How can you support Obama when he...

Obama Scandals list 1. Reneged on pledge to filibuster FISA Amendments Act (July 2008) 2. Lobbied for $700 billion Paulson TARP bank bailout 3. Pushed for no sanctions against Lieberman despite his support for John McCain 4. Nominated healthcare company lobbyist Tom Daschle as Secretary of HHS 5. Had neoliberal Robert Rubin as his chief economics adviser 6. Then had the equally neoliberal Larry Summers assume this role 7. Chose the failing upwards Timothy Geithner to head Treasury 8. AIG bonuses and money to Goldman under Obama 9. Doubling down in Afghanistan 10. Delay and reduction of withdrawal from Iraq 11. Moving Guantanamo activities to Bagram 12. Military commissions for some detainees 13. Support for indefinite detention 14. Refusal to release torture photos under FOIA 15. Refusal to investigate and prosecute Bush era criminality 16. Geithner’s DOA economic rescue programs: the PPIP and TALF 17. Minimal help for homeowners and no cramdowns 18. Treatment of Chrysler and GM with bankrupcy compared to bank no fail “stress tests” 19. Kabuki of TARP repayment by banks while still dependent on government credit lines 20. Extra-Constitutional use of the Fed by the Executive for fiscal policy 21. Credit Card bill without usury caps and with 9 month delay for other reforms 22. Business friendly Mary Schapiro named to head SEC 23. Gary Gensler who helped deregulate derivatives named to head CFTC 24. $787 billion stimulus: too little, too late, poorly structured 25. Use of financial crisis to attack Social Security and Medicare 26. The great healthcare non-debate 27. Continued use of state secrets argument in ongoing Bush era cases 28. Use of signing statements, including one to punish whistleblowers 29. Vetting process problems, especially tax related ones 30. Leaving Dawn Johnsen’s nomination to head OLC twisting in the wind 31. Eric Holder, failure to reform DOJ, not removing worst of Bush USAs 32. Failure to move against new oil bubble 33. Retention of Bush Defense team: Gates, Patraeus, and Odierno 34. Continued missile strikes inside Pakistan 35. Keeping Bush’s domestic spying programs and adding a new one, cybersecurity 36. Choice of Elena Kagan who favors expansive Presidential powers as Sollicitor General, her subsequent nomination to the Supreme Court 37. Leaving EFCA (to help counter anti-union companies) to wither in Congress 38. Welcoming Arlen Specter who brings nothing to the Democrats into the party 39. Weak ineffective proposals for financial reform 40. Obama wanted John Brennan at CIA but settled for making him his counter- terrorism adviser 41. Chas Freeman with broader Mideast perspective done in by AIPAC 42. Dennis Blair made DNI; failed to act to stop atrocities in East Timor 43. Choice of McChrystal involved in torture in Iraq to head Afghanistan command 44. Obama threat to suspend intelligence cooperation with UK over Binyam Mohamed case 45. Efforts to keep Bush and Obama White House logs secret 46. Playing games with “Don’t ask, don’t tell” 47. Filing a brief to overturn Jackson (access to lawyer) in the Montejo case 48. Not withdrawing Bush brief in Osborne DNA case 49. Egregious brief in challenge to Defense of Marriage Act 50. The Supplemental which made Iraq and Afghanistan Democratic wars 51. Choice of Rahm Emanuel as the President’s Chief of Staff 52. Choice of Dennis Ross as Iran envoy and then his move to the White House 53. Politically embarrassing processes to fill Obama and Clinton’s Senate seats 54. Choice of Bill Richardson, then Judd Gregg to head Commerce Department 55. Reneging on pledge to re-negotiate NAFTA 56. Obama’s throwing his pastor Jeremiah Wright to the curb, then reaching out to religious conservative Rick Warren 57. Continued challenges to habeas corpus petitions over indefinite detention, the Janko case 58. The Obama White House website 59. Continuing an ineffective program that Iran can exploit politically 60. Going slow on climate change when there is no time to 61. Not withdrawing a Bush-era amicus brief in the Ricci v. DeStefano reverse discrimination case and supporting a rollback of Title VII 62. Appointment of a CIA General Counsel who doesn’t know if waterboarding is torture 63. Appointment of a DNI General Counsel who doesn’t know if waterboarding is torture 64. CIA delay in a FOIA request concerning torture 65. The influence of Goldman Sachs in the Obama Administration 66. Attempt to keep secret the Cheney interview on the Plame affair 67. Mountaintop removal under Obama 68. Attempt to restrict Congressional notification on intelligence matters 69. Opposition to a second stimulus 70. Another egregious attempt to fight a habeas corpus petition in the Jawad case 71. Continuing charter schools and standardized tests 72. Holder’s decision to support a weak, narrow review of torture 73. Re-appointment of Ben Bernanke as Fed Chairman 74. Continuing renditions 75. Politically dubious company was used to vet reporters in Afghanistan 76. Judge vetoes a too weak SEC plea bargain with Bank of America 77. Justice’s argument for making Bagram a new Guantanamo, the al Maqaleh case 78. Defense to turn over databases to poorly controlled fusion centers 79. Obama changes but keeps Bush’s Star Wars program 80. Failure to win an Israeli freeze on settlements 81. White House refuses to back its own staffer environmentalist Van Jones 82. Politicized US Attorney in the Siegelman case cleared by Office of Special Counsel 83. Criticism of Iranian nuclear program; support of Israeli nuclear weapons 84. Support for a weakened reporter’s shield law 85. Use of the Zazi case to retain broad Patriot Act surveillance provisions 86. Wilner v. NSA, continuing the coverup of warrantless surveillance of communications between attorneys and detainees 87. Attempt to spike the Goldstone report on Israeli-Hamas war crimes in Gaza 88. Slowness in filling federal judgeships 89. Inadequate aid to overwhelmed state budgets 90. Attempting to dodge the Supreme Court deciding whether innocent Guantanamo detainees can be resettled in the US 91. Allowing drilling in the waters off the north coast of Alaska 92. Keeping detainee accounts of CIA torture secret 93. Current FBI manual allows for widespread domestic spying 94. Securitization invalidates most foreclosures 95. Geithner wanting unlimited powers to save large banks 96. Another state secrets defense to conceal domestic spying 97. Circuit Court dismissal of Maher Arar suit 98. Weakening Sarbanes-Oxley and calling it financial reform 99. Unemployment 100. Inspector General for Fannie and Freddie ousted for investigating fraud 101. Gaming courts to convict Guantanamo detainees 102. White House counsel removed for his principled stands on torture and Guantanamo 103. US seizes mosques claiming Iranian connection 104. Howard Dean removed as head of the DNC 105. Scientist with close ties to Monsanto put in charge of all governmental agricultural research 106. Pesticide lobbyist nominated as Chief Agricultural Negotiator for trade 107. Effort to let some government contractors avoid paying taxes 108. A bad US Attorney nomination for Northern Iowa 109. Hunger in America 110. The breast cancer recommendations fiasco 111. Ongoing confusion and disorganization in the military commissions process 112. Phillip Carter another official in closing Guantanamo resigns 113. Refusal to sign anti-land mine treaty 114. The Ghizzawi case and the legal limbo of “cleared for release” 115. Black prisons at Balad and Bagram 116. Delay in declassifying historic documents 117. Max Baucus’ conflicts of interest in healthcare and with his girlfriend 118. Major security breach at a White House party and a ridiculous assertion of “executive privilege” 119. Dana “Pig Missile” Perino nominated to the Broadcasting Board of Governors 120. Cass Sunstein, an anti-regulator in a regulatory position 121. Warrantless for profit electronic surveillance by telecoms and search engines 122. The government sides with torture lawyer John Yoo and attacks Bevins actions again 123. The TSA publishes its security manual online 124. Toxic legal arguments in al Zahrani v. Rumsfeld, yet another Bevins action 125. The Nobel Peace Prize and a neocon acceptance speech 126. Blackwater’s involvement in military and CIA assassination and drone programs 127. Congressional Research Service censorship in the firing of Morris Davis 128. AIG writes off $25 billion in debt and sticks taxpayers with the bill 129. The Administration plays hardball to kill an amendment that would lower drug costs 130. A poorly considered blank check to Fannie and Freddie 131. Continuing a Bush botch in the Nisoor Square massacre case 132. Jonathan Gruber, a major defender of Obamacare was also a paid consultant for it 133. A Geithner related cover up of the AIG at par payments on swaps 134. Adoption of stealth signing statements 135. al Bihani, more bad legal reasoning in another Guantanamo habeas case 136. Cutting Medicare and Social Security by deficit commission proposed 137. A 3 year non-freeze budget freeze proposed 138. NASA flights privatized 139. OPR report on Yoo and Bybee watered down and its relation to the Padilla case 140. Government targeting of US citizens for assassination 141. Abuse of informants by ICE agents 142. Obama leaves Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board empty 143. Obama backs firing of teachers in Rhode Island 144. Irish human rights advocate Edward Horgan has US visa pulled 145. Threatened veto of 2010 Intelligence Authorization Act over Congressional notifications 146. Obama Administration intimidation of whistleblowing site: wikileaks 147. Fish and Wildlife Service continues to ignore science on endangered species 148. Senate vacation more important than jobless benefits 149. Government seeks to compel turnover of emails without a warrant 150. Obama goes after an NSA whistleblower: the Thomas Drake case 151. Obama goes after a CIA whistleblower: the James Risen case 152. Weakening Miranda rights in national security cases 153. Advocating the privatizing of public housing 154. Another step in making Bagram the new Guantanamo, the al Maqaleh case, the appeals court edition 155. Massey mining disaster, 29 die because of corporate greed and poor regulation 156. Obama proposal for a line item veto 157. A military commander allowed to use military forces for intelligence operations