100th Post

In the world of television production, the 100th episode would be celebrated in many ways.

Certainly a cake for the cast and crew. And T-shirts and/or mugs commemorating the occasion. Probably a very special guest star. (At best, George Clooney. At worst, Pauley Shore.) Definitely a tape piece on "Entertainment Tonight" and a small blurb in "Entertainment Weekly."

In an elementary school class, the 100th day would be celebrated with 100 M&Ms, funny paper glasses that say "100" and, probably, a cake.

So, here it is, The Blog's 100th post.

The blog has 9 members. (One of them seems to be registered twice, so, really, only 8. But, that's okay.) An average of 15 visitors a day. Some of them friends and family. But, a small handful from all over the world. That's kinda cool!

No cake. Sorry. No T-shirts or M&Ms.

No George Clooney.

But, make no mistake. The Premature Curmudgeon is grateful for everyone who has stopped by to visit.

The PC has amused some of you. Thank you for your comments here on the blog, on his Facebook page and in person. I appreciate your feedback!

The PC has pissed a few of you off. That's cool. Fuck you! I appreciated you too.

But, sadly, no cake.

Or T-shirts.

Tomorrow, The Blog will post his 101st post.

And, I promise you, it's going to be a fucking mind blower!

See you tomorrow!

A Missed Anniversary

Well, Hell!

The Blog has been so busy snarking, kvetching and referring to himself in the third person that he completely missed the big anniversary earlier this week.

                May 21, 2012. The one year anniversary of The Rapture That Didn't Happen!

Did you forget, too? I wouldn't be too surprised.

Judgement Day 2011 was to the early 21st Century what the comet Kohoutek was to the 1970's.

                                         If you understand this reference, congratulations! You are old!

The Blog wasn't blogging at this time last year. If he had been, he probably would have written a six part series spanning three months (March, April and May) with a follow up in October.

Because, DAMN, it was a laugh riot! Nothing anywhere near as weird as last year's Rapturepalooza has happened in the past 12 months, except for, maybe, the Republican primary race.

Around February or March of last year, billboards like these started going up all over the country.

Weird, yes. But no weirder than the World Net Daily "birther" billboards. The world is full of crackpots with money to burn.

What was really weird was that so many people across America were buying into it.

I mean, I get that many branches of the Christian church believe that, one of these days, Jesus will return to Earth and believers will be plucked right out of their shoes....

                                                                                  ...and moving vehicles...
...and transported to Heaven for Final Judgement. So, it really isn't so strange, I suppose, that an alarming number of people might just take the warnings seriously and start giving away their belongings, running up credit cards, traumatizing their children and paying entrepreneurial non-believers a retainer to take care of their pets after they have been sucked up to the Heavens.

No. The strangest part of all was that all of this hysteria was stirred up by...

                                                                         This guy.

The Blog's Facebook post on May 17th, 2011 said this....

Harold Camping, the founder of Family Radio Worldwide, says the Apocalypse will begin at about 6 p.m., on Saturday with a series of tremendous earthquakes that will follow the sun around for 24 hours. Then things get really bad. (Camping also predicted the world would end September 6, 1994, but he’s got a good feeling this time around.)

Yep! A 180-year-old radio guy.

(The PC probably has a whole other post in him about the baffling fact that cult leaders tend to be, not the charismatic rock gods that one would imagine, but rather, dorky little trolls who were probably picked on in school by the school nerds.)

There was some speculation, at the time, (even by some of his own employees) that Camping was a con artist and that the only one disappearing on May 21st would be Camping himself. Along with about 70 million dollars!

As it turned out, Camping was really just a delusional old coot who, rather than having the good sense to disappear, instead re-calibrated his "prophecy" to October 21st.

*SPOILER ALERT*

He was wrong about that date, too!

But, oh he had people believing! Here is a photo taken by The Blog himself, on May 19th, the run up to Armageddon. 

A year (+ four days) later, we're still here. Most of us, anyway. And those who are no longer with us didn't leave behind smoking shoes.

But, a year later, The Blog is still chuckling over his favorite thing to come out of it all.

There is a Seventh Day Adventist Church about a block from The Blog's house. For as long as I have lived in the area, a small marquise sign at the church's parking lot entrance has read, "Jesus is Returning Soon."

But, on the morning of May 22, 2011, the good humored folks at 7th Day had altered the sign. This is an actual photo taken by your Uncle PC that morning. Not one of those fake church signs you see on the internets.

  
 

Some New Propaganda

In past posts, The Blog has mentioned the steaming piles of shit that are shoveled into his email inbox by the Right-Wing propagandists on a daily basis.

The shovel loads of bovine excrement arrive from groups calling themselves, "Townhall Spotlight," "Right Change," "Conservative Action Alerts" and, The Blog's favorite, "The Christian Response."

The most fascinating thing about this crap is, each email is absolutely identical to the last. It's all "cut, paste and clone." One propaganda machine gets ahold of a "story" the rest waste no time parroting it.

Today, no less than four Right-wing propaganda machines shat out the following...

                                               Oh and the email goes on and on to the point of losing it's topic.
                                                                       I won't post any more of it here. 
                                        I will not allow the insult to my Bloglitts intelligence to go any further.
Seriously?

The folks who were all on board for "The Patriot Act," "indefinite detention" and "extreme interrogation techniques" are now warning us that "The Kenyan {read "nigger"} in the Whitehouse" is going to declare "martial law" in America, according to an "anonymous whistle blower" at the DHS.

