to us and to people like us.

But we did not produce the type of pain and suffering of the requisite intensity to make us torturers under present statutes.

The Banking Jihad must be confronted in this country. It has produced more pain and suffering than any other terrorist group in the world.

Our Action News Team will follow this story closely and provide updates on these arrests as they are disclosed.

NORTHCOVIII: Strange Fauna

2009-10-26T23:04:34Z

Yesterday morning when I went out to feed the rabbits I noticed some blood on the straw in several places and also up the ramp to the feeder hutch. The blood seemed diluted, not bright red and thick and sticky but kind of like blood in urine, only too colorful for that. It was also on the three senior does, in a stream, almost as if they'd been peed on. I picked them each up and gave them a good look but didn't see anything amiss. I also checked out the senior buck, and he looked fine. The kits are hard to catch without a treat to distract them, so I just observed them all for a while. Everyone seemed fine.
It snowed all day yesterday. This morning there was lots of color on the snow in the rabbit colony. It's orange, though, not red. Clearly not blood. We can't figure out what it is. We didn't notice it when we fed the rabbits yesterday evening, because the snow was still falling and covering everything up. It isn't seeping up from the earth, because we dug down a bit and the snow gets white underneath. It isn't dripping from trees because it's in places incongruent with that theory. http://gardenplotter.com/rospo/blog/2007/01/mystery-in-rabbit-colony.html

]]> The police showed up at Algernon's home about 11:00 that night. Algie was beside herself, or himself or himself was beside herself...anyway....

The call had been made one half hour before. Officers were already at the scene when Detective Langdon arrived with his partner at Algernon's abode.

He was hysterical during his 911 conversation with Emergency Services.

He had led the two cops into the living room and pointed out the corpse, or what was left of it.

A body lay naked on the grayish white carpet. The head and left arm were gone. Just gone. There was blood all over the place. On the carpet, on two walls. There certainly had been a struggle.

Algie was in his robe. There was blood on the robe from top to bottom. Although Algie had washed his face and even shaved just before the officers' arrival, he had left his long earrings on, the ones with the zircon diamonds.

Langdon looked at his partner. Sherry, and they decided that the State Bureau should also be notified.

Mr. Flower, we need to talk down town. And we need that robe. And we have to get you out of here so that the crime scene is left as pure as possible. Mr. Flower?

Algie was just sitting there on the sofa, head in hands, bent over; weeping uncontrollably. Langdon thought: This is not going to be easy. Just then a cat, a huge white fluffy cat came in from the kitchen.

Langdon stooped over to pick up the feline. Have you got a little portable kennel for fluffy here? Algie. Algie you got to look at me. NOW

Algie sat up. Loretta. Ooooooooooh Loretta. Let me have my Loretta.

I cannot do that Algie. NOW WHERE IS THE CAGE?

Behind the buckets in the pantry.

Just then back-up showed up with an ambulance. Following a call to homicide, Langdon released Algie in his robe to the EMT's escorted by back up. I aint gonna get much out of him right now. He knew that Algernon would be checked over at the hospital for any injuries and the robe and slippers would be handed over to forensics.

Langdon found the cage/kennel and deposited the cat in it. He handed it to Officer Lee who would put it in the squad car and take it to Animal Rescue.

Langdon had already worked on six murders in this little nook of South Dakota in the last five years. Every one of them was strange. As if any murder is not strange. It was just that no spouses were responsible for the deaths. No drug dealers. In fact no relatives were found to be suspects in these murders.

And here was 75% of a corpse....wait, what the hell is that ? Langdon said to no one in particular. In the corner covered partly by the front drape was a ...a critter of some sort. And it had a strange glow to it.

Sherry, flip that light switch a sec, will ya?

Sherry turned the main living room lights off, and sure enough the critter glowed orange.

Both Langdon and Sherry of course had their gloves on along with booties to cover their shoes. Forensic finally showed up taking pictures of the body and the room from all angles.

Finally Langdon felt safe enough to examine the critter. Except it was not dead. The raccoon turned suddenly and bit Langdon right on the arm and began running in a panic all over the room, all over the floor and the walls further tracking blood all over the place.

JESUS FUCKING CHRIST....Langdon was beside himself. Where in the fuck did a raccoon come from? If those officers who first hit this scene did not shut the goddamn door...

The critter got caught in the drapes and Langdon tore the curtains down and used it as a net to capture the animal. At least we got pix before the damn chaos. Animal Rescue was called immediately. Now even they would have to get involved personally. Langdon had one of the officers watch over the 'package' until they got there. And the detective of course now had a stake in Animal Rescue since tests would let him know if he was in danger of some virus or even rabies.

Meanwhile Langdon, now wrapped in a bandage given him by one of his cops, took a closer look at the corpse. The head had not been taken off by a saw or other implement. That was for sure. Samson the chain smoking coroner was approaching the body at the same time.