without Presidential approval 158. Political pandering in sending 1200 National Guardsmen to the Southwest border 159. A sad record on resisting Guantanamo habeas petitions 160. Israel attacks an aid convoy for Gaza; Obama punts 161. A further erosion of Miranda: Berghius v. Thompkins 162. Naming James Clapper, a Bush appointee, to be the next DNI 163. DOJ seeks to protect Vatican in sex abuse scandal 164. Yahya Wehelie, an American exiled without charge 165. Failure to replace National Labor Relations Board members means hundreds of decisions must be reviewed 166. SCOTUS opts for overly broad definition of material support to terrorist groups 167. Speaker Pelosi backstabs Social Security 168. Complaints by government scientists of political interference at Bush era levels 169. Flip flop on free trade agreement with Colombia 170. SEC declares major victory but lets Goldman off easy 171. Private contracting of intelligence continues under Obama 172. Two Guantanamo prisoners to be deported back to Algeria against their will 173. The Shirley Sherrod affair: trumped up charges of racism and a bungled response 174. Whitewash report on Bush era US Attorney firings 175. Despite its record, Blackwater still gets big US government contracts 176. Wikileaks releases government files showing Pakistan involvement with Taliban and admission that things are going poorly in Afghanistan 177. Obama seeks to get access to everyone’s web histories without a court order 178. Teacher funding sacrificed to keep Education Secretary Arne Duncan happy 179. State’s top Iran hand resigns over Obama’s Iran policy 180. Citizens United: validation of unlimited corporate political funding 181. Push to expand US arms sales around the world 182. Project Vigilant, Infragard and “volunteer” corporate spying for the government 183. Obama’s approval hits Bush levels in Arab world 184. Effort to pre-empt state environmental lawsuits involving green house gases 185. Justice’s Anti-trust division asleep at the wheel 186. Kagan’s recusals render her even more ineffective on the Supreme Court 187. Poverty level highest since 1994 188. Courts run interference for corporate violators of international law 189. Warren named to set up but not to run Consumer Financial Protection Board 190. Chief economic adviser Larry Summers leaves; Obama looks for someone even more pro-business to replace him 191. DOJ IG report goes soft on Bush era surveillance against peace groups and other activists; meanwhile the Obama Administration conducts raids against similar groups 192. Move to put backdoors in the internet to facilitate spying and more requirements on banks on international money transfers of any size 193. HHS Secretary Sebelius delays for at least two years required insurance coverage for contraception 194. Americans on Medicaid increased to 48.5 million in 2009 195. Big home lenders suspend foreclosures as their documentation gets challenged in court 196. HR 3808, a bill passed by Congress, to facilitate the acceptance of false documentation by banks in foreclosure proceedings 197. ICE raids and deportations increase under Obama 198. Social Security COLA frozen for second straight year; no action taken 199. Waivers for military aid to countries with child soldiers 200. Big and deserved losses in the 2010 elections 201. 42 million Americans on food stamps at the end of FY 2010 202. No indictments for those involved in the CIA destruction of the torture tapes 203. The Bowles-Simpson Cat Food Commission proposals 204. $3 billion in aid for Israel for a 90 day settlement freeze 205. No change in Democratic Congressional leadership after 2010 election disaster 206. Forced proselytizing still prevalent at US Air Force Academy 207. TSA harassment and violation of the 4th Amendment 208. More TSA idiocy: full body scans and invasive pat downs 209. The response to the 2009 coup in Honduras 210. Use of diplomatic personnel to spy at the UN 211. Fed proposes rule change to Truth in Lending Act to protect bank fraud 212. FCC head Genachowski takes an axe to net neutrality 213. Lieberman and Amazon.com seek to censor wikileaks 214. Pressuring the Spanish government into dropping torture prosecutions against 6 high level Bush officials 215. Neoliberal free trade deal with South Korea at a time of high unemployment 216. Hamfisted banning access to wikileaks by government departments 217. Massive screwup in printing $100 bills 218. Extending tax cuts for the rich in a poor compromise on jobless benefits 219. Dancing boys of Afghanistan paid for by US contractor Dyncorp 220. EPA backtracks on smog standards 221. Former OMB director Peter Orszag goes to Citigroup 222. Obama breaks the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty to supply Israel with nuclear fuel 223. DREAM Act for children of illegal immigrants done in by Senate Democrats 224. DOJ drops investigations of corrupt members of Congress 225. The FBI’s Guardian database, another useless, intrusive surveillance program 226. Pentagon weakens rules on contractor conflicts of interest 227. Investigation by state Attorney Generals into foreclosuregate: no criminal charges 228. Obama names Mr. NAFTA Bill Daley as his new Chief of Staff 229. Obama names neoliberal free trader Gene Sperling to replace Larry Summers 230. Executive Order to make regulations more business-friendly 231. Gulet Mohamed: Detention and torture of US citizens by proxy 232. Nelson v. NASA: government can demand intrusive, unnecessary information about its employees 233. Choice of GE’s outsourcing CEO Jeffrey Immelt as Obama’s Jobs Czar 234. Failure to weaken or eliminate the filibuster 235. Corporate targeting of Wikileaks and liberal organizations 236. Reaction to the popular revolution in Egypt 237. HHS Secretary Sebelius helps states cut Medicaid rolls and funding 238. Petraeus accuses parents not US attacks for burns to children in Afghanistan 239. US general in Afghanistan sets up illegal propaganda program targeting Americans 240. Obama plans to devastate small block grants program for the poor 241. Silence on the Wisconsin labor protests 242. Former Senator Christopher Dodd quickly becomes lobbyist after promising not to 243. Obama reinstitutes sham review tribunals at Guantanamo 244. DOJ colludes with Bush era official Scott Bloch to keep him out of jail 245. The treatment of Bradley Manning 246. State Department spokesman PJ Crowley forced to resign over Manning comments 247. Massive conflicts of interest in David Stevens at HUD and soon to be head of main lobbying group for the mortgage industry 248. Mild reaction to bloody anti-democratic repression in Bahrain and Yemen 249. Torture psychologist appointed to White House task force 250. FBI program which allows them to investigate anyone doesn’t work (surprise) 251. In his Libya war, Obama has completed the unconstitutional process of Presidents’ usurpation of Congress’ power to make war 252. Obama accepts award for transparency in secret 253. Democrats create PACs to receive unlimited contributions from anonymous donors 254. 2011 government shutdown threat as Shock Doctrine 254. The 2011 “great” biprtisan budget deal 255. The OCC deal to cover for banks in foreclosuregate 256. Reshuffling neocons at DOD and the CIA 257. Leak of Detainee Assessments shines light on the weakness of cases against many Guantanamo inmates 258. Geithner shields foreign exchange derivatives from Dodd-Frank regulation 259. Crazy new application for some US passports 260. DOJ wants SCOTUS to allow for GPS tracking without a warrant 261. An industry stacked panel to study fracking 262. SCOTUS attacks small claim class actions 263. SCOTUS okays fraud in financial presentations 264. SCOTUS attacks large class actions and Title VII 265. DOJ’s non-investigation of torture produces few results 266. Department of State threatens participants of Gaza flotilla with terrorism charges 267. Detainees now held on ships to avoid judicial scrutiny 268. CIA operating a black site prison in Somalia 269. SCOTUS and DC Appeals Court torpedoing detainee habeas petitions 270. SCOTUS greatly expands warrantless searches; Obama DOJ approves 271. Tapping the Strategic Petroleum Reserve after the 2011 spike in gasoline prices 272. Christine Varney, head of DOJ Anti-Trust Division, goes to law firm that had case before her 273. Senseless 2011 debt ceiling crisis, budget cutting, and attacks on Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid 274. TSA closes US airspace to Mexican human rights activist 275. DHS guts its unit monitoring right wing terrorism in US 276. “Recovery” benefited corporations, not workers 277. Harassment of a government scientist Charles Monett because his work clashes with drilling in the Arctic 278. African Americans and Hispanic wealth took hardest hit from financial crises 279. Cass Sunstein sitting on labor rules to protect child workers 280. Oil leasing in Gulf resumes 281. Administration pressures NY AG Schneiderman to go along with bogus mortgage settlement 282. DOJ dumps responsibility for its bungled gun running sting on handy US Attorney 283. US ranks 41st in the world in infant mortality 284. White House engages in selective prosecution of Dan Choi over DADT protest 285. COBRA extension ditched 286. Obama spikes EPA ozone limits 287. 2011 Obama fictional jobs plan 288. Contractors cost twice as much as unionized federal workers doing the same work 289. New EPA greenhouse gas limits also being drawn out 290. CFTC proposes ineffectual limits on commodity speculation 291. State Department targets career officer Peter Van Buren for writing critical book 292. Secret Law and the OLC legal justification for killing a US citizen abroad 293. US incomes fall more after recession than during it 294. Another Afghanistan fail: torture rampant in Afghan prisons 295. Bank of America dumps derivative exposure on to the FDIC with Fed approval 296. New rule to legitimize government lying in response to FOIA requests 297. Cronyism and the Keystone XL pipeline 298. Despite pledge, Obama still taking money from lobbyists 299. Secure Communities and deportation as a business 300. The Occupy movement and the attacks upon it 301. DOJ prosecuting financial fraud at the lowest rate in 20 years 302. US stops funding of UNESCO 303. 42% of Americans living paycheck to paycheck 304. The Post Office facing cuts because of unnecessary prefunding mandates

