We Are The 2%; this is what demagoguery looks like

Numbers are not that complicated, provided you are not associated with government and don't do business with them or a variety of credit card companies.

It puzzled me that all the sequester talk in DC involved discussions of cutting back Coast Guard activities by 25%, leaving ships in need of refueling, and the public without police protection (somewhat of an oxymoron in most cases), fire department services, and a host of items for the children. So, I put pen to paper to see how much of a chunk was really involved.

There is probably no way to be accurate, but close enough for government work.  After all, didn't they lose dozens of billions of dollars in Iraq?   I mean literally lose it.  They don't know where it went.   No one can account for it.

What I hear is that this latest crisis involves 85 billion in cuts to overall expenditures of 4 trillion.  If that is right, we are talking roughly 2.1 %.  Two percent.

Couldn't that be accomplished better by cutting all non-urgent studies funded by the feds, all salaries of Pres. VP and Congress---or at least their healthcare and other perks?  Maybe just cut foreign aid for awhile?

Cut off the ATF and DEA altogether.

It is a joke.  One of the dumbest, biggest scams ever.  Welcome to BigBrother/BigSister Land.

A self made crisis designed to force through a budget no one likes and "raise revenue"(higher taxes = higher prices no matter who you gouge).  A hoax which further sends us into utopian beehive.  To me, the Dystopian beehive.

                            Don't worry, be happy. Celebrate


I've thought about it and concluded that under the philosophies espoused by both Republicans and Democrats, the end result is inevitably totalitarianism.  Neither understands the difference between being a subject of the state, and a free citizen of a place.

Also neither grasps the fact that plain old democracy does not promote freedom.  I hear the word "democracy" thrown around as something holy, but it is not so benevolent if you are in the minority.  At best, it involves imposing the will of the majority on all.   It comes back to haunt you. Mob rule. Neck tie party..

It is also a widely spread misconception that our only rights are those listed in the Bill of Rights when, in fact, all natural human rights not expressly forfeited to government and prohibited by law are guaranteed.  But, then one needs to understand the difference between a right and an entitlement to grasp that notion.

Natural rights don't need enumeration.  Restrictions on those rights do.  The Bill of Rights was designed to ensure that means of countering power happy types could in no way be abridged.

A right does not require involuntary action on the part of others, and doesn't interfere with their right to conduct life as they see fit.  You have a Right to a house if you can build or pay for it.  You cannot require it provided and call that a right.  Sorry FDR, Jimmy Carter and your philosophical progeny.

At worst democracy involves a forced equality, as in a communist state.  Of course, some are always a little more equal--like elected officials who travel with armed guards while proposing rules which make it tough for a citizen to protect him/her self.   Mayor Bloomberg, and Sen. Feinstein are two examples.

Majority rule within very narrow limits on its power over the individual is about the best tool, provided it doesn't step on the individual's rights.  But it mostly is used to elect representatives who then vote on behalf of their people.  We're a republic.  Sort of.  Supposedly limited by a charter called a constitution. Only way known to slow the inevitable power grab.  Pretty much down the tubes, but not totally.

People aren't ready for it.  I hear of those who want to regulate more and more in the realm of private choice.  What can you do when coyotes are people, too, and the earth has a fever?

We'll figure ways around them.  People always do.  That is what made some of the old movies so fun--rebels sneaking by the Nazis or pulling one over on them, like in Casablanca.  

Gives us something to look forward to.  There is always a sense of purpose and satisfaction when one decides to overcome oppression and nasty odds, knowing it is the right thing.   Self-respect comes from choosing not to be a part of a jackboot monster, or cruel gang.

It is quite remarkable that such high stakes chicanery exists, let alone receives respect as if it were at all legitimate.

There must be something I'm too stupid or lazy to understand about this.  It is difficult to filter through the histrionics to find the facts and bottom line numbers.  Underlying view of societal organization is still the real culprit.

Maybe authoritarian rule repulses me so much for perverse reasons; it gives me something against which to contrast my own beliefs.  By doing so, maybe that reinforces my own sense of self.

I do believe that humans exerting power over others by force, when some form of self defense can't be cited, is against reason and decency.   I also believe that, even today, many would gladly enslave others if it were possible and acceptable.   And I believe minorities are at least as likely to accept such an offer, maybe moreso, as whomever is considered the majority.

Just the way it is.  In the mean time, I hope to get rich before becoming an insurance outlaw, forced to go live on the lam, finding medical care in back alley veterinary clinics.
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How To Make Best Potatoes Ever

Remember, I'm cooking on a glorified 2 burner hotplate.  If you have a normal stove, medium heat is probably OK.

First take two potats, slice long ways down the middle, Rotate 90 deg. and do it again, then cut cut cut into small pieces--not too thick.   I hate those places that offer french fries which are like half a potato each.  Lots of people have no clue what to do with spuds.

I don't bother peeling because I'm lazy.  I wash them and hope it gets most of the pesticide off.  Hell, in this state anything that keeps pests away from plants and humans is illegal anyway.

OK, pile the cut up potatoes on a plate, nuke it in the microwave for 2 minutes while the big frying pan is heating up.   But first, sprinkle some La Chinata--that hot paprika---on them.

Put some oil in the pan, just to cover the bottom.  Throw some regular paprika in there, along with a sparing amount of the Good Hawaiian salt--the red clay stuff.  Just a pinch or two.  And a cafeteria size pad of butter.  Not the size of a cafeteria, the size used in cafeterias.

