My Choice for Political Hero of the Year -- Rep. Anh Cao (R La)

Representative Anh Cao (Rep., Louisiana)

Having a first-generation daughter from Viet Nam isn't my only incentive for this posting, but Anh Cao represents what America is all about. Let me include a short quotation from one of my favorite online newspapers:

The single House Republican who voted for the Democrats' health-care legislation is a first-term congressman from a strongly Democratic--and very poor--district comprising most of New Orleans. Rep. Anh "Joseph" Cao's vote is significant, not because it was politically motivated--and it was--but because it highlights the disparity between lower and middle-class people throughout the country and many of their representatives in Washington, D.C.

Among the 535 elected representatives deciding the future shape of the American health care system, some 44% are millionaires, according to a new study by the Center for Responsive Politics (CRP), a nonpartisan research group that tracks the effect of money in U.S. politics and policy. Rep. Cao is not among them. Neither are his constituents.

"I listened to the countless stories of Orleans and Jefferson Parish citizens whose health-care costs are exploding -- if they are able to obtain health care at all," Cao, the first Vietnamese-American to be elected to Congress, said in a statement after the legislation passed the House with a 220-215 vote.

Right here in Grays Harbor County (15.3% unemployed) we have serious needs for primary health care, for mental health care, and for expanded health care for seniors and children. My recent visits to the local hospital--both for my own surgery and my brothers' problems exposed me to the most obvious needs that end up in the ER--most brought there by EMS.

In the end, the bills went out--most never paid--and the needs for health care insurance for the bottom rung of our economic ladder was never more obvious.

Now will at least one Republican in the Senate (I don't count on Joe Lieberman of the "Vote for Joe" Party in Connecticut) vote to kill any possible filibuster as the bill goes forward? With the "no abortion" amendment attached yesterday, even a Christian or two among the "Blue Dogs" should vote their deep down conscious and answer that question we hear so often, "What would Jesus do?"

Terrorism? Hell yes! Insane? Obviously! The result of our wars in Iraq and Afghanistan? NO!! Any more than was Guy Hawkes' plot on Nov 5, 1604!

Major Malik Nidal Hassan, loony Army psychiatrist who murdered 13 American soldiers at Fort hood yesterday!
Guy Fawkes, who planned to blow up the British Parliament on November 5, 1606!

Often, over the past 75 years, I would be teased on my birthday regarding the murderous Guy Hawkes (hero or anti-hero of "Guy Hawkes Day" in Britain). Hopefully, I won't be reminded of the crazy and murderous actions of this loon-bin, Hasan, along with Guido Hawkes in the years to come.

What's shocking today are some of the stupid commentaries trying to place blame for yesterday's tragedy at Fort Hood on the Mideast wars. I hate to agree with the likes of Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and Glenn Beck, but the wars had little or nothing to do with the insane goings on in the grey matter of Major Hassan--any more than I would try to blame Guy Fawkes' nuttiness 400 years ago on today's' Mideast mess.

Admittedly, Hasan was a Muslim, but the serial killers in America over only the past three or four years have been of every religious and/or political stripe. Give the Muslims--and both our current president and his predecessor--a break on this. There was only one shooter, only one murderer and the blame is his alone.

Sheez!

After the Smashing Defeat at the Polls, Should Obama Resign Now ... or Just Let Nature Take its Course?

Most will agree that the Democrats were thoroughly flattened yesterday, but the question remains: Can they come back before 2012?

The question tonight at the White House is clearly whether or not P-BO should resign. Of course, who can be sure that Sarah will beat Joe Biden in 2012; stranger things have happened. Tough call for the White House. They need our prayers.

So do the Pittsburgh Phillies!

I just heard on the news that the stock market went back to below where it was yesterday morning before the Recession ended ... Is it possible?

Holy creepers! I've gotta be lightening fast, it seems. Just yesterday, I posted my "the recession is over" posting and now, the free-fall continues. Is it possible for the economy to morph along with the president?

Recession is over? Then why is full-time employment still looking like it's somewhere wa-a-a-ay down there while I'm still in a free fall?

Those are my feet at the bottom of the cartoon above as the recession "ends" rather undramatically on October 29--exactly eighty years to the day from that infamous day when the Great Depression began--and now that same Wall Street says we're "out of it" on the basis of GDP growth of 3.5% and Commodities numbers 50% higher than their lows last winter. They (Wall Street tycoons and Government economists) seem to be in a parallel (inaccessible) dimension to those of us who fell through the bottom some time ago.

From a variety of sources, I've read and heard that the Commerce Department says GDP grew at an annual rate of 3.5 percent last quarter, the first positive quarterly growth in a year, and the largest quarterly advance since the third quarter of 2007.

Wow!!!

Maybe there is some cheer among Americans who feel warmth in their homes (I don't!) and who are back at work full-time making a livable wage (I'm not!). Seven hours of part-time teaching per week at a Community College is certainly helpful, and the answer to many prayers, but for me ... the recession ain't over--only showing signs of some help in a year or two.

"Today's numbers indicate that the tough decisions this administration made to rescue the economy from the abyss were correct."

said Commerce Secretary Gary Locke in a statement.

"We're headed in the right direction, and even though there are still too many Americans out of work and still much work to be done, without the action taken in the early days of this administration, the pain families are feeling today would be much worse."

Maybe I'm being too critical. Surely both GWB and P-BO have done some remarkable work towards bringing this recession to an end (like the TARP, the ARRA Stimulus Package--which pays my part-time salary, incidentally--and "cash for clunkers," not to mention bankrolling GM, etc.) ... but still ...

The Labor Department reported today that first time jobless claims totaled 530,00 last week, although the total number of Americans currently receiving unemployment benefits fell 148,000 to 5.8 million, the biggest one week decline since July.

The official declaration of the beginning and end of a recession has traditionally been given to the National Bureau of Economic Research, which has not raced to make any such declaration. Its Web site continues to mark the endpoint of the current recession with a question mark. (Look over in the right-most column after clicking on the NBER link.)

Two points: That total number of 5.8 million includes millions, who like me, are under-employed--and the unemployment rolls do not include those who have dropped off at the end of the 26 weeks + (for some) 13 additional weeks thanks to P-BO. I know several right here in Ocean Shores who have no chance of finding a job at this time and whose unemployment benefits have long ago petered out.

Obama's War with Fox News, His Firm Stand with the New Haven Police and His Decisive Stands in Iraq and Afghanistan win Him the Nobel Peace Prize...?

Maybe it's because his campaign promises are in "Pieces" !!! -- and oh yes, where's the "peace" in having Fox News excluded from the pool of news networks permitted to have representation at an interview of one of his underlings?

Don't get me wrong ... some of his campaign promises were in opposition to my core beliefs, but weren't we supposed to be out of Guantanamo, Afghanistan, Iraq and petty party bickering by now? Granted, he got the Harvard professor and the New Haven Police officer to sit down, smile and have tea and coffee together--or was it a beer--but wasn't he saying he would sit down with the leaders of the world's problem children (spelled I-R-A-N and N-O-R-T-H-K-O-R-E-A) in that same Rose Garden by now?

Now THAT would be worthy of consideration of a Peace Prize ... in say, three to five years, not nine months after he had barely been seated in the Oval Office.

And where is his courageous stance for a Health Care Reform package that will provide all Americans with the most basic of human dignity ... FREE! If we can pay for a "public option" for our police--and for our roads--and for our military forces--and for fire departments in nearly every town in America ... why can't we push up to the bar and say "This one's on me!" as regards all medical needs for all Americans NOW? Hellfire, I have no idea why we haven't added prescription drugs and dental needs to the Medicare that we older folks "enjoy" even now.

When I see some of my fellow older Americans (excuse me, "Senior Citizens" is the PC term, I guess) with three teeth, a noticeable limp and shattered eye-glasses, I feel the same way I feel when I run into persons who have no medical insurance and are waiting in an ER at Grays Harbor Community Hospital with little likelihood of getting care ahead of those who are fortunate enough (by birth, by their job skills or by their age) to be worthy of immediate care.

Well, now that you've earned [sic] that gold Nobel medallion, really EARN it, Mr. Obama.

And to Think that "Wife Swap" was One of Richard's Favorite Shows!

Richard Heene and "Psychic" Sheree Silver in combined photo on the left.

According to all that is being revealed today, when Sheree Silver temporarily "lived" (as in the show, "Wife Swap") with "Balloon Boy," Falcon Heene and his dad Richard in their Fort Collins, Colo., home during the filming of an episode of one of TV's more popular reality shows last November, she observed that Richard "had the mind of a mad scientist."

But Silver, a psychic from Saint Augustine, Fla., says when she predicted in the show's 100th episode that one of Richard's science experiments would "blow up" in his face, she never dreamed he would involve Falcon in an elaborate alleged hoax involving the flight of a helium-filled balloon seen by TV viewers around the globe.

I have no idea where this crazy story will go, but it surely had my attention for most of that wild day and I still believe that my prayers were answered--hoax or no-hoax.

Hopefully, the issue can be put to rest without a felony charge against Richard and without Sheree's prediction being considered anything more than a wild guess--which any of us could have predicted under the circumstances.

Waiting for Richard ... Sweetheart Begins a New Life in Silver Spring, Maryland

Her Eyes Tell the "Whole" Picture! She misses her daddy, Richard--and, to a small extent--she misses me too ... I think!

I won't even try to describe her whimper--followed by a wail--as I walked out of the American Airlines Cargo Bay doorway the final time. And I had walked in and out of that door at least ten times getting paper work and such from my car. She "knew"!

But like so many things in life, her joy at seeing Richard on Thursday evening will surely make up for the sadness she must have felt in the blue kennel riding from SeaTac International Airport to Dallas and on into Dulles International Airport in Washington DC or thereabouts.