Best Warm up Video ever.

Michelle Jenneke from Losse Veter on Vimeo.

Mitt makes a great speech.

Excerpts above.

In which the Republicans loose control of the narrative.

Unable to run on his record, Obama breaks another promise:




However, the truth does matter.  I hope it reaches the ears and eyes of voters sooner rather then later:

Try Sleep TODAY!

Friends Don't Let Friends Vote Obama: President Blames Republicans for H...

Zo nails it again..

Oooh I want to go.

Obama’s policy strategy: Ignore laws - Steve Friess - POLITICO.com

Obama’s policy strategy: Ignore laws - Steve Friess - POLITICO.com

Can you take responsibility for saying such boggleworthy crapola about Obama in the past?

“We have an amazing story to tell,” she said. “This president has brought us out of the dark and into the light.”

– Michelle Obama

“Obama is, of course, greater than Jesus.”

– Politiken (Danish newspaper)

“No one saw him coming, and Christians believe God comes at us from strange angles and places we don’t expect, like Jesus being born in a manger.”

–Lawrence Carter

“Many even see in Obama a messiah-like figure, a great soul, and some affectionately call him Mahatma Obama.”

– Dinesh Sharma

“We just like to say his name. We are considering taking it as a mantra.”

– Chicago] Sun-Times

“A Lightworker — An Attuned Being with Powerful Luminosity and High-Vibration Integrity who will actually help usher in a New Way of Being”

– Mark Morford

“What Barack Obama has accomplished is the single most extraordinary event that has occurred in the 232 years of the nation’s political history”

– Jesse Jackson, Jr.

“This was the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal.”

– Barack Obama

“Does it not feel as if some special hand is guiding Obama on his journey, I mean, as he has said, the utter improbability of it all?”

– Daily Kos

“He communicates God-like energy…”

– Steve Davis (Charleston, SC)

“Not just an ordinary human being but indeed an Advanced Soul”

– Commentator @ Chicago Sun Times

“I’ll do whatever he says to do. I’ll collect paper cups off the ground to make his pathway clear.”

– Halle Berry

“A quantum leap in American consciousness”

– Deepak Chopra

“He is not operating on the same plane as ordinary politicians. . . . the agent of transformation in an age of revolution, as a figure uniquely qualified to open the door to the 21st century.”
– Gary Hart

“Barack Obama is our collective representation of our purest hopes, our highest visions and our deepest knowings . . . He’s our product out of the all-knowing quantum field of intelligence.”

– Eve Konstantine

“This is bigger than Kennedy. . . . This is the New Testament.” | “I felt this thrill going up my leg. I mean, I don’t have that too often. No, seriously. It’s a dramatic event.”

– Chris Matthews

“[Obama is ] creative imagination which coupled with brilliance equals wisdom . . . [He is] the man for this time.”

– Toni Morrison

“Obama’s finest speeches do not excite. They do not inform. They don’t even really inspire. They elevate. . . . He is not the Word made flesh, but the triumph of word over flesh . . . Obama is, at his best, able to call us back to our highest selves.”

– Ezra Klein

“Obama has the capacity to summon heroic forces from the spiritual depths of ordinary citizens and to unleash therefrom a symphonic chorus of unique creative acts whose common purpose is to tame the soul and alleviate the great challenges facing mankind.”

– Gerald Campbell

“We’re here to evolve to a higher plane . . . he is an evolved leader . . . [he] has an ear for eloquence and a Tongue dipped in the Unvarnished Truth.”