The pan is hot--I always have a lid on it.  Remove the lid so you can now dump in the potatoes.   Failure to do so will result in junk all over the lid, and bad karma.

Now, pour in some half and half.  Put the lid on and thinly slice cheese of choice. I like cheddar.  Lay the very thin slices on the potatoes.   Do I have to remind you to remove and replace the lid every time?  Good, didn't think so.

Go boot up the computer and pull up your email.  Go back and put in some more half and half after scooping the mess up with a spatula and turning it over.  It will have a brown skin on the bottom  Got to get under that.  It is not to stay there.

You may be cooking other things at the same time--peas, salmon, who knows.  I never cook salmon so whatever.

Throw in a bit more paprika and chinata, if the stuff doesn't already look plenty reddish.    Don't overdo the chinata.  Be sparing. The regular paprika can be added very generously.  Maybe a little more half and half if needed.  Normally one dose at the beginning,  and one when you flip/stir the stuff is sufficient.

At the end of the process, there is little or no evidence of the half and half.  It becomes one with the potatoes.

Delete all the email that you don't feel like reading--ever.  These things take a few minutes.  Unless you have the burner way too hot, it is unlikely you will overcook.

Again, use spatula to lift that brown skin-on-the-bottom part and dump the potato extravaganza on your plate, leaving nothing in the pan.

It is better than any comparable potato dish you'll find at Chef Ramsay's or anywhere else.

You will thank me later if you do this right.   Don't know what kind of spuds I used.  I think it said russet.  Whatever ones are the best bargain, I say.

You say potato and I say whoknowswhat.

Another public service because I care.

It is for the children, our future, to support the troops, to give back to the community...etc.

Please help me pat myself on the back for my selfless generosity--it's all the rage, and has been forever.

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Out and About

Had to cruise around to reset my mojo.

This is about 30 min NE of home.  Mt Laguna area.  I went in from the Lake Cuyamaca side.  I think that is correct spelling.

For some reason, I remembered the time when I came to believe that evil exists.  I mean exists almost like a independent force.  It was there like the wind is there.

Lately I've become less and less inclined to buy into the sort of biblical talk I see here and there.  Some of those people get quite wound up.

Most Catholics I know are fine people, but the scariest, most evil feeling presence I've ever experienced  emanated from a S. Florida holy man at the immigration hearings the senate was conducting around the country around 1990, give or take.  He was higher than a priest, a bishop I think.  I'm not up on the chain of command.

Just remembering it gives me chills and a queazy stomach.  We did not exchange words.  I was part of the furniture, setting up tape recorders in the room.

I did get to hear what people had to say at that time. He wanted all the money that went into dealing with all the Haitians and others that land on Florida beaches to go through his outfit.  He had reasons, but it was very transparent--his play for power and control.  There were several powerful people there--if being a senator ad the like makes one powerful.

Governmental power and privilege I guess.  I could see how it can be addictive and seductive.

That wave of pure evil that followed him around struck me long before I heard a word from him.  It seriously took me by surprised.

I felt it before I turned to see where it was coming from.  I doubt I'll ever forget it.  I've known people who've done horrible things, but I never felt anything from them to compare to this guy's presence.

I know it sounds kooky, ad I suppose it is, but I assure you, it was real.  Not that it matters what you or I think of the issue.

The road to hell is paved with good intentions, so they say.  They are right, although the big picture is complex in that regard.  So, no simple pronouncement on churches and holy men would be just or true. It just doesn't quite work that way.

It has left me convinced that there is more to being than meets the eye.  Not sure what brought it to mind.

Life goes on.

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More Than a Haircut

I gave up on the idea of finding a good, inexpensive haircut in SD county.  My first cut here was free.   A good friend of my long time friend, Kathleen---met her when I was 16---runs a shop in Pt. Loma.  It was a grand experience, but it isn't close, and it is not a budget shop.

Every now and then I've gone back and it is always good.  The other hair professionals I've tried just fall short; never feels right after a day.  So, I gave up and decided to let it grow until I couldn't deal with it any more, then go spend the money at Jen's place.

She has become a stand up comic.  I managed to make one of her gigs.  To my surprise, she totally kicked ass.  Smart woman; owns a hotshot hair place and has an increasing schedule of comedy gigs.  It took me by surprise how good she is.  That can't be easy.

Anyway, by coincidence K was there yesterday when I showed up.  It is an appointment kind of place so I was set.  The other workers there are off on Thurs., apparently.  That meant the conversation was not censored.

What an education.  I have no idea how various topics were introduced, however they were mostly of a sexual nature.  Usually I am cognizant of the topics one might hear in discussions of this nature.  Not always.

I had no idea.  How to say it???  Did you know that some people get things bleached, kind of like Michael Jackson skin bleach I guess.  Yes, it is true.  They decide the back door mail slot needs to be less ... darkly pigmented and so they go somewhere to have their button bleached.

The discussion was bizarre.  I was informed that someone I know, who does not live in this state, had it done, and says it really improved her marriage.  Don't ask me.  My guess is that this couple is not what one might call missionary oriented.

For crying out loud, is nature just too cruel?  The under 35 or so crowd seems to think the 7 year old girl look is the bees knees.  And then they wonder about pedophiles.  Some of us view it differently.  However, at my point in life I'll ignore my preferences in these matters just because I'm glad to be there.  I do appreciate some obvious differences between girls and women.  Geez.  I'd be suspicious of guys who demand that look, ladies.  Just a word to the wise.