I must admit that her Aunt Nancy did a real miracle with the pink sweater. Sweetheart was always a "sweetheart," but now she really looks like one. The full picture (I cropped out an end table, doilies, statues, flowers, etc.) also demonstrated the differences between my OCD clutter-bin and Nancy's "Home-and-Garden" abode--Sweetheart's and soon-to-be Richard's new home in Maryland.

P.S.: A point worth mentioning--and entirely left out of the above was the joy Sweetheart experienced when meeting three new girlfriends (Nadia, Marie and Cathy) when she arrived in Maryland. A happier dog you couldn't have seen, according to her Aunt Nancy, when she leaped up on her new friends--who have equally fallen in love with her. This is truly a "Cinderella" story all the way. jtr

Miss ya, kiddo!

Okay, no doilies, but the statue of the cat will be a welcome sight for Sweetheart! And definitely NOT my OCD clutter-bin! (Click on the picture to get an "in your face" shot of her new abode--right out of Home and Garden.)

Sweetheart saying her final "Goodbye" to Hannity, the horniest dog in Ocean Shores, Washington--and beyond!

Needless to say, Sweetie is the pooch on the right. Her "boy friend" on the left--from the street behind ours--is named "Hannity" after some TV personality.

Eat your heart out, Gem!

But since you asked (Gem), it's getting close for her to be on your side of the country--somewhere near Silver Spring, MD. Thanks to Pet-Air and a lightening streak around town today (me!), we have her weighed and measured (23 lbs, 12" high and 24" long) for optimum selection of the proper sized kennel--indeed, the PetMate kennel-carrier ($105) is awaiting only for me to pick it up at the feed store in Aberdeen tomorrow morning before the math class. She (Sweetie) will be getting her shots (again!) on Friday before I attend another of those &%$#@ mandatory unemployment classes (this one is called "Dressing for your Interview" and only lasts two hours), and a thorough vet-check-up for her interstate health certificate (the vet said the "Shebang"--her word, not mine--would be only $125).

Tonight, I'll be making the Pet-Air (what airlines, God only knows) reservations and providing the HTML form for her carrier labels and dog tags. I'm kinda hoping I'll be able to make the seven or eight hour round trip on the Friday following her check-up.

Only hitch is that the health papers come with a ten-day fuse. If she doesn't fly out by Friday-plus-ten-days, it will be another $125. I may try to get the vet to give her a flex-time appointment sometime next week.

But then, what's money?

She is sleeping well, but knows something is up and misses Richard dreadfully. She sleeps under my covers (ugh!) but does bark to be walked and such. Midnight walks out here in the middle of nowhere are something you have to see (pitch black) and feel (brrr ...) to appreciate. At least during the early morning or after-classes hours, I can tell when she goes #1 or #2 or both. A typical walk takes half an hour and we scare dozens of deer and raccoons in the process. I wish I had a night vision camera.

My students are beginning to make noises when I rush into one class or the other three minutes late, but I thought it best not to let them knowing I'm having problems at home. My handwriting on their papers (grading comments) have some of them suspicious and one guy thought he saw me going into the unemployment office last week. Of course, I still have to make those three "WorkSource Contacts" each week for the unemployment to resume at the end of the quarter in December--if I'm not contracted for the Winter Quarter.

As for Richard, he only called once but sounded GREAT! It was a short call last Thursday--short because he has to get into line--although we did talk for almost ten minutes because he was last in line for a while anyway. Just as Sweetie misses him, he also misses her VERY MUCH!

You see, Gem, being human ain't all it's cracked up to be. Hopefully, Pet-Air will get her a weekend flight so I won't have to cancel classes for one day.

Whoops! To insure that weather or other such calamity doesn't shoot that seven day fuse with a water pistol, I will be taking Sweetheart in for her final check-up at 8:45 am next Wednesday (Oct 7) and Sweetheart will "technically" be my animule until she is on the airplane. The picture on my drivers licence doesn't look nearly so handsome and young as Richard--the real owner and lover of the sweetest dog in Ocean Shores--although with bad taste in boy friends (Hannity).

Hopefully, I'll have the labels and reservations in the mail (or however) from Pet-Air in time. Prayers will help.

But as they say in AA: "One Day at a Time!"

Shakespeare couldn't have said it better than this picture. Let's get the %$#&@ out of Afghanistan ... NOW!!!

Almost exactly forty years ago, I landed at Tan Son Nhut Air Base … and somehow am feeling déjà vu just about every time I turn on CNN, Fox Cable or MSNBC. Does anyone still around recall the insanity of Vietnam? I finally heard someone on some “All-American” panel on one of the mindless Fox Cable talking head shows bring up the obvious similarity that seems to elude what’s between the ears of most political party hacks (Republican, Democrat, Libertarian, whoever …) and even some of our military leaders who should know better.

{roughly recalled)"Historians agree that Vietnam shouldn't have happened and someone should have reined in McNamara before he led our military and country into the rice paddies and atrocities such as Mi Lai. By the time Rumsfeld had gotten us knee deep in the quicksand (both in Iraq and Afghanistan) and equally terrible atrocities--before he was finally canned by GWB--it was too late."

As I recall, Bill O'Reilly cut him off short at about that point.

We seem to be in it for the long haul—Barack H. Obama and George W. Bush have more in common than it might appear at first glance.

Consider some facts—plagiarized from The Times Standard website.

1. There are men and women in our military who remember helping the Taliban fight the Russians during their decade-long occupation of Afghanistan. We looked upon the Taliban as nationalists back then, people fighting for their freedom.
2. To prove we haven't learned our history lesson, we invaded Afghanistan and chased the Taliban out, calling them terrorists. They let our enemy Osama Bin Laden and his Al Qa'eda terrorists train there. Our politicians needed some measure of revenge for the 9/11 attack to show Americans, and the world, that we would not tolerate international terrorists.
3. So we invaded Afghanistan and put in a puppet ruler, President Hamid Karzai. Just like in Vietnam. We continued this insanity in Afghanistan by trying to westernize them. Just like Vietnam.
4. Afghanistan is a country dominated by tribal and ethnic loyalties -- and torn apart from years of civil war. Our presence there causes more harm than good. The Bush administration's strategic doctrine was to take over the country and make sure Al Qa'eda didn't have a place of safety. But for how long?
5. The Bush administration also invaded Iraq under false pretenses to get rid of a tyrant to whom we once sent money and arms. Our troops are supposed to be out of Iraq in a couple of years. It's still not entirely clear if the Iraqis want to wait that long.
6. President Obama has made Afghanistan the Pentagon's No. 1 priority since we lost a record number of troops in August. This was an obvious sign things are heating up. Now there's talk of sending even more troops into this quagmire. Earlier this year, Obama ordered 21,000 troops to go there, which will bring the total U.S. forces to 68,000 by the end of this year.

The same web-author recently said that “the U.S. and NATO should study Afghanistan's history." Whoever that author was also reminded his readers that "nations have been trying to conquer this country since Alexander the Great tried ... and failed." (emphasis mine)

It's time to get out of that country before we sink any deeper into the quagmire. Al Qa'eda has been fighting from the Pakistan side of the Afghan border for years. Are we planning to attack Pakistan next?

Hellfire, I remember when Osama bin Laden was receiving dialysis treatments just one wing of the hospital in Dubai from where we were holding our AA meetings. I wonder when we’ll target the American Hospital in Dubai (AHD) with one of our Predator drones … I think Osama was in the wing next to the OB ward.

That's how some Right Wing idiots define Christianity, unfortunately.

Then again, surely we won't go to war with the United Arab Emirates and messy-up those great greens and sand traps in Tiger Woods' super new golf course, will we? Uhhh ... I wouldn't bet on anything these days.

How many Americans must die in combat and how many countries must we attack before the “9-11 debt” is paid-in-full? Screwy arithmetic me thinks, now that more than 4,000 GIs have perished as “payment” for the 3,000 civilians those bastards killed eight years ago.

Is it too early to be getting our minds off of the drama in Ocean Shores (from the past two weeks)?

Hey, they were already giving odds on Mike Huckabee for 2012 on Fox News last night. Whatcha think?

Better than my long tomes on cleaning kitty litters, dog walking (new activity as of last week) and Grays Harbor College starting classes--including one of the ones I'll be teaching (TODAY!).

Prayers still requested relative to previous few postings here and on Sweetheart's blog.

Dark Days for Sweetheart (You can call her Sweetie!)

Sweetheart wants her Best Friend, Richard, back home!

What we are all asking for are your prayers for Richard's good health and all of your best wishes wrapped in "Stinky Treats.". And oh yes, Sweetie promises to restart her marvelous blog as soon as Richard shows up at the front door ... smiling and well.

My brother Richard becomes an officialy designated GLF ("Ground Level Fall" on the ER Status Board) at Grays Harbor Community Hospital

Yes, the "C-Collar" was really Army Green! But Richard asked that I take down the very accurate portrait that I put up for him on Sunday.

Not much to add to the above photo; they had already wiped most of the blood off his face and I was holding his flattened (also bloody) glasses. I'll let Sweetheart (Richard's Benji-looking dog whom God provided him out of nowhere last October) tell the whole story on a blog posting in her own words (baleful whines) on her own blog site.

Yes, I cried when I saw his prone body lying on the street two doors down with most of Ocean Shores' police, EMT and fire department already either on-site or just arriving--along with neighbors whom I've never met.

That was Saturday evening and he's slowly recovering up in the loft with his beloved (TRULY!!) dog. Jesus answered many, many prayers on Saturday night and Sunday (middle of the night) morning.

What's in Store for our Public School Children? Which is Worse: Swine Flu or the Vaccinations?

Having grandchildren in public schools from coast to coast, I certainly want more certifiable testing of the vaccines under examination in laboratories (also) coast to coast.