– Oprah Winfrey

“I would characterize the Senate race as being a race where Obama was, let’s say, blessed and highly favored. That’s not routine. There’s something else going on. I think that Obama, his election to the Senate, was divinely ordered. . . . I know that that was God’s plan.”

– Bill Rush

Track and Field

Connor participated in the Special Olympic Track and Field events Saturday last.  He got a Silver in 400 meter and Bronze in Shot Put.

Early on I had suggested him for the 400 meter as he can run for quite a distance.  I feel he could have had gotten the gold...

At the start of the race he took off in the lead.  After the first bend he slowed down and let the first guy catch him, he began to talk to the first guy.  Who decided to run on ahead.  So Connor started talking with the next guy, keeping just ahead of him.  Until the far turn, when Connor decided to run to the finish.  Not at a fast pace but at his signature lope, which is actually pretty fast.

He finished without being out of breath...  So yeah...  If he understood the nature of a race, he would have finished first.  Gotta love this kid, he was all smiles.

Reasons why Unions are the problem. #2461

 Unions are now successfully hawking the same types of credit cards and lending schemes they deem “predatory” and “greedy” when offered by Wall Street bankers.

Sixteen Things Calvin and Hobbes Said Better Than Anyone Else

Sixteen Things Calvin and Hobbes Said Better Than Anyone Else

To paraphrase E.B. White, the perfect sentence is one from which nothing can be added or removed. Every word plays its part. In my more giddy moments I think that a simple comic strip featuring Calvin, a preternaturally bright six year-old, and Hobbes, his imaginary tiger friend, features some of the most lucid sentences committed to print. And when I sober up, I usually think exactly the same.

Bill Watterson’s Calvin and Hobbes ran between 1985 and 1995. His comic strip managed to infuse wondering (and wandering) on a cosmic scale into an ageless world of lazy Sunday afternoons, snow goons, and harassed babysitters. I’m not saying that you should take moral and philosophical guidance from the inventor of Calvinball (a game that runs on chaos theory), but you could do much worse.

So here, in no particular order, is a selection of quotes that nail everything from the meaning of life to special underwear. Enjoy.

On life’s constant little limitations

Calvin: You know, Hobbes, some days even my lucky rocket ship underpants don’t help.

On expectations

Calvin: Everybody seeks happiness! Not me, though! That’s the difference between me and the rest of the world. Happiness isn’t good enough for me! I demand euphoria!

On why we are scared of the dark

Calvin: I think night time is dark so you can imagine your fears with less distraction.

On the unspoken truth behind the education system

Calvin: As you can see, I have memorized this utterly useless piece of information long enough to pass a test question. I now intend to forget it forever. You’ve taught me nothing except how to cynically manipulate the system. Congratulations.

On the cruel reality of commercial art

Hobbes: Van Gogh would’ve sold more than one painting if he’d put tigers in them.

On the tragedy of hipsters

Calvin: The world bores you when you’re cool.

On the tears of a clown

Calvin: Isn’t it strange that evolution would give us a sense of humour? When you think about it, it’s weird that we have a physiological response to absurdity. We laugh at nonsense. We like it. We think it’s funny. Don’t you think it’s odd that we appreciate absurdity? Why would we develop that way? How does it benefit us?

Hobbes: I suppose if we couldn’t laugh at things that don’t make sense, we couldn’t react to a lot of life.

Calvin: (after a long pause) I can’t tell if that’s funny or really scary.

On the falling of sparrows (or providence’s lack of a timetable)

Calvin: Life is full of surprises, but never when you need one.

On why winter is the cruellest of seasons

Calvin: Getting an inch of snow is like winning 10 cents in the lottery.

On the gaping hole in contemporary art’s soul

Calvin: People always make the mistake of thinking art is created for them. But really, art is a private language for sophisticates to congratulate themselves on their superiority to the rest of the world. As my artist’s statement explains, my work is utterly incomprehensible and is therefore full of deep significance.

On playing Frankenstein with words

Calvin: Verbing weirds language.

On realising God is more Woody Allen than Michael Bay

Calvin: They say the world is a stage. But obviously the play is unrehearsed and everybody is ad-libbing his lines.

Hobbes: Maybe that’s why it’s hard to tell if we’re living in a tragedy or a farce.

Calvin: We need more special effects and dance numbers.

On why ET is real

Calvin: Sometimes I think the surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that none of it has tried to contact us.

On looking yourself in the mirror

Hobbes: So the secret to good self-esteem is to lower your expectations to the point where they’re already met?

On the future

Calvin: Trick or treat!

Adult: Where’s your costume? What are you supposed to be?

Calvin: I’m yet another resource-consuming kid in an overpopulated planet, raised to an alarming extent by Madison Avenue and Hollywood, poised with my cynical and alienated peers to take over the world when you’re old and weak. Am I scary, or what?

On the truth

Calvin: It’s a magical world, Hobbes, ol’ buddy…Let’s go exploring!

Democrat war on Women?

According to publicly available salary data at the website Legistorm, Pelosi’s female employees earned an average annual salary of $96,394 in fiscal year 2011. Male employees earned $123,000 on average, a difference of 27.6 percent.

The gap is even larger if calculated using the median salaries for men and women. For Pelosi’s female employees, the median annual salary was $93,320 in 2011, compared to $130,455 for male employees—a difference of $37,135, or 40 percent.

Pelosi’s entire staff—men and women—earned an average annual salary of $108,150 and a median salary of $114,662. By both measures, women made considerably less.

Last week, Pelosi was asked about reports that female staffers for Senate Democrats are paid less than male staffers. Pelosi’s response was that she can’t speak to what goes on in the Senate, and it’s “another world”

Women are being paid less than men for the same jobs just across the street from Pelosi and that’s “another world” and none of her business, but if somebody suggests pay disparities exist in, say, a Paducah Wal-Mart, Pelosi believes it’s her duty to aggressively address the problem?

Thanks Doug Powers.

Assistance technique

A couple of days ago a gentleman came into the Major Sales department at Costco with a question about hooking up a TV to a computer.  His complaint was "nothing happens".  We went to the Demo model of the TV he had purchased and I went over the ports in the back to get an idea of how he was hooking up his computer.  He was using an HDMI connection.

After a bit of discussion I opted to move the TV over to the laptop table and hook one up.  The TV powered up and I changed the inputs and viola, the TV showed the PC screen.  The gentleman was impressed with the simplicity and frustrated by his own experience.  For me it boiled down to either an older generation HDMI cable or some computer switch that needed to be toggled.  The HDMI was an issue as this was a Mac and he had purchased one specifically for his computer.  Also, not being familiar enough with the Apple OS I could not specifically state any keyboard shortcuts.

At least the member had some things to try out...

Yesterday, the same man came in with his Apple laptop.  Saying it was doing the same thing.  So we hooked it up to the TV and the desktop wallpaper immediately showed up.  This did not surprise him, which made me curious.  He did a few things to show me how the TV screen was not working.  However, I was pretty sure it was.

So with his permission I drove, and dragged a window to the right of his laptop screen and lo it appeared on the right.  At this point he became chagrined.  I went into a talk about the different types of dual monitor setups.  Extended desktop and mirrored.  I was able to find and change the settings so he could do both. As needed.

I probably got too much enjoyment out of solving this issue...

Footprintings

Climate change is real.  It is indisputable.  Mans role in causing changes in the climate is a weak theory at best.

I believe that the hypocritical fear mongering tactics of Al Gore are unethical and immoral at best, criminal at worse. Likewise those who suppress scientific investigation over political expedience.