I can only hope the bugger bleaching doesn't catch on like the defoliating, piercing, and drawing permanent pictures on the skin have.  I like a little bit of nature, even though I guess I prefer some defoliation here and there.  And I shave my face, so I guess I sort of empathize.

It is a matter of taste and personal preference.  Still, that bit about lightening the pigment where the sun don't shine kind of shocked me.  I left feeling like I'd lost a degree of innocence.  I can't wait to get to know someone new and ask about that.

It is a sure fire ice breaker.  "Hey, Baby, have you undergone the paleface treatment on the other side of Baby's belly?"

The haircut feels great.  One of the best in years.  Was it worth discovering this trend?  I still feel pangs for my loss of innocence.  Then again, maybe I'll find out where to take the course and open up a shop. It will, of course, have the obligatory "Parking in Rear" sign.

What to name the place.... whiter than white, Lighter Shade of Pale, Dark Side of the Moon, Light Side of the Moon, Back Door Boutique, Bummer, Bum Deal

It might not be that much fun.

OK.  Better find another plan B for my future.

****caution: a google or wiki search will yield photos.  I'm kind of sorry I did it.  Wanted to be sure they weren't making joke on me.   It is real.  I did not research the matter in depth
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I Should Become Less Radical With Age. Yikes

Holy smoke.   I realized that all the gun talk, the total BS, dog and pony show over the national non-budget, deficit, debt and spending beyond anything a human or machine can track, has caused me to become very close to anarchist.  Except that people tend to define that word in a way which doesn't reflect my view.

Without rulers is closest to my true belief, yet I understand the value of proper governmental function.  I leave charity, rules regarding personal choice and behavior which harms or impedes the life of no others, marriage, and even education off the list of governmental to-do's.

Seriously, all the gun talk convinced me that the law ought to be loosened, and yes,  Piers, I'm OK with a citizen owning a fighter jet, cannon, cannabis plant, still, motorcycle sans helmet, and a machine gun. Hell, the USA has armed people in other countries who are every bit as psycho as the Bloods and Crips.  Maybe moreso.   And recently our own government conducted a sting operation which armed Mexican cartels.  They forgot to include the sting portion of their plan.  Oops!

I've tried to be happy and ignore all this stuff.  No fighting anyone or anything.  Really.  I so want to be more normal and middle of the road.  I've always wanted that, but I've never been able to do it.  It requires too much pretending that what is not right and not true is fine and dandy.   Not that I never ignore reality or always do the right thing.  But then, I'm not forcing others to do my bidding, and don't care to.  Treating them how I'd like to be treated---which is, get out of my life, strangers with guns, badges and law degrees.

Some of my friends who pine for the 60's tell me there is no right or truth.   Everyone's truth is theirs and what is true to you may not be true to me.  My rebuttal that if I place you in the path of a speeding bus, you are doomed doesn't do the trick.  "Not if that is not my reality".   Screw those people.  They just want Woodstock forever.  Hey man, like watch out for the brown acid.  It's a bummer.

Anyway, I believe there is truth and right.  Not always sure what that is, but I do see the results of pretending that obvious realities are not real.

I've only recently become aware of how much republicans, or the ones who have media pulpits, tend to despise libertarians.  Never could figure that out.  You'd think they'd save it for the green party or something.  I think it is because they pretend they want smaller government and all that, but they really just want their logo on the seat of power.

They did as bad as dems at running us into bankruptcy.  Well, almost.  W's worst years financially were with a dem congress, but that is trivial.  Which drunken sailor is the drunkest and spending the most?  And doing the most bullying of innocent bystanders?

And they can't resist getting all righteous about subjects with which the national government has no legitimate business.  Like marriage and personal defense choices; guns.  Not to mention health and pensions.  Abortion.  Good God, you make me want abort my babies and yours.   Again I say, be grateful some of these alleged people are not multiplying any faster than they are.   And they are doing it themselves, as is their choice-right or wrong.

Too late to turn it around, but seriously, this Grand Clearing House of All Things philosophy of governance is disaster.  They've rotted the culture, and made things far worse.  Justified or not, most people feel less safe today than they did in the sixties.   Some of that is the demagogue panic factor---no crisis goes to waste, and everything is a damned crisis; obesity, weather, drugs, guns, un-neutered pets, non-issues to infinity.

Lots of things are problems to one degree or another.  But few of them are made better by throwing tax money and laws their way.  Those who love that stuff simply claim we haven't given enough authority to our lords and masters.  In the case of Jamie Foxx, that would be "Lord and savior."  He thinks Obama is the Second Coming, apparently.

I'm stunned to read comments these days.  It is interesting, if disappointing.  At least there are often three comments in a row on news stories with no name calling and no "lol" or "rofl".  That is so obnoxious in a discussion thread.  Brings out the want-to-punch-you redneck in me.

I don't comment on those sites because you have to sign up and I'd either trigger the ire of internet toughies who aren't sincere anyway, or I'd be preaching to the choir, or I'd end up with someone quoting biblical stuff.

That's the other thing; I've lost almost every shred of respect and tolerance for just about every religious institution known to man.  And I have none for those who want to run around telling me what god or alah have to say, and what they think.   Talk about Hell.  Imagine spending a month stuck in a room with Ayatollah whoever, and a hard core Evangelist, and maybe throw in a Cardinal.  It would sure seem like eternity.