Of course, there is to be expected more conjecture than certainty as regards the pandemic scare with which we are being bombarded just ahead of the "back-to-school" week in most of America ... but to threaten our children with as many as four (two for H1N1 and two for conventional seasonal flu) vaccinations whose combinatorial effects are largely unknown, seems a bit premature.

The only aspect of it all that will be spot on as regards to its being "on-time" is the minimum of $1,816,989,920 (roughly two billion dollars) that the vaccination program is estimated to cost!

Mediawingnuts' guess is $3.5 billion!

It's all in how you sell it, P-BO; stop saying "Public Option" and try ...

On for size!

See my recent posting for a broader look at possible "options" -- including a comment or two!

And while we're on the subject of reforming our health care in America .... what about the rest of the world? What are they doing?

Click on map to read legend

It was interesting to pop into the above graphic posted by the Daily Kos. They/it posted a very interesting map showing which countries have universal (or nearly so) heath care. Not having it are most parts of the Middle East; most of Africa; the Philippines; some areas of South America and the United States. Other parts of the world either have universal health care or are well on the way toward implementing it--China is implementing it as I am posting this. And about all we can say for ourselves upon viewing this current map (2009) is that we are barely keeping up with most of Africa and most of the Middle East--except for Iraq and Afghanistan, of course, whose universal health care is funded by ... you guess who.

Interestingly, U.S. spells "us"!!!

For the love of Jihad! Why make this Health Care Reform so %#$&@ complicated?

What I seem to be hearing coming from the Town Hall Meetings--click on the diagram to get e glimpse of what's on paper today!

Mediawingnuts believes deeply that we need to "reform" whatever it is we have out there that leaves fifty million folks without health insurance. But ...

Why all the subterfuge?

I can think of two options that would work and both of which would fit on one side of one sheet of paper.

1. Allow every American to have the same plan that Congress enjoys!

or

2. Expand Medicare to every living soul in America ... okay, insist on citizenship if you really want to pay through the teeth for later more serious problems.

Take your pick! I like the first one, but we could certainly live with either and, as P-BO has reminded us, the deficit will go through the roof if we stand around bickering for the next fifteen years.

Yeesh!

Mob Rule Does NOT Equate to "First Ammendment Rights"!!

Democracy in Action or Demagogues in Action?

Since when is an overhaul of health care (yes -- call it "Reform"!) and insurance reform NOT a good thing? From what I hear proposed on Cable Television (sans Fox Cable Network) and then compare that to how hospitals, doctors, prescription drug companies and Insurance companies dictate and handle the insured and non-Insured it is reasonable to me that it should be reformed.

The hollering masses in opposition to ANYTHING (!!!) somehow seem that they are just disagreeing with change -- simply to be disagreeable -- because their Republican party of NO tells them that anything the Democrats come up with will be injurious to their health. Huh?

I heard one of the CNN commentators say, "It's like the Tobacco lobby saying: 'Do not pay attention to the Warning label on the packs of cigarettes.' "

I personally hope to hear BOTH sides take a calm and educated look at BOTH sides of each aspect of any proposed reform -- and then make an educated decision as to what belongs and what doesn't belong in whatever bill ultimately is given to P-BO to sign. I just received my first medical bill that was NOT covered by my "former" (prior to lay-off) insurance.

I KNOW the pain!!! I missed by three days.

It takes more than a "Certification of Live Birth" according to the "Birthers" ... but this is all the proof I need.

This video is a few months old, but that doesn't make it any less authentic--and surely is more proof than any yellowed piece of paper (or parchment) that P-BO is 100% American!! We may not be able to get the White House to release a copy of the original Birth Certificate, but name even one Kenyan (or even a Canadian) who could pull this off on his first try.

As a small favor, "x" out the damned Google ads at the bottom of the video clip after they pop up! I haven't been able to erase them. Any ideas? Just leave me a comment and I'll fix the problem.

For Mediawingnuts, this is all the proof I'll ever need that Barack H. Obama is 100% AMERICAN!!

Hmm ... no, that's not Matt Drudge (the hat--remember?) giving my daughter and her husband a walk-through!

West Wing Door at White House

Gee! Without the Matt Drudge hat, my son, Tim, looks more like himself as he takes his sibling and sibling-in-law on a tour of the WH. The badges they are all wearing remind me of my days at Stafford Creek Penitentiary. For us, the contractors (like myself) wore yellow; the staff (guards, etc.) wore blue and the felons wore dark green. I notice that my son has a blue badge just like the staff at Stafford Creek--or is that green?

At Stafford Creek, volunteers and visitors wore red--just like my daughter and her husband who were obviously taking the tour, so to speak. Gee, with this photo, I can now say that I'm the proud papa of a member of the White House staff.

No pictures in the Oval Office though; that's where the rules stepped in as regards taking pictures.

Birth Certificates Can Be Tricky Things to Find. Just Ask Me--Who Has Yet to Obtain His Original (or Even a Copy) from Michigan!

We "birthers" believe that something akin to this (and all of its copies) together with John McCain's coming confession that he's actually Panamanian will put Sarah Palin and Joe Biden in the White House as Joint Tenants in a month or so

Hey, guess who's going to Kenya tomorrow morning (Obama's birthday, Kenyan time) to ... speak at the U.S.-sub-Saharan Africa Trade and Economic Cooperation Forum in Nairobi. The question in everybody's minds is: will she also stop by at Barack's birthplace (the "Bethlehem" of Kenya) to smile that special Hillary-was-right-after-all smile. Of course, she will then stop off at the Bureau of Records to pick up Barack Obama's "you-know-what" (his actual Birth Certificate) to insure that it's burned now and forever.

The big question is: What will Hillary have to give to Kenya to get that danged piece of paper--and all of the other documents (newspapers from the early 1960s, copies of the actual birth certificate (not a certification of live birth, which can be used as a substitute) that probably number in the hundreds, or at least as many persons who have had access to it over the past year or so, and heaven knows what else)?

Obama could put the matter to rest by releasing his actual birth certificate, which would show, among other things, the place of his birth and the doctor who performed the birth procedure.

Note: This information is not provided on the Certification of Live Birth.

The Unfortunate Forgery (Not Even an Actual Birth Certificate) Published on Obama's Supporters' Own Websites

Happy Birthday, President-cum-Possibly-Legal-Possibly-Illegal-Alien Obama!!!

Naw, I am pulling your legs ... For myself, I was finally convinced some weeks ago that P-BO is 100% American on the basis of newspaper clippings from both of Honolulu's newspapers. But the birthing conspiracy is just too much fun! :)

Happy Birthday for real President Barack H. Obama!

Happy Hour at the White House .... but where's my Timmy?

Henry Louis Gates Jr., a black Harvard scholar, and James Crowley, a white Cambridge, Mass. police sergeant had beers with Obama and Vice President Biden at a table near the Rose Garden

From all the hype, one would think that P-BO was hosting Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Kim Jong-il and Vladimir Putin. But as it was, the short conversation (a.k.a. publicity stunt) did little more than cement what was already known by almost all of us: Professor Gates lost his temper and spoke angrily (in his home) when faced by a white policeman at his back door; the white policeman (James Crowley--who goes by his initials: "J.C."), who wasn't pleased that an uppity African American professor [in private: that #%@#& n-word]--who had shown his identification--became angry at a white policeman (himself) and subsequently arrested the Harvard Professor and booked him for disorderly conduct (charges later dropped); and then to top it all off, the President and leader of the "free" world--who should have been in Cambridge as Commander-in-Chief in charge of the Cambridge policemen checking out a possible house break-in that fateful evening--made an "uncalibrated" statement about the policemen at the scene having "acted stupidly."

They all apologized--more or less. And the rest of us thought that the actions of the Cambridge policemen were simply simple-minded, and not out-and-out "stupid"; the President's comments were premature; and Professor Gates should have been more alert to the situation--even after having just returned from China and after a twenty-hour flight. (His suitcases were still sitting out in front of the house while the Event of the Century was taking place behind his home.)

The whole thing at the Rose Garden lasted about three minutes--but this will be a highlight of the nightly news (along with Michael Jackson's death) all the way through the 2012 Presidential campaigns ... and maybe beyond if Rush Limbaugh decides to run.

The "Public Option" that is under such debate is just that ... an OPTION! And one that will reduce EVERY American's premium!!

Remember this photo from about a year ago? She had NO option, if you recall!

I was a civil service employee with the Federal Government for most of my working life. As P-BO said today (very clearly):

"The federal government is a classic example. The federal health employees program is a pretty good deal because you've got several million people who are part of it. So that gives you a lot of bargaining power with the insurers. Well, the exchange will provide that same market power to help negotiate with the insurers to drive prices down."

That's not so hard to understand, is it? Well, neither is the "Public Option" which our president addressed in brilliantly continuing his answer to the very same question:

"And the other thing that we do want to do -- now, this is controversial, and I understand some people are worried about this -- we do think that it makes sense to have a public option alongside the private option, so you could still choose a private insurer, but we'd also have a public plan that you could choose from that would be not for profit, wouldn't have, hopefully, some of the same high administrative costs, and would be potentially more responsive to your needs at a lower cost. I think that helps keep the insurance companies honest, because now they have somebody to compete with. And I have to say, the reason this has been controversial is, you know, a lot of people have heard this phrase "socialized medicine" and they say, "We don't want government-run health care. We don't want a Canadian-style plan."

Obama finished his answer (still to the very same question) with:

"Nobody is talking about that. We're saying: Let's give you a choice. You can choose the private marketplace or this other approach."

Kapish? Option is spelled: O-P-T-I-O-N !!!

Palin steps down ... or maybe ... UP!