That being said, I do believe we are stewards of the planet.  Personally, we do the sorting of paper, plastic and glass to hopefully reduce what goes into the local landfill.  I ride my bike to work, and I am a practicing vegetarian lifestyle. So my "carbon footprint" (the thought of which still makes me giggle) is very small.  I take advantage of proper chemical disposal (oil, paint etc.) and I am diligent about what pesticides and herbicides go on my lawn.  I am in the process of changing the bulbs in the house to lower cost LED's.

So when I am engaged in a discussion on the topic Global Warming, I can usually out holier then thou, the best of the Prius drivers.

Should we federally fund tidal, solar and wind power?  I could argue either way.  Some of the solar news from Germany is impressive.  I would love to see more nuclear plants to replace coal.  I am also gleaning more information about Thorium Salt Reactors.  I like seeing the hybrid cars and practical electric cars as well.

I would much rather have this all done by private enterprise.  So I guess my conservationism has limits.

Leeroy Jenkins: Reimagined as a Short Film

Global skeptics unite!

Kind of nice to read this. Despite allegations that they are tantamount to "flat earthers", a study published Sunday in the Nature Climate Change journal indicates that climate change skeptics actually tend to have a slightly higher level of general scientific knowledge than those who believe in the theory.

The study drew the conclusion after asking 1,540 representative Americans a total of 22 questions.

Some of the questions included:

“Electrons are smaller than atoms — true or false?”

“How long does it take the Earth to go around the Sun? One day, one month, or one year?”

“Lasers work by focusing sound waves — true or false?”

“As respondents’ science literacy scores increased, their concern with climate change decreased,” the paper, funded by the National Science Foundation, notes.

Though, to be fair, it was a close call.  Skeptics answered an average of 57% questions correctly, while those who indicated more concern for the effects of global warming answered an average of 56% correctly.

Back patting, at the least.

As stated previously, I love my job.  The management calls me Mr. Capable.  Which is fun and embarrassing at the same time.  On days like yesterday I feel I earn a bit-o-that accolade.

It was a great morning.  I was able to re-organize the 55" television by size.  It is much more aesthetically pleasing.  Televisions are measured via the picture portion diagonally.  This does not take into consideration the height of the stand and the bezel.  So each set will vary in height.  The human eye and brain likes to find patterns.  So I had noted the various heights of the Televisions and then set up an efficient plan to move the sets accordingly.  It came out looking very nice.

The morning started with lots of computer purchases.  I got to field several questions about home networks and  various ways of getting needed documents from one place to another. Which I always find enjoyable.

At one point during the day Eric (a manager) asked if I could download some software for our two way radio's.  He gave a vague direction about going to Motorola website.  I quizzed him on how I was to do this (we do not have internet connectivity).  Eric, suggested I talk to the Verizon guys, who have 3G wifi capable phones for Demo.  Fair enough...  So I got the model number of the radio's and went to the Verizon guys.

They set me up and gave me the security code.  I fired up a PC and logged in.  The distance I was at was playing havoc with the connectivity.  Also, the more I navigated through Motorola the more questions my brain kept asking me.

Why would radio's need software?  Do we have a base unit?  How are we going to upload said software to the radio?  Am I looking for an update? Patch? etc.

I had to get more info if I was going to make some non blundering sense out of this, so I headed into the office to talk to Leslie, as she had delt with the radios the most.  For some reason, because of how the radio's are we had a limited number of radios that would be able to communicate (I still do not quite get this, I mean there is no limit to the number of AM radios that can listen to one station, right?).  I was informed that the issue was the frequency for our area had some kind of issue and we needed to have our own.  Which had been acquired and now needed to be applied.

Further we did not have a base unit and she showed me a USB connection that connects a radio to a computer.  This gave me that eureka moment (minus the naked running).  So I grabbed the office laptop and headed back to Verizon and found the only software download.  Headed back to the office and USB'd the Radios and launched the code.

I was very curious at this point.  What was going to happen?  Would it update automatically? Would there be something I needed to do?  I was a tad disappointed when a user interface launched.

So now what does this mean?  I launched the help files and started perusing the file.  I found a part about doing a read from the radio.  Which yielded an error message.  Just about the time I thought I was missing something, I tried a different radio and it worked.  As I poked around there was an editable table. Which, only let you turn the frequency on and off.

I decided to set the frequency as close to the list as possible.  It was off by a 10th, I figured that was close enough. And it was.

Turns out this interface allows you to alter the settings for a radio and save that as a profile, then using the USB you can program the radio's one after another.  The Read will let you grab a radio's setting and 'clone' that to another bunch.

Once I got the methodology and enough understanding the rest went very quickly.

Link

Remember when global warming was a gigantic, apocalyptic danger that was going to destroy the world and that no true scientist would deny was such a thing?

We don’t either. Indeed, after two successive scandals, more financial conflicts of interest than can be properly counted, and “An Inconvenient Truth” being ruled inaccurate by a UK Court, it’s starting to become a mystery how this doomsday cult-style prophecy attracted the kind of credibility it did.

State of the Teach

The above cartoon has been circulating around the inter-webs.  It is generally received as a truthful representation of the sad state of parenting in the US of A.  I tend to reject sure thought as everyone in history always pines for the better times that the past represented.

I do feel that the high regard that the teaching profession once held has been tarnished.  Consider that most of us parents are given to complain about the lousy educational system and the crappy teachers out there, only to say how delighted they are with the person teaching their child.  And teachers themselves blame parents ad nausem for behaviors and lack of preparation.

One would think that the parents of today would draw upon their own experience with teachers. If they did go to public school the teachers of that time would have set the future tone. If the above is true then the teachers of the 40's and 50's where beyond reproach, while the teachers of the 70's and 80's were unreasonable in handing out grades.  Right?

The Thing That Used to be Liberalism.

WH leaks for propaganda film

It’s a complete mystery to me why any Lefty with an ounce of self-respect left does not vote third party.

If you are a Lefty Obama support and are not yet conversant in reasons to feel burning shame for prostituting your alleged “liberal values” for this man, you need to go an read one of the very few honest Lefties, Glenn Greenwald. He will abundantly document for you the immense damage Obama is doing, not just to the United States, but to the last shreds of honor left to the Thing That Used to be Liberalism.

Eddie Izzard- Death Star Canteen

Nick names and shoes.

I bought some shoes. This is the first time I have received compliments on my footwear.  It is very odd.  As I run more minimalist, I have been finding my new balance shoes are hurting my heels and my feet get overheated.  I found these shoes which are insanely light and have zero lift, which means the footbed is level.  The mesh makes it much more breezy as well.  All in all it has been a godsend for my feet.  And made me into a fashion diva?

I work at Costco (as stated ad nausem).  I work in electronics aka: Major sales.  The procedure for badges is to have your name in large print with your department in smaller print under. My first badge had Lee Majors in this fashion.  Which provided a chuckle for my peers at the same time confusion for my younger co-workers.

In case you do not know the story of Lee Majors.

So I have more the some people who call me Lee Majors at work, thus a nickname is born.

The Avengers did so much right it makes a fan-boi like myself very happy indeed.  It looks as though right for me is right for everyone as the box office reflects.

Why so huge?  Well the great string of movies as a lead in.  Except for the two hulk movies they did well.

The Iron man films being excellent due in no small way to Downy and Paltrow.  Same with Thor and Cap.  The introduction of Black Widow in Iron Man 2 was excellent as well.