OK.  Maybe if the Rastafarians  included fertility rites, I could hack that faith.  Of course I'd find it tough to accept Haile Selassie's divinity.  But the music is good, and if I have to be stuck with holy rollers, probably best to be totally and forever stoned.  I really do like the music.

Well, I've answered my own question; what to do when it all comes crumbling down and when "the earth's fever" gets worse.  Go be a rastaman on a ganja farm.

If only I could ignore all of it.   Truly they won't allow it.  Insurance.  Is my inherited gun now illegal or am I supposed to register it? Not yet, but people in this state want to require registration of any gun owned.  Something in me resists.  My gut reaction is F*** Off!!  I can't accept the reality that I'm not even close to as free as I think is my right.  I can't admit it by jumping through certain hoops.  Just cannot do it.

I Think Because I Can

The problem humanity has had in forming a society or nation in which citizens enjoy maximum freedom in all regards has not been a lack of democracy, per se.  Quite the opposite in many cases.

In the case of the USA, the erroneous notion that our purpose and lofty goal is to spread democracy has done us no favors.  Pure democracy is doomed for several reasons.  First, unchecked it allows the majority to vote themselves paychecks from the minority.

Other drawbacks to majority rule without limit is that popular whims and ideas change with the wind, and a system which allows swift enactment of the will of the people is bound to regularly restrict rights and punish actions which harm no one.  Not to mention legal theft of property and life itself.

A republic in which authority of government--its rights-is severely restricted, and individual rights are infinite, provided one doesn't impede the right of another is far from a democracy.   It is sick that everyone from Roosevelt to Bush to Obama has fed the democracy lie to the public.  It serves those who know how to work that concept.  That idea's ultimate destination is something akin to a absolutist communist state.   A place where I'm sure I'd forever be a outlaw.

                         parked at work. just a break from this boring bit of truth

What we are experiencing is a form of fool's gold.  Some think they can trust democrats to do the right thing with power, and some think republicans are the ones they can trust.  Any setup which requires the legislator to moderate his own power-lust is not going to yield good long term results.

That was why the US was set up the way it was, with a federal government of very limited powers, especially in the realm of local activities.   I think more limits should have been placed on all government entities, local, state and federal, but they definitely were miles ahead of the rest of the world in giving a glimpse of a civilized, free society.

In light of the fact that the balance of power within the federal government and in relation to the states went to hell long ago, the only way to stop the madness that rules us is to defund it, or let it fall of its own weight.  The unrealistic economic policies and financial management of most governmental entities on all levels may guarantee that.  These practices will certainly retard our development and quality of life to that of many third world countries.   Defunding is the most effective approach, and non-violent, should our lovely populace ever be of a mind to revolt for the right reasons.  Not going to happen, I know, but that is probably the last window of opportunity.  Electronic banking is closing that up rapidly.

Very dangerous construct, considering the lack of restraints on every level of intrusion, control and surveillance.

One perspective might tie up all the ills into one word--corruption.  The trouble is, most activists and people who seek tax money only focus on limited cases of wrong doing, choosing one team to back and one to demonize, even though their chosen team is just as eager to steal money and rights as the other. 

Either people cannot see this, or refuse to look, or value their short term, ill-gotten gains too much to do the right thing.

I'm pretty sure the human race and almost every subgroup therein has not evolved to the point where one can comfortably live and let live.  Who can resist that feeling of power over what your neighbor ingests, how he uses his genitalia,  how he defends himself against intruders and evil doers?   Apparently, a very small minority, at best.

So, I have little hope that the playing field will improve to the point that I see as right.  A day in which I won't be a criminal for not having the prescribed form of health insurance, won't have money taken from my paycheck, with the burden of proof on me to show that, even under their own convoluted rules, they took too much.

Even as I ponder this stuff, I realize that were I significant in any way, homeland security would view such rhetoric as possibly dangerous.  Speech and such are rights which are whittled down daily.   It has been done in the name of the war on drugs, war on terror, and even diversity and bullying.  No longer is it sufficient to prosecute real crimes, but now we consider hurt feelings the result of assault, even at times when all that was expressed was the truth.

It will come back to bite.  When search restrictions were loosened due to idiotic drug laws,  many a NRA member was of the, "If you got nothing to hide, you have nothing to worry about" school.  Now they find themselves under attack in the new "war on violence", even though they aren't generally the perpetrators of violence.  But, how many people going through the permanent check points out west are carrying bundles of illegal immigrants or shipping drugs?  They still search you any time they choose. 

Poor NRA. The charlatans who claim they can fix the climate and by proclamation end violent act by mass murderers, took the easy way out.  They know they can't fix anything, but they can reduce the power of individuals, which further empowers themselves, so they declared war on various types of guns and bullet holders.  Mostly the modern stuff which is easier to use.

NRA, wrong place at wrong time, I guess.  How they became the demons of the school massacre,  I do not know.  I thought they had poor spokespeople. But, they must be laughing because their membership shot up dramatically.  I'm not a member, but I don't do much joining. 

I hate to say I told you so, but I did, way back in the 70's.  Like then, people now still believe that selective infringement of rights for some noble purpose will work out.  It never does because the nature of human authority is to expand whenever and wherever possible.   You think a rattle snake will only bite the bad guys?

I've been criticized for not having the solution.  To a degree I do, but those same critics view such ideas as unrealistic.  So do I.   The most effective solutions involve defunding governments, repealing certain amendments, strengthening limits on governmental powers, disallowing the practice of gaming the system with ridiculous and costly lawsuits, ceasing the pretense when it comes to real crime in inner cities and elsewhere, holding parents liable for their nasty offspring, etc.