Sarah Palin, dishes out a salmon burger as her daughter Piper watches during the governor's picnic in Anchorage, Alaska (Photograph taken yesterday by Al Grillo)

What's next in Sarah Palin's political/personal life is anyone's guess. But my first guess is that she will continue to follow the directions suggested to her by Lord and my Lord, Jesus Christ.

She may very well not have a political power base that goes with the "Governor" title, but she has the support (for whatever is best for her) from her God and many of us who remember her decisions to have a child whom she knew would have physical difficulties (little Trig Palin has Down's Syndrome) and a grandchild who would carry an sadly unfair "title" throughout his life (little Tripp Johnston's father and mother are unmarried) ... but he will be alive and continue to be a child of God for as long as God's plan permits.

I personally would like to see Sarah join Mike Huckabee in either helping to scare Barack Obama into turning 180 degrees into the president we all hoped for (whether it had been John McCain or P-BO)--and would be worthy of a second term ... or ... well, if not that ... well, there's always this!

A needed commentary and press conference ... but was or was not his answer to that "one more question" STUPID? ... Put emphasis on, "stupid"!

What in the world happened?
How could one man not only drop the ball on at least some improvement to our health care "system," but then manage to top the entire mess off with that unnecessary--and unquestionably "stupidest"--foot-in-the-mouth answer to an unrelated-to-the-topic question (Emphasis on the word, "stupidest")?

That isn't to say that he and the Democrats don't have a marvelous Health Care System overhaul hidden in their back pockets ... or that Professor Gates wasn't improperly arrested for his unwillingness to cooperate with the Cambridge, Massachusetts Police Department. It's only that the man regarded as our #1 politician managed to pull off the most unpolitical speech/press conference in my memory.

What next?

If anyone needed proof, the tie and "hat" are proof enough for me!

Timothy J. Ryan (son)

I had heard rumors that Timmy was hired as some sort of Technology Director for Personnel at the White House. This pic is all I need for confirmation. Oh my goodness!

Congratulations and best of EVERYTHING to you, Tim!

As important as I think our lacking Health Care "System" is, something else bothers me more!!

It is nearly impossible for me to keep track of Obama and his administration. Among the economy, Pakistan, Iran, Health Care, the (still leaking) Mexican border, Afghanistan and (oh yes, still) Iraq ... it is hard to keep up with it all.

Of most concern to me (despite Obama's limp defense this evening of his (non-existent, but definitely needed) health care system overhaul, is that Obama has so dramatically changed his tune about being against war since the election. I know for a fact that a lot of my friends voted on Obama because they called Bush a war monger. It's not the economy stupid; it's Armageddon!

And oh yes, they (including me) also thought he would do marginally better on the economy than McCain. Whoops!

At the rate Obama is sending more troops and money to Middle East--albeit that Afghanistan is the target today--we will be there another 100 years!! Didn't he criticise McCain for that comment?

Well, July has been the deadliest month yet for U.S. forces in Afghanistan, Iran is developing a nuclear capability--not to mention North Korea--and the topic of the moment: Health Care!

Sadly, the longer we stay in Iraq and Afghanistan and the more money we spend on the burgeoning Defense budget, the more we'll feel compelled to remain in the Middle East to validate the investment. A similar self-imposed predicament plagued U.S. officials during the war in Vietnam. Oddly enough, when opinion leaders in Washington talk about "lessons learned" from Vietnam and other conflicts, they typically draw the wrong lesson: not that America should avoid intervening in someone else's domestic dispute, but that America should never give up after having intervened, no matter what the cost.

The most important response against a "withdrawal is weak-kneed" argument is that America's military roams the planet, controls the skies and space, faces no peer competitor, and wields one of the planet's largest nuclear arsenals. America is responsible for almost half of the world's military spending, and can project its power to the most inaccessible corners of the globe. Thus, the fear that America would appear "weak" after withdrawing from Afghanistan (today's "front" in the war on terror) is totally irrational.

The $1.5 trillion that a decent health care system might cost (today's estimate) could be bought and paid for ten times over (or never on a planet that's radiated ten times over) for the cost of the continuation of Bush-cum-Obama's War on Terror.

Medicare is worse than a chess puzzle on a Mobius Strip!

Medicare's Mobius Checkmate!

The pile of paper and confusion that best describes my unemployment claims each week (and to date I've received nothing!) is only matched by my Medicare claims relative to that colon abscess for which I received surgery last month. The process continues in five dimensions and, like, Mobius's famous strip ... the backside of a Medicare claim is also its front side.

Between Option F of Medicare and my former Uniform Medical from Grays Harbor College (Stafford Creek Penitentiary)--and I haven't even touched on Options A and B--it would take a Ph.D. in partial differential equations to untangle my forms--most of which have yet to be filled out!

Yeesh!

Lowest level of weekly jobless claims in six months? Ha!!

They seem to be making a big point that the number of jobless claims fell to levels not seen since January (six months ago) last week. Well I'd like to mention two circumstances that ought to be taken into account: (1) It was a shortened week with many businesses, including my former employer, taking Friday off for the Fourth of July and (2) the impossibility of actually applying for unemployment (and making that first claim) what with the new paperless (HA!!) system.

I wasn't able to complete that process until today (by telephone) after being given that nutty Sunday date by the helpful folks at the unemployment office who refused to speak to me earlier than Thursday of this just past week because all applications for Unemployment Benefit Status and first claims for those benefits can only be done by phone and/or the Internet. My mailbox out in front of the house was full every day during the week as a result of my playing it "by the books."

Paperless? You should see my living room--and that's with an inoperable printer on my computer shelf!

Bah! Humbug! It's time for Huckabee and Palin to reduce the size of Government and the complexity of the red tape. At least let's get the numbers straight with my claim in the pot. It would have been 565,001 last week had the system worked (no pun intended).

Huckabee and Palin for 2012! Let's squash all of this Armageddon-2012 talk once and for all!!

What's all the malarkey about the Mayan calendar and the world ending together in 2012?

Let's begin a new age with Mike Huckabee and Sarah Palin!

He's a marvelous person and ready to be president TODAY and she’s a wonderful woman PERIOD. Therefore, let me be the first to announce the next President and Vice-president of the United States.

I think we can count on them to lead the fight against Barack Obama (nice guy and some good ideas relating to caring for the least fortunate among us) and his unlawful spending, scooping up of private companies and basically continuing W's policies of mayhem in the Middle East.

They (H and P) are going to be the ones to become most prominently outspoken against P-BO, and I for one am right behind them both.

It sounds like a lot of divisiveness going on in Washington today--even between and among members of the same party(ies). What’s wrong with a pair of strong independent leaders who don’t take bribes and are against lobbying? Think about it!

My Deepest Apologies for the Previous Posting

Paris (from her 11 year-old heart): "I just want to say... ever since I was born.... daddy has been the best father you can imagine. And I just want to say I love him so much."

What can I say about my previous tasteless posting other than ... I'm sorry!

Earlier at the funeral ... all three ... Paris, Prince Michael I and (hiding) Prince Michael II

It's almost been two weeks ... but the "Michael Jackson Story" has longer legs yet!

Last Shot of Michael from Implanted Camera Prior to Burial

It has almost been two weeks since Michael Jackson died of _____ (fill in the blank) and the details (again, fill in the blanks) of his finances, funeral extravaganza and sad life story (who knows?) are still occupying nearly every news and entertainment channel (cable or air waves) 24/7 ... with no sign of abating.

To insure that the story continues beyond this week, month and year, CNN and FOX News have combined resources to have an IR camera implanted just above Michael's face in the coffin and wireless communications installed so that Michael Jackson fans can go directly to WWW.C.MIKE/DK so as to watch Michael decay ... in real time ... except for the pop-up box ads!

Only in America!

Michael After One Year--Time Enhanced Photography from IR Camera in Coffin

466,000 in June and now we have 1 already in July. I'm with you, Sarah--let's both refuse to be dead fish just "going with the flow"!

Alaska's Governor Sarah Palin ... for three more weeks

Watch for Sarah and I to put on a full-court press and help to bring our country back to the USA we all remember ... way back then.

In the meanwhile, look at it as a situation wherein we both have walked out through the razor wire into a free and breezy "real world" of people, animals (especially cats), fluffy clouds and a loving God.

I'm still with you, Sarah ... all the way into the White House. Get as far as you can from the Lettermans and other vicious and ugly persons who will be after you with everything they've got ... persons who are frightened beyond words that you will bring common sense back into American leadership.

But for now, we could all feel your pain as you have been enduring growing personal pressures with ugly jokes about your children, legal bills, ethics investigations and a running, public feud with McCain's camp--seething with jealousy--but not including Senator McCain himself.

So what happened? Of course we were all shocked this morning to learn that Sarah Palin, in a hastily arranged news conference at her home in suburban Wasilla, said she will formally step down on July 26, and Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell will be inaugurated at the governor's picnic in Fairbanks. She said she had decided against running for re-election as Alaska's governor, and believed it was best to leave office even though she had two years left to her term.

That can be interpreted as her deciding to join the rolls of unemployed so as to stand up proudly for her God, her family and her country.

Go, Sarah, GO!!!

It would've been only 466,999 !!

My New WAL-MART

Employers cut a one-person-larger-than-expected 467,000 jobs in June and the unemployment rate climbed to a 26-year high of 9.5 percent. Had I made it through to July 1st, the numbers would have been 466,999 and 9.4999999%. Workers also saw weekly wages fall, suggesting that persons like myself will have little appetite to spend … and the economy's plus my own road to recovery will be very, very bumpy.

Out! And this time, really OUT!!!!

It didn't hit me until I looked up,
And there the glistening razor-wire looked down ...
On me and my "escort" ... hup, hup, hup!
Sparkling in the sunset on my obvious frown.

First through master control
Securing my keys into the numbered slot
And then out through minor control,
Through which I'll surely again enter ... NOT!

I'M REALLY OUT!