No tools here, said Samson. He turned the body over and examined the shoulder and the neck from a different angle. This appears to have been bit off, pointing to the shoulder with the missing arm. Lang look here, teeth marks. And look at the neck. Shredded. I mean, no human being did this!!!

Was there anybody else here. I mean somebody phoned this in to 911.

Yeah, a boyfriend who lives here. But he was in shock. I mean I could get nothing out of him but wailing. He was taken to the hospital for observation with an escort and psych will have a look at him. I will get there tomorrow morning. Sam, is there any clue as to the size of these teeth? You know, the teeth of the perp or perps?

Well I need to get the body back to the morgue so I can get a better look...hell I want a CT on this one for sure. But they are smaller teeth, a lot of gnawing.

About the size of some raccoons dentures you think?

As he arose from the body, Langdon saw something on the carpet. Tire marks from the front door. Feint marks like from a wagon or something.

HOW THE HELL DID I EVER END UP IN THE TWILIGHT ZONE ANYWAY?

Meanwhile back on the old road....

Frank somehow awoke on the side of the road next to his car. What the hell am I doing here? It was the middle of the night. This was on the old road where he had pulled over the car.

Well this has got to be good. This is a dream. It has to be a dream.

He managed to get up and he carefully examined himself as best he could in front of his headlights. Nothing. Just the dirt from the road where he had been lying. Yeah, same suit. Doors all shut on the car. Keys in his pocket.

Self satisfaction went by the way side real fast. The wood was not more than fifty feet from the edge of the road where he stood. Eyes were peering at him through the trees; so many he could not count them. They moved as he moved. Slowly he moved around to the driver's side and pulled out his keys.

He dropped them. Where the hell are they. His heart began to pound and he felt the perspiration right on his head and neck. He wiped his brow with his handkerchief.

Now let's just calm down a minute, Frank thought. Or did he say it aloud? Frank was not sure of one goddamnable thing. All of a sudden, as he looked down for the keys again, his sight was lost. Just like that. He got down on his knees and felt around for the keys. Nada. Nothing. Breathing became very hard for this man and suddenly he was paralyzed.

He heard rustling from the wood, THEY WERE COMING FOR HIM......

Langdon went right from the scene of the murder to his office. Pierre had helped set it up to cover all of eastern South Dakota. He had scoffed of course, just seeing the entire complex of state and county offices as a give away to NORTHCO. But what the hell did he know, anyway? Besides, now he had more tech at his disposal, more underlings, hell...more power than he ever would have had if he had stayed in the big city. Fourteen thousand people is not a big city of course, but everything is relative.

Turns out that Animal Protection might end up being more important that CSI, thought Langdon; at least in the early hours following this murder. And he knew damn well that the early hours usually were the most important in solving any case. Although CSI certainly found semen on the couch as well as the walls (?), DNA testing would not be accomplished for a couple of weeks, if he were lucky.

But the critter had his stomach pumped and that bad boy had certainly munched on the corpse. The cat was clean as he suspected. No rabies was discovered but Langdon was not out of the woods on that threat either since raccoons can carry a number of bacterial or viral diseases. But the only evil symptom he felt at that point was a headache and a thirst from some bad whiskey.

The shrink at the hospital refused his attempt to interview Algernon. According to Dr. Koch, the suspect just kept throwing up in a pail singing I Could Have Danced All Night. The single strangest behavior Koch had seen in his fifteen years as a psychiatrist.

If you think that is strange, I have a raccoon you should meet, thought Langdon.

TAKING ONE FOR THE TEAM

2009-10-25T23:27:47Z

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I found this little tid bit of comedy from theonion.com dated 2/01/06:

"Tonight, by executive order, I am creating a permanent department with a vital mission: to ensure that the political scandals, underhanded dealings, and outright criminal activities of this administration are handled in a professional and orderly fashion," Bush said.
The centerpiece of Bush's plan is the Department Of Corruption, Bribery, and Incompetence, which will centralize duties now dispersed throughout the entire D.C.-area political establishment.
The Scandal Secretary will log all wiretaps and complaints of prisoner abuse, coordinate paid-propaganda efforts, eliminate redundant payoffs and bribes, oversee the appointment of unqualified political donors to head watchdog agencies, control all leaks and other high-level security breaches, and oversee the disappearance of Iraq reconstruction funds. He will also be responsible for issuing all official denials that laws have been broken.
http://www.theonion.com/content/node/44892

]]> This is a more recent example of comedy from Huffpo:

"I am confident that I made decisions based on principle, that I made calls as best I could, and I did not sell my soul," Bush told an audience of about 1,000 men and women...
.................................................
Outside, about 300 protesters burned "W." in effigy and hurled shoes.
Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/23/bush-i-regret-standing-in_n_331899.html

This article struck me because it emphasizes the thin line between comedy and raging anger.

Tim Reid at Timesonline got as pissed about w becoming a motivational speaker as I did in my recent blog.

He left office with the US embroiled in two wars, a Great Recession and with his approval rating a toxic 22 per cent. So the next stage in his career is obvious. George W Bush -- who last year inspired millions of people to vote Democrat -- is about to become a highly-paid motivational speaker.