                                              dreamers

None of that is likely to happen.  For one thing without the politics of race and gender and sexual practices and religion most of the people now in power would be out of luck.   Big, dumbass voting blocks are coveted assets.  Got to keep them dumb and in despair.  Mofos can't keep a budget but they are expert at keeping various groups down, dumb, confused, angry and hopeless, and getting their votes.  Sad and sick.

And who is going to stand on principle risking the abuse of the irs, which, like prisons, everyone knows is abusive beyond anything any tax dollar should support?  Not too many, and those who do are considered nut jobs and not willing to pay their fair share.

Are you happy you paid your fair share to arm lunatics in the mideast?   Did you pay your fair share for the last four or five undeclared wars?  I'm sure you were fully aware of the details, goals, locations and purpose of each protracted military adventure.  Who couldn't support those efforts?  Someone else's life at stake. What the heck.  Charge!!!!

I hope you sleep better knowing you paid your fair share so that people in congress can have pensions and free health care and exempt themselves from various laws which apply to us.

What they are doing now with the sequester pretense is a blatant case of deception.  "If we have to cut any spending, we'll cut needed stuff ignoring the billions of dollars going to duplicate programs, irrelevant studies, and a host of other garbage.  That is to scare people into agreeing that they need to pay more, or at least "the wealthy" do.  Don't be fooled.  No one is exempt from this theft.  Just look at food and gas prices.  It may not be clear but the rise is basically a form of tax.  And who hurts the most from that?   The same fools who fall for the idea that all we need is to tax the wealthy more.

Aside from the fact that you can bleed them dry and still hardly make a dent in funding this behemoth monster, it is just a smokescreen so the same dumb, poor groups will continue to support those whose policies created the crime ridden, irresponsible, hopeless, violent subcultures and communities in the first place.  Fixing that would not be an overnight project under the best of systems.  But that does not justify nurturing the madness.

                                        long term solution to overpopulation

What the hell.  I'm hard pressed to find a democrat who'll admit that Che was a psycho murderer, or a republican who will quit worrying if someone else gets an abortion.  Some things you just have to leave be, even if you think it is wrong.  Yes, I know, rights of the unborn, etc.  It has toes, etc. So, I do not perform or have abortions.  And I'm cynical enough to be grateful that many people do.  Their offspring would be carbon copies of troublesome, sociopathic dimwits who make difficulties for others.  Not the friggin job of the state.  Or shouldn't be. 

I've found many republicans who favor decriminalizing just about all drugs. Since the vast majority is one or the other, even when they call themselves independents, may as well just resign myself to the fact that we are trudging steadily toward a totalitarian's wet dream.

So, I'll just pretend I'm free, try not to say anything that is forbidden, and go on my way.   That may or may not be legal.  Hard to know.  I do not own a helmet, a license to fish or hunt, or a license to seal teak.  Uh oh.  That could be trouble.

the end

If You Gotta Go...

They think it is possible that a guy in Oklahoma may have spontaneously combusted.   I wonder if that hurts a lot.  I've never seen any theories on that.

Being lit on fire is no picnic, that I know.  But going up in smoke from the inside out, I wonder.  Aside from the pain possibility, what better way to exit?   Boom flash, and out.

I've often felt like I would explode or combust but I think I drink too much water for that.  The Oklahoma guy was reported to be a heavy  drinker and smoker.  I could see the alcohol adding to the possibility of combustion but doubt smoking was an influence, unless he swallowed a lit cigar and that triggered the process.

If he had lived I bet they would have charged him with arson or failure to get a burn license.

Again, ignoring the pain issue, going out in a flash, and leaving mostly ashes is not a bad gig.

What if it was death from telekinesis?  Someone may have given him the evil eye, remotely exciting the molecules in his body to the point of combustion, then ran away before the police got there.  What if he was a telekinetic lad himself, and did himself in by concentrating his powers within?

If I recall, he was only a few years older than I am.  People like me, at this point in the journey can easily wonder if they've screwed up their lives beyond repair and their view of redemption.  If they could, I bet many would consider combusting like that.   Most would dismiss the idea or put it off due to their habitual procrastination.

I wonder if Mr. Oklahoma put this off for months or years before getting round to action.

Those are questions the police should be asking if they really want to get to the bottom of this.

I should rent out my services to help them better solve this mystery.

The Stuff of Priests

"Corporate greed and profit" are not really the root of the problem.   The evolution of the corporation as an entity does deserve scrutiny, however the ill results often attributed to freedom, free enterprise and business are very much the work of priests in varied forms.

People are suckers for the supernatural.   And they are suckers for being led.  Long ago, kings who ruled according to might makes right, found that some bit of partnering with priests and witch doctors served them well.

Priests found that the more frightened and poor the people, the more power they would wield.  In modern America people have begun to substitute various causes for religion, but the requirement of faith is still there.   And the leaders of such movements, some based solely on race or other irrelevant factor, are very much in partnership with the lords of the land.  They deliver unto them the votes of the unwashed.

In the mean time the less scrupulous among the corporate world also deliver the vote, and receive much in return.  It can be nearly impossible to function if a company of size neither seeks nor gives favor in that arena. Atheists of sorts.  And they are likely to perish or be smote.