One of the things this franchise has done was grab hold of the essence of the characters.  Tony Stark is brilliant, arrogant and ego driven.  The comic stories include battles with alcoholism loosing and regaining his fortune again and again.  Thor's Chris Hemsworth got the "aura" correct.  If there is that sort of thing.  Even Cap's movie was such a great idea driven device. Chris Evens plays him so driven and self sacrificing.  And Kudos to Tom Hiddleston for a great two movie run as Loki.

Whoever got Joss Wheadon on this movie should get an Oscar for production.  I shudder to think of directors who would not understand the source material (see any older super hero film).

What really impressed me about this film:

• The power levels of the characters are so well represented.  The Hulk fighting Thor being such a close matchup.  Iron Man doing Okay against the Asgardian until he gets too close.  Cap's use of the shield and his hit and run tactics against a much stronger enemy.
• The heroism displayed in an non-eye rolling fashion. 
• The Hulk being damn scary to a Russian spy.  
• Despite being scared crap-less she is still able to take apart Hawkeye.
• The interaction and respect gaining.
• The Hulk and Loki's 'little talk'

Some of the more confusing moments are the impotent workings of S.H.I.E.L.D.  Fury being addressed by the shadow council.  

I could keep writing about this film. I do hope they come together for more.

’Gaia’ scientist James Lovelock: I was ’alarmist’ about climate change

’Gaia’ scientist James Lovelock: I was ’alarmist’ about climate change

Gay Marriage a Rights issue?

I keep seeing Homosexual unions being put into the context of a Rights issue.  I just do not see it that way.  A friend of mine stated that Everyone DOES have the right to marry someone of the opposite sex.

It boils down to the definition of marriage. Which is about sex.  It is obvious to all that sex is about reproduction. That’s what it’s for in animals, and that’s what it’s for in us. We may find it enjoyable, but from a biological perspective, that is motivation to get us to engage in it and thus reproduce our species.


Sex is about babies, and there is an important fact about babies: They are helpless and require an enormous amount of care and attention. It’s a full-time job more than one person can handle. Even when they grow out of the infant stage, children still need two parents to take care of them and provide for the family.

Children also take a long time to mature. They won’t be biologically mature for around two decades (if then), and they may not be socially mature and able to serve as functioning, independent members of society for even longer. When more children come along, that only prolongs the period of investment parents have to make in raising their offspring.

Raising children is a multi-decade effort that needs the involvement of both parents. The fact that human offspring require so much care and take so long to mature means that their parents need to be joined in a stable union. This union even extends beyond the childrearing years, because by the time the offspring are grown the parents are in their declining years and need to start taking care of each other (as well as receiving help from their offspring).

From my Catholic standpoint, as the Code of Canon Law points out, "marriage is a permanent partnership between a man and a woman ordered to the procreation of offspring by means of some sexual cooperation" (CIC 1096 §1). This is the reality of what marriage is and what it has been understood to be in all human societies in history, even those that have been otherwise tolerant of homosexuality.

Human nature thus leads to sex, which leads to offspring, which leads to the reality of childrearing, which leads to marriage—an institution found in every human culture and understood in the way just described..

Never, Ever Give Up. Arthur's Inspirational Transformation!

Crazy little thing called run.

Over the course of my life I find myself interested in something and I immerse myself into said something.  Among the subjects was Weather, Dinosaurs, Theoretical Physics, Comic Books, Computers, Weight lifting, Vegetarianism (nutrition), etc. Currently it is running.

A few years ago I tried to drop some weight, I was near 300 lbs.  When I made little to no headway, I joined a weight loss club TOPS and had some success getting into the 260's.  There was a long period of time were I would half hazardously attempt various things to loose weight with no real direction.  Then a friend of mine lost weight and explained how in terms that made more sense then anything I had read or done thus far.  So I dropped weight and got below 200.  To facilitate weight loss I began walking to and from work.  Then I upped the ante by running home.  At some point my foot would start  hurting and I would just hoof it for a couple of days.  My doctor told me it was plantar fasciitis and gave me a golf ball to help massage my inflamed foot.

Then my weight loss buddy said I should check out a book "Born to Run".  Again this so wonderfully explained  running that I took it to heart.  I tried forefoot running and found it was much easier and after the soreness of my calve muscles wore off I would run again.  I was up to about three mile runs when I decided to do a 10K.  This was about two years ago.  I ran and completed the race but my leg muscles locked up so badly that walking itself was nigh impossible.

Clearly I did not quite get this way of running.  Over the last couple of years I have figured out and resolved what I was doing wrong.  Today, I decided to run a rout and in 45min I had run 4.8 miles.  With no ill effect.

This is while wearing river shoes.  

The Ruling Class Makes Free Speech A Felony

Regarding Mormonism

Regarding Mormonism

Lacking faith to be Atheist.

I lack the faith to believe in anti-Christian accounts of the origins of Christianity. And I totally lack the massive faith it requires to be an atheist. The sort of concentration of will it requires to block out the blandishments of reality and common sense are too exhausting for me.

Inspired by Star Wars?

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Shoes for my feet.

I am having a difficult time with shoes.  My feet like them less and less.  Today I went into Wal-Mart to purchase some river sox, which I use for running.  As I was walking through the store my feet felt hot.  When I tried on the sox I felt like not putting my shoes on again.  I loosened the laces hoping that would help.  Nope...

Minimalist running has really captured my imagination.  Going from new balance running shoes to river socks cured my Plantar Fascitis.

President Obama disgracefully attacks Supreme Court for challenging him on ObamaCare - NYPOST.com

President Obama disgracefully attacks Supreme Court for challenging him on ObamaCare - NYPOST.com

My view is that his comments reveal the dirty secret of his personality and the main reason why his presidency is failing. Obama simply can’t tolerate dissent.

Not getting his way provokes him into making foolish and irrational assertions. This is the president who, three days after taking office, rejected a Republican idea on the stimulus by declaring, “I won.”

Downhill learning

Connor is my 14 year old Autistic son (in case your new to this narrative).

He is a two times gold medal cross country skier with Special Olympics.  He has increased in skill to the point he is working out with the adult group.  On his first trip to Mt. Bachelor  he was enthralled with the ski lifts and wanted to downhill ski.  Last Friday we went to a learning session.

The mind is fascinating and even more so when teaching Connor.  Imagine someone makes a series of sounds and associates them with an object.  Not to tough actually we do this all the time.  Now think of associating these sounds with a concept previously unknown.  That is a real mind bender, as we usually formulate questions to cement the concept.

The first struggle was his ski poles.  He knew he should have them, this was reinforced by everyone he saw having a pair.  However, the instructors want the fundamentals of stopping and turning prior to pole use.  This escalated into a melt down and Connor acting up trying to get his way.  Coaches however, are made of sterner stuff.  With my intervention he started the learning process with a request for poles every bunny hill run.  Accepting, barely the "not yet" response.

After demonstrating the snowplow stop and turning.  He got to go up the beginner lift.  Because it was a lighter day on the hill he got to sit alone on the lift.  This was a turning point as, one of the best things ever!  He even forgot his pole quest as he got to ski down the hill and solo lift up.  He took pains to ensure he was the only one on his lift.

This became a detriment as he was more focused on getting back down to the lift instead of gaining the skills of turning and stopping on the hill.  All in all he progressed to the point where the next hill awaited.

This is where things got scary.  Up till now he was paying little attention to the skills he needed.  I got him some poles, which made him happy. The coaches wisdom quickly presented itself as Connor lost control and started hurtling down the hill.  He attempted to stop by laying on his back, which did not work.  I gave chase and was shouting for him to snow plow.  He got up one time and gave it a mediocre attempt, only to lay down again.  The second time he got up he was able to stop.  This truly scared him, the being out of control, going so fast and his attempts to stop via instinct not working at all.