On the good side of not making the cut at the end of the fiscal year is that not one of the Control Officers (guards) made even a move as so many of my close friends (felons all) hugged, cried and held tight to my wind-breaker as I was taken out of the classroom, building and ultimately out of the prison. (Even touching a "staff member" is a major infraction for any inmate, so that was a first of its kind, I think.)

I find it ironic that on the same day that I was "evacuated" from Stafford Creek State Penitentiary, our guys and gals in Iraq were evacuated from all of the cities and urban areas within Iraq. A connection?

There's something about that synchronicity ...

And yes, I teared up after promising myself I would never do so. Of course, I was relieved of my picture-badge, keys (quite a ring full) and other odds and ends, such as equipment/security chits and the card I had for use in vending machines--which I never used in the nearly three years I dutifully carried it hidden behind the badge in its holder.

The drive down the hill was an emotional five or so minutes ...

Michael is home, I believe!

I have no idea about what demons ... or even kinds of demons ... haunted Michael throughout his life as he grew from boyhood into man-boyhood. Something or someone had to be behind his changing pigmentation and high-pitched voice. But surely angels were behind his talent and his humility ... and maybe even his love of children simple pleasures and the destitute.

May you be blessed in Heaven forever, young Michael!

Jesus loves him!
This I know,
For the Bible tells me so.
Little ones to Him belong;
They are weak but He is strong.
Jesus loves him!
Loves him still,
Tho he was weak ... and surely ill,
But at the end from sin he's free,
Because Jesus died upon the tree.

Jesus loves him!
He who died
Heaven's gate He opened wide;
He will wash away Michael's sins,
Let this little child come in.

Since when can't a US Army General call a US Senator, "Ma'am"?

Barbara Boxer spoke the following to an American general during the Senate hearings: "Could you say 'senator' instead of 'ma'am? It's just a thing. I worked so hard to get that title. I'd appreciate it."

Last I heard, MA'AM, you are a civil servant--much like I was for twenty years ... not royalty! If Queen Elizabeth had said that to an American Brigadier General, Britain would instantly dump its royalty in embarrassment. But no, Queen Elizabeth has an IQ above 75 and isn't likely to forget her place in the scheme of things!

Even Jesus didn't jump on his disciples when they forgot or neglected to call Him with Kingly titles!! Actually, if you recall, Ms. Boxer, He wrapped a towel around His waist and washed His disciples feet ... to demonstrate vividly how He saw His role in their lives.

I might add that, in all of my years of teaching--including teaching in a State Penitentiary--I never asked a student--or a convicted felon--to correct himself (or herself) and call me "doctor," "professor," or even "sir"!

And BTW, women in the military are called "ma'am" just as officers are called "sir" and it's considered a term of courtesy or respect.

Learn your place, Ms. Boxer; you were elected to be a SERVANT of your constituency--not Their Highness. And that includes the unborn fetuses that you so casually allow to be killed in the name of convenience. I pray for your soul and try to love you as I am commanded to love all of my enemies.

Introducing Susan Boyle's cat, Pebbles, in an actual photograph

For those of you who felt that my previous posting showing the paintings of Susan and Pebbles (separately) fell short of authenticity, here is a photo that I found on the website.

Enjoy!

My brother (using a pseudoname of "Sweetheart" on his/her blogsite) called it "Library Meltdown." I call it just another entry on the OSPD blotter!

My dear (really!) brother, Richard, told me on that evening (May 30, 2009) that he'd been "escorted" from the library after asking the librarian if her two cats (who live at the library as a "donation" to our local PAWS organization) were "service cats" after she asked him if his dog (our Sweetie) was a "service dog." He had, on a previous visit to the library, told the librarians that our little-town library was "crap" after they told him he had arrived too late--as they were closing for the day.

I was never quite sure when he told me that story last month, but then I saw the above blotter entry in this week's issue of the North Coast News.

My brother is becoming famous. Hopefully our address here isn't listed in the "trouble" column on some EXCEL spreadsheet on the computers at the OSPD building--which resides right next door to the Ocean Shores Library. As it is, the location of the OSPD is fortunate in that an officer is usually there to accompany Richard over to the library as an armed escort until the thirty day probation period is over at the end of the month.

Now you see why I'm a Susan & Pebbles fan!

Susan Boyle

The Susan Boyle family

Pebbles

Like Susan Boyle, I am a rather plain looking cat-lover who's getting a little past his prime. Big difference though ... I don't sing like an angel!

We are the body of Christ ... Our bodies are indeed the temples of God!

The workers at the Home for the Destitute and Dying within the compound created by Mother Teresa [now deceased] in Calcutta greet one another with the most beautiful of local greetings .... Namaste! It reminds me of how I must regard each person with whom I come in contact--those I might regard as enemies as well as my dearest friends ... and everyone between.

"Namasté," from the beautiful Sanskrit language of India, literally means, "I bow to you." But the word really has deeper meaning: "I honor the spirit in you which is also in me," as we believe we are all one in the Holy Spirit.

I truly am not sure why this hit me so strongly, but it did.

Paul of Tarsus himself said, "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives within me." He was speaking for all of us and our daily relationships should reflect this truth. Surely this Truth puts emphasis upon my previous post--and my relationships with each of the convicted felons with whom I work and all others within the state penitentiary into which Christ placed me against all odds three years ago.

God makes no mistakes!

There are no exceptions to the commands of Jesus!

You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. Matthew 5:43-45

I have only this past week learned that I will definitely be losing my job in three weeks after only believing it was a strong possibility for more than two and a half months. My first reaction this week was to search out for someone to blame--of course, surely never myself! I immediately designated these persons (whom I don't even know) as my “enemies.”

And that took me straight to Jesus’ words above. Wow! Imagine that! "LOVE your enemies!"

But just exactly how can we love our enemies—or more broadly speaking, taking Jesus’ words as they must be implied—how can we love everyone?

We can begin by trying to to look at persons we don’t even know … without even seeing their faces. It’s basically the way we see our family members and close friends ... like when you can see deeper. You can see WHO they are far more than WHAT they are—or what they have done to us.

Has it ever happened to you? It’s more evident when there’s someone who seems sad. You look into their eyes, and it’s almost as if their whole life plays out in that split second. And when you see that pain, that hurt, in their eyes… it’s almost like you would do ANYTHING to make them happy.

It’s all you truly want. Despite everything … the hate in the world, the decisions people may make … everyone is still equal … but the factor that sets us apart is our ability to ACCEPT others.

When you can start to realize that everyone is an amazing creation of Our Lord, then we begin to realize that beauty is everywhere—that life is a miracle created by love. Only then is it easier to love everyone. When you love everyone, you want to help everyone. That’s when you can make the difference in the world, because that’s when you have an undying passion for people—all people. Once you attain that love for all, it never goes away.

Loving is not only the strongest force known to man—but also gives you a feeling of euphoria ... a feeling that causes your eyes to widen and take in everything like a sponge.

You truly love life, and you just can’t stop smiling. I only this past week learned I will be losing my job and guess what? I’m smiling with love for absolutely everyone ... and in particular, anyone who helped to bring this situation about. They were only doing what had to be done and also with and for the love of anyone affected by my job loss.

May God's perfect plan be fulfilled in LOVE ... no matter what the future brings!

Losing to Diversity wasn't the end of the world, Susan Boyle. You still have a voice that made us all hear the voice of one of God's angels!

Susan Boyle ... the world's latest Diva

Having no idea what my own next stop in life is, it gives me great joy to know that the next several stops for Susan Boyle will be a confirmation of the incredible plans of God.

Apparently she would like to resume her former custom of trying her luck at the karaoke contest at Moran's Turf Bar on Sunday nights, but for now she is in the care of a record label Sony BMG. To all intents and purposes, she is in hiding at a safe house and being deliberately shielded from the global public interest in her rather imperfect but continuing fairy tale.

Admittedly, those of us who watched her crash and burn--even exposing her legs in an undignified manner--after losing to an unknown dancing troupe after the final performances during Britain's Got Talent Show ... know that she will return.

Hopefully, with some psychiatric help--and a voice that doesn't end--she will be the world's next diva and recording star.

At least I hope so. It gives hope to all of us ordinary, un-beautiful and imperfect people ... in God's wonderful plans for us all.

I will surely be one of the first to buy the album that she will be putting together with the Czech National Symphony orchestra during the coming weeks thanks to the promotion and efforts of Simon Cowell. Yes, he is taking cruel advantage of the sad psychological "meltdown" following her inability to handle the ugly and insensitive reporters who followed her continuously as a "freak" whose plain looks and spinster lifestyle were made into something to laugh at.

But let's all just watch as God's plans for Susan Boyle's life unfolds!

Rush Limbaugh doesn't just want P-BO to fail; he sincerely (I believe him) wants P-BO's nominees for the Supreme Court to fail.

A Nameless, Mindless Drug Addict Whose Groupies Go by the Moniker, "Ditto-Heads"

Rush Limbaugh doesn't only want President Barack Obama to fail; he wants Judge Sonia Sotomayor--and any other of President Barack Obama's nominees to the Supreme Court to fail also.

"Do I want her to fail? Yeah ..." Limbaugh said of federal Judge Sonia Sotomayor on his radio show yesterday. Then, to correct the meaning of his foolish words, he continued ... "Do I want her to fail to get on the court? Yes! She'd be a disaster on the court." Not even a half-decent catch of his unforgivable gaff in my opinion ...

And for those who have suggested that Limbaugh never really meant what he said about the president, Limbaugh said this today: "Do I still want Obama to fail as president? Yeah ... AP, you getting this?" Limbaugh asked that of the Associated Press live and on the air. How he even gets 30% favorable ratings in the U.S.A. is beyond Mediawingnuts' mental capacity.

He went on, "He's gonna fail anyway, but the sooner the better, so as little damage can be done to the country."