It is so sad to see people fall for this over and over again.  If normal basic laws were enforced, and government did not partner with business, gay alliances, racial groups, or foreign interests, much of what is called corporate greed and corruption would not be possible, or else the true source of the evil would be clearly seen as those who rule rather than serve.

It is natural.  Many among us feel that they are the chosen ones who need to lead the poor idiots who can't think for themselves.  They believe that includes just about all of us.  Maybe they are right.  Then again maybe they are a bunch of self important, obnoxious T word-s.

There you go.  I am PC as can be so you have to know what is the T word.  Hint--four letters, ends in T, has one vowel which is not I.

Anyway, by having a devil to point at they manage to keep the heat off themselves while sapping the life and humanity and money out of the population more and more every day.

You may think the religion thing has been put to rest, but you're being fed far taller tales by the president and all the others in love with governing.  In love with power.  Ye of little faith no doubt felt a bit of skepticism when they started in with the QE business. After QE 2 or so, one may lose faith.

If they say a law, tax or money printing will make it all better, then they must be right.  No way would they use tax money to do things which enrich or empower their cronies and/or themselves to the long term detriment of the society and country.  Oh hell no.

Really, priests and politicians are both loathe to objectively prove their worth or why they should be paid, yet they both do well.  Both groups present arguments which take a bit of faith to swallow.   Overall, holy men in this age are more worth their wage.  Not saying much considering jihad and such.

There's an alter boy quality to the smug self-satisfied aspect of the self righteousness that over-regulators and regulator wannabes exude.   They really think they are smarter, therefore it is their duty to make decisions for the rest of us.   For our own good.  Those people feel so good in their superiority.

I feel more angry in mine.  And that's the difference.

 Don't want to be told what to do.  Don't want to tell anyone what to do.  Don't have to prove to you that I'm smarter.  And I'm not here to fight for your whatever.  Not going to feel your pain.  Don't care.

Even smart people who see themselves as destined to be part of the decision making club sucker for the zeal, often professing fealty to The Cause.  No definition of it just The Cause.  Like in China or Cuba.  Really, it is all about the Revolution in Cuba, but what revolution?   Against Castro?

The Castros preach allegiance to The Revolution, which I think ended Jan. 1, 1959.   It is a religious thing.  Just another word for God.  Fidel is the pope, or maybe now he shares that title with Raul.   Che was a saint or prophet in that faith. Same witch doctor psychology.   Possibly a human need seeded deep in our DNA.

Those other ones feel your pain only if you admit that they are God.  It works.  They'll find ways to reward the believers while punishing the infidels.  Sometimes that approach will yield you over ninety percent of an ethnic group's votes.  And like many in Islamic countries, they'll just about kill you if you bring up any facts or logical points counter to their faith.

I gotta get a life

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A Farewell To Arms

Not the least of strange things to come out of all the alleged discussion of guns and ammo was the implication by some charlatan in one of the states' legislatures that armed women on a college campus could be dangerous because they might just think a person is a rapist and therefore shoot people needlessly.  He indicated that a better deterrent to bad guy aggression is to fend them off with a ball point pen.

People of a certain ilk are totally sure that you need only what they imagine you need, and that you ought not have any issue with an appointed or elected authority being the arbiter of needs, wants, and responsibilities.   I should point out that the idea of a elected authority misses the point of a constitutional republic designed to protect individual rights, and designed to prevent what is known as tyranny of the majority.

Theoretically, the people are the authority, not those elected to whatever office, and not bureaucrats they appoint.  Not even cops are supposed to be "authorities" as such.   But I'm unlikely to tell a policeman that to his face unless I want to die or be given cheap electro-shock therapy with a side of broken bones.

The tenacious grip of the feudal mentality has diluted the thing so much that even in the US elected officials are treated as royalty and have special perks to prove it.  This will prove more and more difficult in days to come.  But it is a slow boil so most of us don't care.

I've heard people on radio ranting about the guy who allegedly slapped a baby on a plane.   Due to political correctness,  we can only guess what he allegedly said.  Supposedly he said something about  "shut this N-word baby up", or something like that.

Now, either the guy is very odd and insults people by saying, "N word, F word", pronouncing letters of the alphabet followed by the word "word", or else the reporters assume that we know for sure what N word means.  I'm thinking he may have called the kid a nincompoop.

From the little I've seen of this story, I am skeptical of its veracity.  My bet is that two obnoxious people were seated together, one of which had a screaming two year old, and one of which tried to drown the noise in booze.  Could be a bad combo.   Somehow the parents' reactions as far as I could tell--from limited info-struck me as more feigned than real outrage.

Innocent until proven guilty is the best approach, especially since I wasn't there and neither were all the people writing comments on less than complete news stories, or calling talk shows blustering on about how they would have torn this villain to shreds.

Of course, people like Al Sharpton have made their living by fueling fires of outrage, ignoring the facts of given situations when they didn't suit his purpose.  He often jumps in armed with no facts, basing all on skin color.  Even then he gets it wrong.  Like with Zimmerman who is not much more white than Al. It was more suited to Al's purpose to just pretend, and people probably still want to pretend that this is a sign of rampant white on black crime.  Facts can get in the way.

This willingness to jump on bandwagons without all the relevant information is not good.  People do love it though.  And so do those who seek to control your resources and wealth.  A malleable population is the tool of charlatans who make their living in elected office.

The gun debate has brought out embarrassing rhetoric all around.  I'm sorry that so many of them narrowly share my sentiments.   It has been a windfall for those who make their living manipulating statistics and study results.   I'm of the view that more controls will not make people safer, and that the actual trend in crimes and murder is not all of a sudden escalating.  I think abuses by those in power, who enforce their will with guns, cages, and theft of property are on the rise.