He abandoned the poles and began to learn from the coach.  So my giving him the poles and his downhill plummet successfully broke his paradigm.  What happened next was his quickly learning to turn, stop and control himself,  the next two runs he applied the knowledge and gained back his confidence.  The last three runs we did were sans poles and he was skiing parallel for a goodly portion.  I noticed that his precision on the slope.  He appeared to make his cuts and turns at exactly the same points each time, with adjustments made for other skiers.

There was more then a little pride seeing his confidence and skill surpassing those familiar jackets who we had shared the mountain with.  By this time his grin showed enjoyment on the slope as well as on the occasional solo lift going up.

A Peek Inside Online Retailers’ Warehouses

Brought to you by: Business Insurance Guide

Voters are Stupid...

I just find it fascinating, after all of these years of polls and these guys have used polls to make news, not reflect it, they have used these polls to create public opinion, and all of a sudden two bad polls (for Obama) in the same day and the respondents are stupid.

Gloria Purvis - HHS Mandate is Anti-Woman: Catholics Need to Speak Up

On February 27, the Catholic Information Center and the women's web-magazine Altcatholicah cosponsored the panel discussion, "Women Challenging the HHS Mandate." Here, panelist Gloria Purvis discusses how the HHS Mandate is anti-Woman and how Catholics need to get speak up on the issue.

Ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-changes

They are changing supervisors at work...

”Rush Limbaugh Isn’t the Only Media Misogynist,”

 ”Rush Limbaugh Isn’t the Only Media Misogynist,” Powers asks if all liberal media personalities are held to the same standard as their conservative counterparts. For the Democratic strategist, the answer is a resounding “no.”

In the name of "what we think you should be like"

When, exactly, do we help our fellow man .vs. hurting them differently?

I am re-reading a wonderful book, Born To Run, In looking up some of the runners written about, I came across an interview where someone takes issue with the authors romanticizing the living conditions of the Tarahumara Indians of the Copper canyon, when they live in "abject poverty".

In reading the book I did not get the same impression.  Which got me thinking about the early missionaries, bringing technology and religion to various places on earth.  This goes back to that well meaning gesture or the road paved with good intentions.

Is it right to look at a society and proclaim the inadequate based upon our own?  This idea bring up images of atrocities.  The Hey!  you should be like us! Mentality permeates our nobler then thou culture.

Gene Roddenberry pondered the corruption of one society upon another.  His solution was observation and gleaning understandings well before imperialistic actions.

There are peoples ways of life that are good and bad and nigh impossible to judge from an outsiders standpoint.  There could be delicate balances trampled underfoot while striving to "make things better" for those who are "less lucky"...  Which is really a crock of crap.

Then again look at our current information age and the struggles that abound.  Wouldn't it be great of some extraterrestrials came from elsewhere and pointed out how we would be much better off enslaved?

Yeah... me neither...

The HHS Mandate: Anti-Catholic and Un-American, Fr. Barron comments

Kicking and screaming.

I ran two miles today.  This is my first run since January 7th.  I had not problems.  It was exhilarating in fact.  I feel very 'up' right now due to the various stuff that comes with human Endocrinology.  Next up is a trip to the local dump to discard old plants.

I am really enjoying being in shape.  Yes, I feel stiff and sore at times.  However, the rest of the time the sensations are wonderful.  I out perform many of my younger co-workers (or so I am told).  This is not at all what I thought 50 would be like.  I started my half century mark by climbing the highest mountain in Douglas County. I have continued by running, skating and riding my bike (I should hit 2000 miles on my bike this year).

The science on aging is really interesting.  We have learned that our feet work better without shoes, sleep eight hours straight is not normal and that maximum nutrition with minimal calories increases health and life.

As I am enjoying my healthier lifestyle there is still room for improvement.  Which takes time but will come.  I plan on following my 91 year old pop and go down kicking and screaming.

Fun with Obama Math!

Want to make unemployment look like it is going down?  Just reduce the number of Jobs available!

Pallet blocked.

This morning's merchandising job was to simply move the beds (mattresses) from one side of the building to another.

First order of business was to make room.  So several pallets of sporting goods got moved around, along with some booze pallets.  More still was wrapped up to head back to the depot for next year's winter seasonal items.  Got that done.  Next up was moving the beds.

Each of the mattresses are on two pallets, side by side, 48" by 80" and they have to be pulled in such a way that they are a 86" wide load.  To add to the difficulty, most of the ways are blocked with pallets of merchandise.   So I cleared a route along the back of the Deli cases and informed the co-worker in that area of my intent of using that as a thoroughfare for mattresses.

With my mighty pallet jack in tow I bridged the pallets and cranked them up, up, up till they were pull-able.  Then using my acquired knowledge of steering ungainly objects, I set off down the Deli express route!  Unfortunately, the very co-worker in whom I had confided, decided to drop a pallet of delicious delicateness in my path.  She was suitably chagrined and removed the obstacle.  With my course now clear, I was able to reach my destination for the first of several trips.  With my mighty pallet jack I hefted the next king-size and headed towards the vennel, only to find two pallets of goods.  My formerly chagrined co-worker had not noticed them being dropped off and quickly helped rectify the situation.  My trusty fork lift driver, Gina, removed the other impediment.  I explained to her my intentions of moving mattoks and she affirmed she would keep said alley clear.

The next trip was surprisingly free of clogging and I felt somewhat relieved.  Of course the laws of irony had a good guffaw at my next attempt.  I turned the corner just in time to see another driver, Nathan, driving off after dropping a load (pun intended).  He heeding my cry (girlish screaming anguish), with a quizzical stare.  After my exasperated explanation he took it upon himself to not only de-barrier the path, but with annoyed gusto.  Next he took the next two pallets with his conveyance to the far side.

This left one final pallet and all the drivers in the area aware of my plight.  I was fairly confident until I turned the corner to spy a pallet sitting dead middle of the means of access and Richard, the receiving driver just out of earshot.

I was not sure if I should laugh or cry...

Timey Wimey

Back in 1773, Samuel Madden wrote Memoirs of the Twentieth Century.  This details life in the late 1990's through legal documents handed to the author via "Guardian Angel".  It is, in its way the first backwards time travel story.

Time travel as a plot device, can easily be misused or amazingly effective.  The paradoxes and childish "what if" scenarios are very entertaining.  Why is this so?  I wonder if this plays to humans dislike of change? Or the idea that our choices may not have been good ones.

As I am REALLY happy with my current life, I would not opt at going back in time for fear of changing my current future.  Could better futures be out there?  by my way of thinking,  Not by much.  I also think that some of those 'bad choices' that we do not take could be very entertaining, if you could just skip some of the horrid outcomes.

Time travel is a romantic notion that allows us some mental creativeness and zero reality.

Tantamount

At the TOPS club meeting, last night, there was a talk about motivation.  Since August 2010 I have been riding my bike to work, in rain, snow, fog and sunny weather.  I ride approx four times a week which is over 40 miles each week.  You would think, with my consistency, people would figure out this is my normal.

The Live Earth debacle did have a couple of positives for me. One Bob Geldof and Two the Artic Monkeys.

answers to quotes

Napoleon Dynamite
Yeah right. Who's the only one here who knows the illegal ninja moves from the government?

Die Hard
You ask for a miracle, I give you the FBI
Clerks II
I made fun of "Lord of the Rings" so hard, it made some supergeek puke all over the counter. Where do we keep the mop and bucket so I can make Elias clean it up?
The Emperor's New Groove
Let's take a look-see. Hate your hair. Not likely. Yikes. Yikes. Yikes. And, let me guess, you have a great personality.