Don't get me wrong; I too find problems in some of the positions taken by P-BO. But I surely want both President Obama and his presidency to succeed as our country has never succeeded before.

As suggested by my previous posting, my allegiance is to Jesus, but I have great love and concern for my country and her leaders.

The Currently Ongoing Obama-Cheney "Debate" : "Who would Jesus bomb" ... or maybe "Who would Jesus torture?" ... an empty debate, no?

The above graphic summarizes and recaps just about all of the empty back-and-forth idiocy I've heard from both Barack Obama and Dick Cheney. They argued seemingly opposing views as to just what policies would keep America safe from terrorism in the months and years ahead. How "harsh" should harsh interrogations really be? Should we spend more time bombing Iraq or Afghanistan--and what about Iran and Pakistan while we're at it?

Having worked in a medium-to-maximum security penitentiary for almost three years now, I have to wonder why either Cheney or P-BO have so little faith in our "Super-Max" Federal Penitentiaries. But then, closing or not closing Gitmo was hardly the main issue.

What was truly sad about our leadership during 9/11 and recently afterwards--and even now as the action in Afghanistan heats up--is that both the previous administration and the Obama administration have been continuing to propagate continuing fear instead of trust, love and resolve to submit to "The Way" of Jesus in the face of danger.

Who would Jesus torture?

Who would Jesus bomb"

Who would Jesus even aim a weapon towards?

Answer: NO ONE!!

Even the concept of Christians going to war should have ended instantly after Jesus rebuked Peter for even trying to protect the Son of God. (You remember--after Peter sliced off the ear of one of Jesus' Roman captors)

Whatever happened to "love thine enemies" and "Do unto [all] others as you would have them do onto you"?

Exactly to whom do we owe allegiance anyway" Our country? Our families? The flag (or God-forbid, a flag pin)? The almighty dollar? ... or should we truly owe our allegiance to a King and His Kingdom? Jesus gave us the answer in no uncertain words. A man cannot serve two masters! Giving unto Caesar that which is Caesar's never implied breaking God's Laws in the process, did it? Let's all wake up to the reality of the unending now and the Eternal King whose sad eyes watch the carnage we have kept unending since the time of Cain.

When it Rains in Grays Harbor County ... It Pours!

Likely Increase in Population in the Grays Harbor County Cemetery in the Days and Weeks Ahead

From our local newspaper yesterday:

First Case of swine flu Reported in Grays Harbor County
By Callie White - The Daily World

Thursday, May 22, 2009 12:12 PM PDT

A 14-year-old Hoquiam girl is Grays Harbor County’s first known case of the A/SWH1 virus, once known as the H1N1 virus, and more widely known as “swine flu.”

The girl, who has now recovered, was ill earlier this month. It took about a week for a flu test taken by a local physician to come back.

The girl was kept out of school during most of her illness, which should decrease the risk of exposure, according to the Grays Harbor Health Department.

Mike Parker, Hoquiam Superintendent, said the students at Hoquiam Middle School will get letters to take home today to let parents know about the case. It will include precautions kids can take to prevent spreading the contagion.

“We’re going to follow the lead of the Health Department,” Parker said. He added that the school nurse, whose office is in the middle school, “is on top of this.”

[End of Article from Newspaper] The above headline and article were the headline news on page one--32-point headline at least!

First the tragedy on Thursday--also a page one news story, and now this! What next for Grays Harbor County ... and Mediawingnuts and his brother, Richard, who thought they had found the perfect paradise beyond the boundaries of civilization?

PS: And yes, Richard and I drive by that very middle school when Richard drives me daily to the hospital for my AIS treatments. Richard noticed immediately that he felt cramps as we passed that school coming back to Ocean Shores this afternoon.

Now I'm Angry!!

Injured Sea Lion In Grays Harbor

Our quiet ocean view peninsula helps to create a harbor and safe haven for California sea lions among other flora, fauna and undefinable living creatures. The marina nearby Richard's and my chalet houses a ferry to Westport Marina wherein the above sea lion was found yesterday with an arrow stuck in its side.

My anger at both Dick Cheney and Barack Obama (who still believe in "Holy Wars" and "smart bombs" [future posting on their silly-but-serious debate yesterday forthcoming] was almost serenity when compared to my feelings when seeing the above picture in today's local paper, The Daily World.

I don't believe in the death penalty, but had un-Christian-like thoughts about the beasts who targeted one of the gentlest of God's creatures in one of God's most serene locales in the Western Hemisphere.

Still, The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), under the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, has at least offered a $2,500 reward for information leading to a civil or criminal conviction. Anyone with information can call the NMFS office at (360)268-6239.

Holy Crap! I never even thought! Those %&$#@ Zeta-Reticulan would stoop so low!

The Root Cause of the Abscess on my Colon ... uncovered (more or less)

Despite the interesting possibilities discussed by the vast (three is "vast" in Mediawungnuts' blogosphere) commentary on my previous posting, I believe the genuine photo taken last year provides ample evidence.

How they were able to redirect the bacterial laser energy from my ear to my colon is a Zeta-Reticulian secret, I believe.

Whistle While You Work ... la la ta ta ta la la

My danged colon is acting up again ... but Dr. Juris Macs (my surgeon) is a pleasure to have nearby! Or is it the psychedelic anesthetic gas used during the operation?

With my job coming to an end any week now and with my financial situation (even beyond the job) continuing to provide its own levels of anxiety ... Sweetheart, all seven cats, Brother Richard and I are making do (doo-doo?) of a new kind ... more or less.

Today's prognosis is that the abscess* of the colon (right side again) will drain and heal before 15 June 2009.

*A colon abscess is nothing more than a fist-sized collection of pus causing painful pressure in its cavity formed by the colon’s tissue on the basis of an infectious process--usually caused by bacteria or parasites or other foreign materials (e.g. splinters or bullet wounds). It is a defensive reaction of the tissue to prevent the spread of infectious materials to other parts of the body. The basic symptoms and signs of an abscess on the colon are redness (mine was as red as a tomato), heat (I thought I was placing my hand on a George Forman Grill), swelling (mine was the size of a baseball), and pain (10 on a scale of 1 to 10) on the abdomen—mine was on the front-right side.

Hey, this is close to home--the Recession is slamming my future financial "security"--i.e., The Social Security System!

The recession is taking its toll on Social Security. The officials who oversee the program forecast yesterday that the Social Security trust fund will be exhausted by 2037 -- four years earlier than estimated last year. If the trust fund's longevity continues to drop by four years each year ahead, I figure I have about six years left. That's 6 x 4 = 24 and 2037 - 24 = 2013 ... and six years from now, it'll be 2015 (give or take six months). Halfway between 2013 and 2015 is 2014--or really, only about five years from this moment--one year short of the magic six I might still have.

But that's only the half of it!

In exactly seven and a half weeks, my entire income will be that $1050 Social Security check. My fixed expenses are 500 (mortgage)+ 362 (car payment) + 150 (long term health care insurance) + 150 (MediGap, Option F) + 200 (average monthly electric bill) + 40 (cat food) + 60 (gasoline) + 114 (TV and Internet cable) + 60 (two dollars-a-day for human food--assuming neither I or my brother, Richard, are required to eat the seven cats and one dog with whom I share my cabin on the ocean) + 75 water and sewage + 50 for garbage pick-up ... plus ...

Add it up, friends!

Please pray that I can find a part-time job. Even 75 year-old men can do something!

Can't they?

Do I sound a little as though I haven't trust in God who has gotten me through worse holes in the past? Do I sound just a little like I'm feeling sorry for myself?

Right! Ignore this posting ... for now ...

How Could I Have Missed Les Miserables?

If you haven't heard and seen the 10th Anniversary Concert DVD ... do so!

But shamefully, I must admit having missed it entirely ... until the night before last ... when the power of the drama, music and overall effect of the performance of Les Miserables by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at the Royal Albert Hall--for a 10th Anniversary Concert celebration--blew me away and is with me yet.

I simply can't get the music and story out of my mind ... like the finale (below) that absolutely tore me up:

Take my hand
And lead me to salvation
Take my love
For love is everlasting
And remember
The truth that once was spoken
To love another person
Is to see the face of God.

CHORUS
do you hear the people sing
Lost in the valley of the night?
It is the music of a people
who are climbing to the light.

For the wretched of the earth
there is a flame that never dies.
Even the darkest night will end
and the sun will rise.

They will live again in freedom
in the garden of the Lord.
They will walk behind the ploughshare;
they will put away the sword.
The chain will be broken
and all men will have their reward.

Will you join in our crusade?
Who will be strong and stand with me?
Somewhere beyond the barricade
is there a world you long to see?
Do you hear the people sing?
Say, do you hear the distant drums?
It is the future that they bring
when tomorrow comes!

Will you join in our crusade?
Who will be strong and stand with me?
Somewhere beyond the barricade
is there a world you long to see?
Do you hear the people sing?
Say, do you hear the distant drums?
It is the future that they bring
when tomorrow comes...
Tomorrow comes!

I'm sure to have another posting about this concert once I've let the performance digest--and have likely watched it another dozen times! Those words, "To love another person is to see the face of God" are a theology in and of themselves.

All I can really say at this time is, "WOW!!"

Goodbye Swine Flu Pandemic .... Welcome Airstrike Pakidemic (and Afghanidemic)!

In Deference to both Serenissima and Aunt Nancy, I am only showing photos that depict the more beautiful side of war--the "clean" airstrikes that do not leave broken, bleeding bodies and gore strewn about the target area. This photo shows that our drones are targeted and our pilots are so well trained that deaths are both clean and (probably) painless. War, in the cause of goodness and God's will is a beautiful process. Think of the "Rockets red glare, bombs bursting in air ..."