This view leads me to feel more nervous knowing that law abiding, innocent citizens may soon find it difficult to carry weapons.  I never understood the whole concealed carry thing.   If you have a pistol, I prefer not to see it unless you have to use it.

Concealed carry just seems more polite and less inflammatory or prone to complications than open carry.  So why does that require a permit in some states, but open carry doesn't?  If any permit ought be required, though I think not, it should be the other way around.  Concealed--no permit.  Waving it around==permit.

If I decide to arm up, I'll do like lots of people do, screw asking for permission.  Of course, I wouldn't dream of not registering my assault slingshot, and assault rocks.

So, if I had my way Obama would spend the next four years secretly playing golf in Florida, insulated from the press.  Please, run away and hide and do no more public business of any kind.  This is my reaction to complaints about his secret golf game.  I do not care if he ever talks to another reporter.  I already know we are at odds on the most basic ideals, so why worry over the day to day details?

If only this thing of hiding out and being invisible and silent to the press would set a trend in Hollywood and Congress.  How sweet that would be.

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Don't Tell Me the Sky's Not Falling,

Just ask the Russians.  Except the one who said it was a USA weapons test.   Or maybe him too.  You never know.

Well, you kinda do know.

OK.

Went to the Wed. night thing--reputed to be a blues jam of sorts.  No thanks.  That's about all I will say because, regardless of tales of woe and wrongdoing, the bottom line is, no thanks.

One of A Kind

This guy never ceases to amaze me.  He's got quite a history, mostly relating to song writers and such who were significant in shaping much of the music from the sixties on.
One of the people up here on ballistic mountain who has become a good friend.  Never meet a stranger, nicer guy.
I've learned from him to be careful whom you under estimate.

An old, old song about a guy who killed his fiance, claiming he thought she was a swan.  Maybe a couple of hundred years ago that defense worked.


I find that Cliff's singing voice has a special quality that I can't describe.  Hypnotic or something.
I swear I don't have that much of a belly, although I may be turning into a bit of a butterball. Not like it appears though. They are wrong to say the camera doesn't lie. It does. It is slanderous. Or libelous. Or both.

Fools and Racist Nutters

I happened to watch a video of Eric Clapton playing Hootchie Cootchie Man on youtube, and made the mistake of reading the comments.

The one that got to me stated that while the commenter loved it, he found it sooo weird to see an English guy "channeling Chicago and Delta blues".   There is a lot of that when it comes to blues and such.  To me, if music grabs you, it grabs you.

Obviously this idiot has no clue that much of rock ad roll, and the best of the British Invasion was blues based, and a lot of it even has elements of Bach.  Is it somehow off limits for other ethnicities to play music written by black people?

Are black people and non-whites banned from playing Beethoven?   What fools.

Granted, a lot of people just do not feel the blues groove.  Much of it gets me moving like few other genres.  I find it grabs me whereas a lot of bluegrass doesn't.  Either things resonate with a person or not.

I can assure you that Clapton, the Stones and other Brits ot only recognize the source of this music but did much to bring greater fame and rewards to may of the old blues guys like Howlin' Wolf, and others.

It never ceases to amaze and irk me when people insist on making a racial issue out of such things.

Clapton does a good cover of it, by the way.  He's not pretending to be black. He likes the music.  He has done entire albums of Robert Johnson, the protagonist of the crossroads legend, as well.

Oh, and another guy wanted the meaning of the lyrics explained.   Much of the blues is full of sexual metaphor.  I refrained from going into it.  Some of it contains terms which originate in superstitious magic type practices.  

More fun to play what you like and for me, to play off stuff that allows improvising and just letting out what you feel.  Blues offers that.

I believe basketball was invented by a white guy.  Do you think it is out of line if Africans or Chinese like to play the game?

Really, the worst thing about the internet is that it has made me painfully aware that there are millions of idiots running around loose.  I was naive enough not to know the number of dimwits was so large.
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Not In Miami Are We Toto?

Snowing and raining in East County.  That's a big deal in SoCal, even though this is the eastern sticks of SoCal.

Probably the odd neuro-wiring of my brain, but weather, geography and the like seem to have a big impact on me.  This is definitely far different than anywhere else I've lived.  That is not a bad thing.

Last night a huge owl flew over the hood of my car from left to right at eye level.  Not the first time.   It was really a surprise the first time.  It makes for a stunning moment on a country road in the pitch black night.

A couple of times I've been startled o the back deck at night when a big owl swoops within a foot or two of me on its way, hopefully, to help a mouse meet its maker.  I assume it is a owl.  Obviously a bird of prey, and very quiet in flight.  It is easier to see the ones that barely miss the windshield than it is the ones that fly by the back deck.

It just happens now then, not like a flock of them.  Not like owls fly in formation the way pelicans do.  That's another cool thing.  I can go to the coast any time I want to see the pelicans do their thing.   It brings back something of Miami and South Florida.  A bitter-sweet feeling.  I miss it, ad I don't.  I think I equate Miami to pain if I goo back too far, but it also brigs back some of the best years ever if I only go back so far.

Kid in a candy store there (Miami) for awhile.  But that eventually resulted in a poor choice and that was a crusher in the end.

Maybe I expect too much, or too little, of myself.  I do find it tough to let go of regrets, and that causes me to stagnate for fear any action ad ambition will only end badly or end in someone going home crying.