My Favorite year
Damn you! I'm not an actor, I'm a movie star!

Equilibrium
The gun katas. Through analysis of thousands of recorded gunfights, the Cleric has determined that the geometric distribution of antagonists in any gun battle is a statistically predictable element. The gun kata treats the gun as a total weapon, each fluid position representing a maximum kill zone, inflicting maximum damage on the maximum number of opponents while keeping the defender clear of the statistically traditional trajectories of return fire. By the rote mastery of this art, your firing efficiency will rise by no less than 120%. The difference of a 63% increase to lethal proficiency makes the master of the gun katas an adversary not to be taken lightly.
Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure
Want a twinkie, Genghis Khan?

Adventures in Babysitting
Nobody leaves this place without singing the blues.

Full Metal Jacket
Sir, the private believes that any answer he gives will be wrong! And his senior drill instructor will beat him harder if he reverses himself, sir!

Zoolander
Have you ever wondered if there was more to life, other than being really, really, ridiculously good looking?

The Matrix
I'd like to share a revelation that I've had during my time here. It came to me when I tried to classify your species and I realized that you're not actually mammals. Every mammal on this planet instinctively develops a natural equilibrium with the surrounding environment but you humans do not. You move to an area and you multiply and multiply until every natural resource is consumed and the only way you can survive is to spread to another area. There is another organism on this planet that follows the same pattern. Do you know what it is? A virus. Human beings are a disease, a cancer of this planet. You're a plague and we are the cure.
Drunken Master II
Water floats, but also capsizes boats.
The Replacement Killers
Hostage etiquette: kidnapper pays the incidentals.

Monty Python and the Holy Grail
I don't want to talk to you no more, you empty headed animal food trough wiper. I fart in your general direction. Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries.
Mystery Men
God's given me a gift. I shovel well. I shovel very well.

50 first Dates
Are you staring at me or her? 'Cause you're starting to freak me out.

Happy Gilmore
I'd like to punch that guy in the face right now. But I can't, you know, because I'd get in trouble. I bet you get a lot of that on "Let's Make A Deal."

Every candidate should support rational measures to protect and improve our environment, but it makes no sense at all to back expensive programs that divert resources from real needs and are based on alarming but untenable claims of "incontrovertible" evidence.

Dream of the 90s - Portlandia on IFC

So I spend some time in Portland and it is just a cool city to visit.  There is lots to see and do and there is a feeling that just begged to be captured.  Sure enough Portlandia does just that.

Then I spend time in Eugene and there really is no way you could ever think of cool.  It is more of a mess.

Obama the liar TV Ad.

Foreign oil imports below 50 percent - do you want to know why? Massive economic downturn.

The impression here is Obama is promoted domestic drilling and refining when he is obstructing it.

Welcome to Obama running for office, lets make up stuff.

America's clean energy industry, 2.7 million jobs and expanding rapidly. What is America's clean energy industry? It stands undefined. Where does he get this 2.7 million jobs figure?

Even FactCheck calls this misleading:

■ The spot uses outdated quotes from groups that said his record on ethics is “unprecedented” and that he “kept a promise to toughen ethics rules.” Those same groups said later that he “has let down millions of Americans who accepted his word” and rated his promise as “broken.”

■ The 30-second TV spot also trumpets a claim of “2.7 million jobs” in “America’s clean-energy industry.” That mostly counts jobs put in place long before Obama took office.

■ Finally, it boasts that U.S. dependence on foreign oil has declined to below 50 percent, as a net share of total demand, for the first time in more than a decade. That’s true, and increasing U.S. oil production is a factor (despite Republican criticisms that Obama is anti-drilling). But economists say the chief factor is reduced oil consumption, brought on by the recent economic recession.

I find it sadly ironic that it was primarily woman's groups who faught for the right for abortion and now women are opting for abortion so as to terminate female births.


Canada abortion issues.  The sentence I find sadly misinformed: "Call it the unintended consequence of Canada's open abortion policy and increasingly multicultural demographic."  


Its a Girl! (the three deadliest words in the world)

Never simple.

It was one of those warm snuggle mornings.  The bed was ever so comfortable.  I was pondering how long I could stay under the warm layers, in-between cat napping quick dreams.

"The shower is not getting hot" came the klaxon call from the bathroom. My wife has work, I have the day off of work.  Well, I had the day off from my job.  Work was about to be my day...

I slogged out the door, slipped my work tennies on and proceeded down the half flight of concrete steps that leads to under-the-house.  To my dismay there was lots of standing water... a flood.  Great...

Living on a hill and having a flooded basement is not something considered.  But, there it was, a good six inches of water.  Curiously it was still below the access panel to the gas water heater.

First order of business was to get the water out of my basement.  My contemplation started with bailing or using a garden hose as a siphon.  Slipping on my trusty rubber boots, my brain had devised the next step and a shovel was soon in hand.  Heading to the downhill side of the house I started with a hole then a furrow.  This effectively destroyed a planter.  I got a trickle of water and increased the furrow to match.  Then headed inside and connected the tunnels.  My mind went back to kindergarten and sand box tunnels of yore.  As the water started flowing I had a smile of satisfaction until the grim task of troubleshooting the water heater came.

When we first moved into our house, the water heater was an electric model that sat in the kitchen disguised as a work-space.  My pop and I installed a much more affordable gas heater a few years back. This was a direct vent water heater that could be safely vented out a side wall.

The access panel was dry and I was perplexed at why the flame had gone out.  I used the igniter and the pilot lit!  HUZZAH! Hot water abounds...  Then it went out and would not re-light.

There was a note on the side saying that after a flood you need to replace the unit.  Great, just what I need a new water heater.  How do I find another direct vent?  How far would I have to drive  to find one.  My day was quickly becoming the suck.

Tina boiled some water and got ready for work.  Trevor was mopping out the remaining water.  I called the smartest plumber on the planet, my Pop.  Pop quizzed me about several aspects and finally told me to call the "gas guy"  As they are more familiar with current gas water heaters then he was.  Avista is our gas utility and I placed an order for someone to come out.

Next up I called my brother-in-law, Doug.  Doug is a plumber by trade who was tutored by my Pop.  He thought the gas line might have some water or debris and had thoughts on clearing (something the Gas guy would do later).  He also cautioned that some units have a fail safe that burns itself out when it overheats.  He could not figure out how a flood would make it overheat, but provided the caution.

Tony from Avista arrived and set about checking the water heater.  This was not the fail-safe style unit and with out much effort he got the pilot to light and the burner to work!  HUZZAH! Hot water abounds...  Then As he started putting the screws of the burner back it went out and would not re-light.

No air was getting to the flame...  A direct draft Gas water heater has an air intake and exhaust nested inside one another they start and stop at the top of the tank.  It was perplexing.  Tony took out the burner again and we saw the reflection of standing water UNDER the burner below a plate.  This corresponded with the air intake pipes that run down the backside of the unit.

Now with a battle plan I sent Tony Avista on his way.  Headed to lowes to buy a small water pump (the kind powered by a drill. and some hose. Pumped out the water then used sponge and paper towels until the bottom was all but dry.

This time the flame burned happily and began the task of heating my water.  Which I just now tested and... dare I say it? HUZZAH! Hot water abounds!

The best the GOP has to offer?

I am thinking that its hold your nose and vote time.  At least any of them will be a huge improvement!

Fr. Barron comments on Why I Loved to Listen to Christopher Hitchens