Ignore my previous postings lamenting the most recent death of an American to the burgeoning swine flu. The real pandemic is WAR!!

In the photo above, villagers mourn children and other civilians killed on Wednesday before burying what the international Red Cross said were dozens of Afghans and Pakistanis — including women and children — killed in American bombing runs. A former Afghan government official said up to 120 people may have died there.

Another 50 or so civilians died in Pakistan earlier in May from American airstrikes.

That makes the swine flu no more than a blip in the scheme of things, don't you think?

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said the U.S. "deeply, deeply" regretted the loss of innocent life, and the U.S. military dispatched a brigadier general to investigate the deaths in two villages in western Afghanistan's Farah province.

The number of civilians killed in Afghanistan's and Pakistan's worsening conflict jumped 40 percent (on a weekly basis) to a new high this year. The only confirmed statistics show that a record 2,118 civilians died from violence last year, up from 1,523 the previous year.

" ... Gave proof through the night ... that our flag was still there!"

100% increase in US Swine Flu deaths in one day!

The Time to Prepare is Now!!!

Health authorities today reported a second death in the United States from swine flu -- a woman in south Texas. The Texas Department of State Health Services announced this afternoon that a woman from Cameron County, the southernmost county in the state, died earlier this week after contracting swine flu. It said she had "chronic underlying health conditions" but did not elaborate or provide any other details on the woman.

The woman was the first US citizen to have died (the first person in the US to have died only being a non-citizen ... probably Mexican) and clearly signals that the pandemic is of earth-shattering proportions. President Obama suggested that he was planning on relooking at his plans to close Guantanamo--and plans for evacuating the entire planet are being examined at major universities around the US.

But watch me bite off the tongue in my cheek the minute a dozen or so folks here in Ocean Shores come down with H1N1!!!

My brother did not turn one of my cats ass-skyward to take this picture of the black hole at the center of MCG-6-30-15!!

Black Hole at the Center of Galaxy MCG-6-30-15

My brother, Richard, managed to take a picture or two this evening, and while trying to focus the camera on an apparent UFO hovering above our cabin-cum-chalet-cum-shack-cum-cat-house, accidentally focused on a massive black hole, the one at the center of MCG-6-30-15. (MCG-6-30-15 is a galaxy "out there," but nothing to be concerned about vis-a-vis UFOs and the such.)

Anyway, Gavin Hamilton, an astrophysics professor at the University of Colorado in Boulder and Andrew Polhemus, a physics teacher in Fort Collins, Colorado, are working on a project to visualize what an "infaller" might see if he or she were swallowed by a super massive black hole at the center of the Milky Way--only conjectured to even exist, but a "reality" in many high school and undergraduate astronomy books. (Sort of like the Theory of Evolution, but less obvious ...)

Anyway, among some of the interesting tid-bits uncovered in their research are two that strike me as noteworthy:

(1) It's really the space that is being sucked in by the black hole and light, for instance (and everything else save God and His angels for other "instances") are like canoes going over a waterfall--that is, light (like the canoe) is simply falling slower than the space around it.

and

(2) The earth is rather safe in that even the nearest black holes are hundreds of light years away from us, and further, even if our own sun were to be replaced by a black hole like the one in MCG-6-30-15, we wouldn't even be sucked in by that black hole only eight light minutes away from our earth.

Of course, no one really has any idea what's inside the event horizon of a black hole, so we don't really know what there is to be afraid of anyway.

Just ask my brother, Richard. He has been living in one since last October.

On the other hand, you might listen in on an interesting series of talks on Armageddon at the First Baptist Church (FBC) of Iowa Falls for a peek inside that "event horizon." (I specifically refer you to the visual and audio of "What in the World #9.)

So as not to give you the impression that I'm anti-Baptist (I most assuredly AM NOT!) or that I'm not a believer (I most assuredly AM!), let me simply state that many of my believing friends have an obsession with Armageddon not too unlike the average astrophysicist's obsession with what's inside the event horizon of a black hole.

Life's simply too short for me to be counting the angels on the head of either pin--the event horizon of a black hole or Hal Lindsay's imagination! But I have to embarrassingly admit to having enjoyed a couple of books from the "Left Behind" series anyway and absolutely loved the entire Harry Potter collection.

"In the long run, we're all dead!" ... John Maynard Keynes

In the long run, we're all dead

It seems that it's about time to apply some logic and common sense to this Swine Flu Pandemic [sic].

That's right ... the World Health Organization (WHO) warned Wednesday that a swine flu pandemic is not just likely, but imminent (that's a score of five where an all-out pandemic would be six). On this evening's evening news, Dr. Margaret Chan, the WHO's director general said, "It's really all of humanity that's under threat."

Wow! I'm really scared! [NOT!]

Some statistics from the same news broadcast are worth mentioning.

The total number of laboratory-confirmed swine flu cases as of noon today (Eastern daylight time): United States - 121; Mexico - 356; rest of the world - 162. The total number of laboratory-confirmed swine flu deaths worldwide is only 17. (Yeh, the number of suspected swine flu deaths is roughly between 150 and 175.

But ...

The average total number of seasonal flu deaths annually in the U.S. is around 36,000 and is over a million worldwide. Hellfire, the number of Americans who die in automobile accidents exceeds even the 36,000 who die of the flu.

We have yet to confirm even the second known death of swine flu in the United States during the current epidemic-cum-pandemic and Seattle, Washington has already closed five elementary schools with more to close next week. Will the airports and shopping malls be next?

Let's get real!

It would make more sense to plant a $600 lightening rod in your front lawn than to spend even fifty cents for a face mask to protect yourself from the swine flu.

But it's always a good idea to cover your mouth when sneezing ... and washing your hands after using the bathroom.

Judas in Heaven ... Why not? ALL things are possible with Christ!

Judas being welcomed into God's Eternal Kingdom?

To some extent, I think that Scripture itself supports some of the thoughts from my most recent previous posting.

(1 Pet 4:6) "For for this cause was the gospel preached also to them that are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit."

I kind of think that just about all of the people whom Jesus visited in "Hell" after His death on the cross knew that Judas betrayed Christ. Hmmm ... I just wonder if the first soul that Jesus met in those terrible hours was Judas. If so, I'm sure there would have been a crowd around--and that if Judas asked Jesus to forgive him ... well, what do you think Jesus would have done then? (Especially after asking His Father in Heaven to "forgive them for they know not what they do!")

What an impression that might have made in the depths of Hell!

There's just something that's tells me that if Jesus went to the depths of hell, and if Judas was there, that Jesus would have retrieved him as well as the others. (My pastor would add ..."if they accepted Christ as their Saviour," of course.)

I think the next four verses will back me up on my crazy thoughts.

Psa 16:10 For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.

Mat 18:12 How think ye? if a man have an hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, doth he not leave the ninety and nine, and goeth into the mountains, and seeketh that which is gone astray?

Mat 18:13 And if so be that he find it, verily I say unto you, he rejoiceth more of that sheep, than of the ninety and nine which went not astray.

Mat 18:14 Even so it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish.

I think it was great that Jesus went to all those that had died before, and offered salvation to them, before returning to those in the flesh. You must know they waited for quite a long time for that moment.

One parting thought: Where would the rest of us be--if someone had not betrayed Christ?

Is Judas in Heaven or Hell today?

I say that we probably should let God be His Judge.

Remorse? Repentance? Me thinks my pastor is splitting hairs ...

Today, our pastor in Ocean Shores--a sweet Baptist and good friend, at least until today--suggested that Grace is defined as "undeserved love" and that it's a mystery how God chooses some of us and rejects others. He specifically cited Judas as an example of the latter.

After his sermon, which was quite good in most respects, he asked for questions.

I waited until many had had their chances to pontificate on "Hell being our own choice" and other such jewels of wisdom [sic] relating to so many of us who reject the Grace of God before I asked a simple question.

I used (perhaps clumsy) words to describe a child of perhaps two who was learning to walk in the sands of Judea 2000 years ago. I gave this child the name, Judas, and asked how God in all of his mercy chose to reject this child.

Before the pastor was able to come up with his answer, several in the Congregation angrily suggested that I read my Bible more carefully and realize that Judas rejected Christ and not vice-versa. The Pastor then broke in and said something like, "That was a good question, Joe, but you must see that Judas showed remorse in the end and not repentance--even hanging himself as the ultimate sin!"

I let it pass and apologized to Pastor Kerry on the way out for having asked the question.

But now, I read in my New International (NIV) version of the Bible some interesting words: (Matthew 27:4): "I have sinned," he [Judas] said, "for I have betrayed innocent blood." "What is that to us?" they replied. "That's your responsibility."

Remorse? Repentance? Sounds a little like my very gentle (really!) and intelligent (really!) pastor might just be splitting hairs a little.

Would Jesus so split hairs?

Clean Coal? Who's Kidding Whom?

To back up my previous posting, let me add that coal is one of the dirtiest fossil fuels available for power. Coal power produces sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide, mercury, carbon dioxide and other toxic substances that lead to acid rain, smog, ozone and climate change.

RFK Jr. versus P-BO ... Is "Clean Coal" an Oxymoron? You're Effen Right it is!!!

Environmentalist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. -- the Family's Courage is Unstoppable!

In an interview this week with ABC News, environmental lawyer Robert F. Kennedy Jr. criticized President Obama and other political leaders for choosing "to endorse conditions that clearly are wrong" in the debate over so-called "clean coal."

"The coal industry and the carbon industry in general are the largest contributors to the political process," he said. "So, you know, you have politicians who have essentially become indentured servants to these, and adopt the talking points of these industries." He didn’t have to name our current president explicitly, but included P-BO with other politicians who "feel the need to parrot the talking points of this industry that is so destructive to our country."

"You don't have politicians representing the American public, but rather the people who finance their campaigns," RFK Jr. said. "And that's the coal industry and the oil industry, who are the primary funders."