Old Tim kind of finished his rant like I had but selected some other statements made by our former Commander-in-Chief:

What George said
"In terms of the economy -- look, I inherited a recession, I am ending on a recession"
-- Washington, January 12, 2009
"I'll be long gone before some smart person ever figures out what happened inside this Oval Office"
-- Washington, May 12, 2008
"Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we"
-- Washington, August 5, 2004
"The CIA laid out several scenarios and said life could be lousy, life could be OK, life could be better, and they were just guessing as to what the conditions might be like"
-- New York, September 21, 2004
"I'm the master of low expectations"
-- On Air Force One, June 4, 2003
"There's no cave deep enough for America, or dark enough to hide"
-- Oklahoma, August 29, 2002
"I know the human being and fish can co-exist peacefully"
-- Michigan, September 29, 2000
"Families is where our nation finds hope, where wings take dream"
-- Wisconsin, October 18, 2000

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article6887866.ece

I made this short list of reasons why George W. Bush was not that good of a comedian, really.

1. I do not recall, Gonzales said. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gIgbJSrIvWc

2. Secretary Ken Salazar of the Department of Interior an Obama appointee finds it hard to laugh much these days:

"In its last weeks in office, the Bush Administration pushed through a rule that allows coal mine operators to dump mountaintop fill into streambeds if it's found to be the cheapest and most convenient disposal option," said Secretary Salazar. "We must responsibly develop our coal supplies to help us achieve energy independence, but we cannot do so without appropriately assessing the impact such development might have on local communities and natural habitat and the species it supports."

3. We cannot forget Bolton of course who continually throughout his career fought to destroy the UN. I mean Bush made him the U.S. Ambassador to the UN.

4. Bush put a guy named Martin on the FCC. Before joining Bush-Cheney 2000, Martin served as legal advisor to FCC Commissioner Harold Furchtgott-Roth, in the Office of the Independent Counsel, and as an associate of Wiley Rein LLP. One of Wiley Rein's most important clients is Verizon

5. In September 5, 2006, Bush nominated Peters to replace Norman Mineta as Secretary of Transportation.[4] She was confirmed on September 29, 2006 by the United States Senate.

Peters is an advocate of leasing U.S. roads and interstates to private companies and having user fees (i.e., tolls) for building new highways. In an interview, Peters said that the National Highway System will run out of money by decade's end without substantial changes and, rather than raise taxes, some states should turn to toll roads leased to private corporations to fill gaps.[7]

http://www.doi.gov/news/09_News_Releases/042709.html

6. Bush's first Secretary of Energy, Spencer Abraham, was controversial at the time of his 2001 appointment because as a senator he co-sponsored S.896, a bill to abolish the United States Department of Energy, in 1999.[38] Samuel Wright Bodman III, Sc.D. is the United States Secretary of Energy and was previously Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Treasury Department.

7. In 2001, Bush appointed Philip A. Cooney, a former lobbyist for the American Petroleum Institute, to the White House Council on Environmental Equality. Cooney is known to have edited government climate reports in order to minimize the findings of scientific sources tying greenhouse gas emissions to global warming.[43]

Just in this short list, it seems clear that George W. Bush could be incompetent and evil at the same time. I guess that is why I think that he does have a soul under his comedic masque.

I mean w chooses as his chief legal adviser and Attorney General, someone who has no memory.

He permits his Secretary of Interior to issue an order allowing direct contamination into America's drinking water as one of his last acts before stepping down from power.

He appoints John Bolton as U.N. Ambassador, knowing he could not get consent from the Senate.

He gives Verizon its own position on the FCC.

His Secretary of Transportation attempts to sell America's highways.

He makes someone who wishes to abolish the Department of Energy the Secretary of the Department of Energy.

He puts oil lobbyists in charge of our environmental policy.

On a different note, I found this today at the Daily Beast:

The body of Jeffry Picower, the tax shelter lawyer and accountant who made $7 billion in Bernie Madoff's Ponzi scheme, was found dead in the swimming pool of his Palm Beach, Florida mansion Sunday. According to the city's fire department, Picower's wife called 911 after discovering her husband's body at their oceanfront home shortly after noon and pulled him out with the help of a housekeeper. She had reportedly seen her husband swimming 15 minutes prior to finding him dead on the floor of pool. Picower benefited the most from Madoff's scam, according to the bankruptcy lawyers who alleged he'd taken out $7 billion more than he'd originally put in--a felony, for which, investigators say, he would have likely faced criminal charges. "He made 30 times what Madoff did from the scam and about a third of the missing money went to Picower," one investigator said, suggesting he may have been the mastermind behind the con or Madoff's equal "partner in crime." Investigators say Madoff documents prove that Picower frequently offered instructions as to how he could create false trades. Police said they did not know the cause of death and are awaiting the results of a full autopsy and toxicology test.

Well, maybe it would be best for all of us if George W. Bush, for once in his life,did the right thing and took one for the team like Picower.