Some of us have an overactive imagination, or an overactive conscience, or both.  I tend to ignore the times I've been wronged much more than I can ignore times when I think I let others down.  Lack of balance.  Then, at the same time, I say, "Screw it, I'll show them!".  "Them" being a very vaguely defined tribe.

Best to be grateful for all that warrants gratitude.  I'd rather be me than anyone else when it comes down to it.  Good, bad, and ugly.

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Disagreeably Imploding

Certain landmarks in one's life force a bit of reflection.  Some of us tend to shatter when we look into that mirror.

I deleted the rest of this post due to the boring and depressing nature of it.  I've concluded that I have some serious issues with the blues, but I still know it is mostly a river of internal lies which occasionally bursts the dam I construct to keep it off the greater landscape of my mind.

Anyway, many, if not most, people are crazier and a bigger blight on society and the prospects of a happy world than I'll ever be. (i.e., pain in the ass)



You might want to click on the Piers Morgan - Penn Jillette videos 1 and 2 after the nanny one plays.
Piers is afraid to let views other than his own be articulated.  He is a coont, for sure.  I'm glad I rarely agree with him.  It is more fun to disagree with people whose personalities I dislike.  It is really too bad when I somewhat agree with those who are an embarrassment when expressing a view.  The recent gun discussion has brought many of those to the fore.

Actually that discussion has brought nitwits and weirdos from all sides out of hiding.  The amount of bad logic and stretched truth on both sides is alarming.  All over issues which won't solve anything.
Oh well

California Cops vs Cops

So, in LA an ex cop is allegedly on a rampage.  He's one of those guys who knows he is ultimately doomed, and has issued the requisite wordy manifesto.

What is so intriguing is that I believe many, maybe most, of his allegations against LAPD are true.  His rationale for targeting families of the bad guys is not very good.  I can sort of understand the rationale for some of the targets he names.

It is clear that they would rather take him dead than alive.   Cops up there shot up a pickup truck similar to his which belonged to people delivering newspapers.  That set a couple of innocents to the hospital with bullet wounds.  It seems like they opened fire on some others in this manhunt, as well, totally making the guy's case against the overuse of force by that outfit.

He claims he blew the whistle way back when and that led to his demise as a cop.  He claimed that lesbians on the force harass males, blacks harass white underlings, and that many white cops show no respect for blacks and others.  I don't think this guy is racist but I do think he has flipped out.

The interesting part is that I believe there is enough truth to his allegations that those on the force want him silenced quick, hence the shootings based on flimsy resemblance of vehicle and such.  It is the stuff of an action flick.  Had this man not murdered family members of cops, I'd almost be on his side.

Well, not really on his side because killing people is way off base except in self defense or if you are wiping out violent gangs and thugs.

The guy is a walking contradiction.  He's armed to the teeth with everything from handguns to big stuff that could threaten helicopters and such, yet he is all for extreme gun control.  He is 100% behind Obama on just about everything, apparently.  I do not equate that with his form of insanity, although I do think such views are shortsighted.

So, a rogue ex-cop shooting up the bad cops and innocent relatives being chased by regular cops who are shooting up innocent bystanders in the hope that maybe they'll get lucky.

Just strikes me as wild, crazy and bizarrely ironic in some way.  But that is par for the course i California.   Bullet rains to nowhere coming soon.

Oh I didn't ever mention that they want to put meters on the private wells of homeowners out here in the sticks, so they can bill you for your water.  That is the only source of water out here, other than rainfall.  Nt sure if it is legal to collect that.  Not a lot of rain falls anyway.

1984, Brave New World, see it like a native!  Come to California.  Or, I guess you could just stay in New York.  Similar outcome, slightly different attack.

It is pretty, and the weather in Southern California cannot be beat.

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Opportunity Knocks

What I learned from watching the Super Bowl is that there must be a real dearth of talent in the field of media advertising.  I won't discuss each individual ad, but just observe that only a couple were worth the trouble.

There has long been that obnoxious genre of advertisement which aims to irritate you so much that you can't forget it.   In my case that backfires.  I will seek out the competitive good or service to avoid, if possible, feeding a company that pollutes the airwaves with ads which annoy me.

Viewing this collection of 2013 Super Bowl advertisements, which cost millions of dollars to produce and air, are supposed to be the best, cutting edge efforts of the industry, has caused me to believe there must be wide open opportunity for intelligent, creative marketers.

Normally, I get the edgy stuff more than many of my friends, so I don't think being out of touch explains my revulsion to some of these sales ads.  Edgy can be clever and witty, or it can be painfully banal and nauseating.  I think most of the commercials were truly bad.  It may reflect the confusion and collective lack of wit and self esteem of the culture.  Certainly, it does not reflect the best in our species.

With all the advances in technology and communication, I expected better.  Much better.  Are enough people of the variety that will find pure garbage appealing just because it is put before them as if it is to be liked?  Laff track people.

I did like one or two.  If some of the others had not irritated me to the point of near anger, I might approach those companies with some better ad concepts.  As it is I hope those firms wither and die.

One of the most bizarre and interesting Super Bowls I've seen, though.  And I thought Beyonce did a fine job at the half, and appears to have generously included her old bandmates.  Whatever her political connections and all that, the woman is obviously talented, hard working, and in fine shape.  Fortunately, I've not read the reviews and spin, if any, on the topic of her half time show.

Must be cool to get by without need of a last name.


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