Unfortunately, "Clean coal" is a somewhat vague term—indeed I believe that it’s the most obvious oxymoron of 2009. The coal industry defines it as "any technology to reduce pollutants associated with the burning of coal that was not in widespread use" before regulations were put in place in 1990. A more well-known blogger (Slate) commented that "By that definition, the group can call any newer coal-based power plant clean." Read the Slate article By Jacob Leibenluft, if you do nothing else today! It was written way back in that 2008 campaign, if one can recall back into the "good old days" before the full impact of the recession befell us.

Regardless of how little we think we are paying for the electricity generated by the coal plants now, we will be paying the cost for having continued to burn coal later—in our health and our doctor bills. I believe that was what Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was trying to tell us. Having become addicted to his XM radio show, I recognize that he is not a nuclear scientist any more than he is America’s top energy genius.

But he is a spokesman and he has clearly pointed out that our politicians—both Democrat and Republican—have been bought and paid for by the oil and coal and ... name the fossil fuel ... industries. In time, we will think of banks and the automakers as little more than a moment's concern.

We have to start somewhere to kick our fossil fuel habits and the radio and television air waves are probably the only current possibilities for that start.

Clean? Indeed ...

Artistic Talent Continues to the Third Generation

Nephew John Szabo's Painting in Upper Left ... His Grandmother's ("Mediawingnut's" Mother's) Painting at Lower Right

If you go to my nephew, John's website and scroll down to his "Painting #8" ... you will see the above photograph with no mention of another painting to the lower right of John's painting--clearly showing off a painting by one of the two (primary) persons from whom young John inherited his talent. His father, Joe Szabo (my big brother in Alpha Delta Phi and a classmate going back to high school and college) married my sister and shared his (my bro-in-law's) artistic talent with that of my mother to produce the world's next Picasso.

Also shown in the photo (besides the paintings) is a photo of Mediawingnuts being zapped by a UFO-borne laser near abouts Mount Rainier and also my laptop showing my brother's dog's website on the screen.

No one has ever asked me to decorate their living room wall. I wonder why not ...

You can't tell a book by its cover, they allus says ...

A Star is Born ... Turn over in Your Grave, Judy Garland for ... Susan Boyle!

I wonder how many of you (especially among the Ryan clan) went to YouTube to hear and see Susan Boyle sing "I Dreamed a Dream" over the past week or so. If so, you will surely agree that she carries with her the makings of an unlikely star in a world where age, beauty (of the beholder) and rock star fame are the keys to the kingdom, so to speak.

The competition on Britain's Got Talent (England's version of American Idol) during which the unglamorous, unfashionable Miss Boyle, 47, turned a whole lot of stereotypes upside-down by unveiling her gorgeous singing voice last Saturday night has suddenly taken on worldwide notice. Part of the joy of watching her performance was seeing the obnoxious grimace disappear from Simon Cowell's face once she opened her mouth. Even the audience, in an instant, transformed itself from tittering condescension to open-mouthed admiration.

Miss Boyle is unmarried (and unkissed, she told the program), has no job, lives with her cat and has, until now, sung mostly in her local church. But she has become a heroine not only to people dreaming of being catapulted from obscurity to fame but also to those who cheer her triumph over looks-ism and ageism in a world that so values youth and beauty.

Go, Susan ... GO!!

The P-BO Conspiracy. Note that Mediawingnuts has been referring to President Obama as P-BO for three months ... a Conspiracy? What do you think?

Well, Malia and Sasha (and Michelle, P-BO and Li'l Bo) ... Congratulations and Happy Easter from Mediawingnuts. Sweetheart and Gem both look forward to learning more about what exactly a Portuguese Water Dog is. Looks a little like Sweetheart after walking on one of Ocean Shores' newly paved (wet black tar!) streets.

Of course, it (li'l Bo) won't be in the White House until Tuesday or so in order that today's big news can remain (and IS!!!) the rescue of Captain Phillips from the pirates off the Somali Coast.

Even so, a completely new conspiracy theory is arising: Did FirstDogCharlie.com really break the news first and was Li'l Bo's name really "Charlie" until now?

Watch for Rush Limbaugh to make that the headlines over the next week, and not the solidly presidential decisions to (1) apply force to save Captain Phillips and (2) accept the wonderfully warm gift of Li'l Bo from Senator Ted Kennedy and allowing his daughters to meet and say "Yes!" in advance to Li'l Bo's selection as the First Dog.

This, from Senator Kennedy's office's "official" statement: "We couldn't be happier to see the joy that Bo is bringing to Malia and Sasha. We love our Portuguese Water Dogs and know that the girls — and their parents — will love theirs too."

Sweetheart, George, Ralph, Rosie, Andrew, Arnold, Patricia and Samantha (the Mediawingnuts managerie) all wish their best to Malia and Sasha too.

For those of you who thought I was a mite unfair ... suggesting that the PUMA (a.k.a. Obamobile) would be uncomfortable seating two ...

Many have commented that even suggesting that the PUMA (see previous posting) might not seat two comfortably. This head-on photo should settle the matter!

With G.M.'s CEO fired by Obama, the wave of new sleek models is IN!!

G.M. has unveiled its newest--the two-wheel PUMA (a.k.a. the Obamobile)!!

The revolution of socialized auto manufacturing is HERE!! The new Federally funded and managed cars of the future will soon be the "wheels of America," just as the City Bank of Hong Kong and the First Bank of Beijing are becoming models of the new "Bank of America"!

Admittedly, the Obamobile will only go 35 mph and 35 miles on a charge, but will seat one comfortably (or two moderately-sized persons uncomfortably) and likely be General Motor Corporation's Cadillac of the 21st Century.

Basically, it is a result of the merger of General Motors and Segway--although at least two major manufacturers of can-openers are likely to be brought aboard before the next GM Board meeting.

Coined P.U.M.A (Personal Urban Mobility and Accessibility), the vehicle features an OnStar wireless communication system that lets people communicate and locate each other in a city. Reportedly, the vehicle can also detect and automatically avoid other moving vehicles and people in its path.

GM's stock will now be competing with many bicycle and golf-cart manufacturers and is touted by the Obama team as the wave of the New World Economy's transportation both here in America and abroad.

I Feel the Trickle-Down! And it Doesn't Smell Like Roses! Nor Money--not Even Like Glade in an Outhouse!

Yeh, yeh ... I know ... the DOW has been rallying for a month or so. The recession is ending ... Life is good!

Layoffs are an easy answer.

They are also a boon to stock prices and the depth of the pockets of the millionaires’ pockets.

Our State Government simply didn’t do the work necessary to hit decent budget numbers that reflected changes in tax revenues. Layoffs, while still an emotional hit on guys like me—and my “manager,” a lovely woman who does a good job as an Associate Dean—are easy.

In my case, the previous school management just didn’t get how much trouble they were in and ignored problems so long that the only choices they had were drastic actions, including layoffs.

In the bigger picture, the 8.5% unemployment nationwide was a gross mismanagement dating back probably ten to twenty years—Republicans and Democrats—that allowed almost criminal mismanagement of corporate (not merely banking and financial) regulations.

But there are winners! Notice that Wall Street is coming back as unemployment continues to rise and salaries and hourly wages continue to drop.

My theory is that investors never stop reaping the rewards of such awful events as mass layoffs, jobs being exported to slave shops overseas and the continual “trading” of puts and calls of corporate stocks that have decimated my IRA (almost gone!) and 401K (gone!) accounts.

It’s not only the lack of employment that tears the elderly (that’s me!) apart; it’s the lack of that wonderful (so we thought) nest egg for when we hit 74.4 years of age--and now can do little more than pound the keys of our laptops complaining about life in this "Great" 21st Century.

In the eight disastrous years of George Bush’s reign, income inequality increased and there was no responsible government oversight of the stock market. This allowed our economy to free-fall into an abyss of debt. The Republican solution is still more tax cuts for corporations and the rich. When did that work? Answer: The Gilded Age. Who did it work for? Answer: It made the rich richer and the poor poorer.

President Bill Clinton was no better fifteen years ago. He and his administration abetted corporate America in exporting more American jobs so that investors on Wall Street could reap bigger profits from sweatshop labor in the Third World, leaving Wall Street richer and American workers poorer. But let’s face it, Clinton was largely supported by a Republican-dominated Congress. Nice excuse, Bill!

Migod! The Republicans and "Blue Democrats" have been chanting tax cuts and small government for the last 28 years and look at the results. They said tax cuts would increase wealth and investment (the "investment" went essentially to Third World sweatshops), and that the increased wealth would "trickle down."

I feel the trickle – it’s cold, clammy and it doesn't smell like money. It smells like sewage.

This posting is getting too long …

Please, Mediastinkbutt! Get off the Pity Pot! ... from Sweetheart

No! This is NOT Mediawingnuts!

This posting is from Sweetheart … not from my Dear Uncle Joe.

Uncle Joe tends to dramatize a bit (see his previous posting) and personally, I for one think everything will work out.

There’s a statement in the Big Book (could be in the Twelve and twelve) that says something along the lines of “God is doing for us what we could not do for ourselves.”

Well Uncle Joe (a.k.a. Mediawingnuts) could probably never have managed to bring himself to stop working fulltime—even at 74.4 years of age—and well … God figured out how to bring a recession to the United States and a nine billion dollar budget deficit to the State of Washington … and well, you know the rest of the story from Uncle Joe’s previous posting.

With my love to the grumpy old man--and my best friend (BF) Richard’s love too--we believe that he’ll survive to pay the mortgage after July 1, 2009 … although the details have yet to be worked out.

That’s God’s job—and Jesus has been working for the betterment of His creation for several thousand years.

Of course, Purina One Dog Chow is at the top of the list for July 2, 2009!