President Obama and his spokespeople won't lower themselves to respond to these scumbags. Nor, should they.

But, I will.

The Blog calls 'em as he sees 'em!

Extreme "conservatives," "Tea Partyers" Fundamentalist, Evangelical "Christians," and Ayn Randians."

Just a bunch of fucking hypocrites, bigots and liars.

That is all.

The Fundamentalist Christian's Solution

Hey Bloglitts! It's "Two-fer Tuesday!"

That's right! A rare, second post from your ole Uncle PC!

Another fundamentalist, North Carolina pastor has chimed in on the subject of "Lesbians and Queers."

Check out this video, via the HuffPo, of the Reverend Charles L. Worely, preaching on the subject.

Go. Watch. As always, I will be here when you get back.

So, what do you, my Bloglitts, think about this?

If you listen closely, you can almost here the strains of "Dueling Banjos."

The Blog doesn't know quite what to make of the dozens of empty chairs behind the pastor. But, judging from the audio, the Reverend Worely has, maybe a dozen members in his congregation.

And, even though The Blog is an avowed atheist, The Blog will let you in on a little secret.

God speaks directly to The Blog!....  It's true!

And God spoketh to The Blog and said, "Tell that fucking, illiterate, pious, asshole and his half dozen followers that God thinks that he is a mealy mouthed piece of shit. And, the word is "against" not "agin." And that God thinks he is a fucking hillbilly who should stop pretending that he speaks for me!"

On the Subject of Bumper Stickers

The Blog, as you, my blogglitts know, likes bumper stickers.

Bumper stickers were "wall posts" before Facebook was invented.

The Blog's car has sported one sticker or another for years. Often political, sometimes, not. An Obama sticker today, a Batman logo before that.

In fact, The Blog's car currently rocks a "We are the 99%" sticker. In the next day or two, I will be peeling it off and replacing it with a nifty new one that I received in today's mail, that reads, "Not Republican."

(Because, in case you have not caught on... The Blog is SO not Republican!)

But, The Blog has a theory about bumper stickers.

Bumper stickers are like cats.

If you have one or two, that's fine. If you have a whole ass load of them, your sanity is in question.

Even though The Blog likes cats. And even if The Blog agrees with your political perspective.

                                                                          Like this dude.
Because, even if I agree with virtually everything expressed on the back of this car (and, I do!)...

Seriously. Not only is this guy (yes, The Blog is being sexist, assuming that the owner of this car is male, because he probably is) is coming off as the sort that writes in the margins of the letters that he sends to his Congressmen, he is, also, totally fucking up his paint job, when the time comes, win or lose, that he has to remove them.

All in all, not helping the cause.

The "take home" is this....

One or two bumper stickers. Three, max. Otherwise, you strain credibility. And, if you are on the right side of the argument, you need to be credible to represent.

And, The Blog is hoping that in the near future, he will capture photos of the three Tea Bagger's pick-up trucks that drive around the Los Angeles South Bay that look like fucking parade floats, and make the above photo look like a single cat owner!

My Bumper Sticker Collection, Part 3

If you have been following my posts for a while, you know that The Blog loves weird bumper stickers.

While driving to the bank, this morning, I came across this one.

The quality of the pic is poor. The Blog took it with his iPhone while driving.*

*The Blog does not endorse the habit of taking photos while driving. Do not try this yourself.

The car was a bit too far a way. The Blog attempted to enhance the bumper sticker in Photoshop to make it clearer, but, regardless of what you see on "CSI: Wherever" and "NCIS" there is no magic program to properly enhance low definition photos.

In case you can't make it out, the bumper sticker says this...

 "TRUST GOD Anyway."

The Blog's past bumper sticker posts have highlighted clueless right-wing ideologies. They were almost too easy to make fun of.

But, this one, well, The Blog isn't sure what to make of it.

 "TRUST GOD Anyway." ?!?!?

As far as The Blog can figure, this sticker says, "I trust God, but, I can't really tell you why. So, just go with it."

I don't know if it represents blind faith, or a sort of befuddled agnosticism.

The Blog is stumped!

Any ideas about this?

It's Over James. It's Over.

This week, internet "journalist" (in the sense of "convicted felon, shithead, video blogger") James O'Keefe posted his "proof" of "massive voter fraud" got royally "pwned" (as the kids say today.)

Which raises the question, "Why didn't this parasite die with his host Andrew Breitbart?"

The Blog doesn't have an answer for that question, beyond the theory that cockroaches will survive Armageddon.

Much like Al Queda, the Pimp Daddy of right-wing propagandists, O'Keefe, had one spectacularly successful take down of his enemy, followed by numerous, lame ass attempts that failed, hilariously.

Yesterday's attempt was debunked so fast that "The Flash" is wondering, "WTF just happened?"

Here's the story.

Give it up Jimbo. Even the people you think that you are fighting for have given up on you.

Will Smith's "Smack to the Future."

Hollywood nice guy, Will Smith garnered some unwanted publicity yesterday, when  he slapped a Ukrainian entertainment reporter who tried to kiss him, on the red carpet for the Russian premier of "Men in Black III."

Here is the video.

Now, that paragon of journalism "FoxNews.com" states, "You can clearly see that Will is incredibly angry that the guy showed overt affection toward him."

Really? Watch that video link above again.

I'll wait....

Does Will seem angry here? Or, does he appear, understandably taken off guard, and responded with a good natured and good humored tap?

Here's the thing....

The Blog has worked for entertainment reporting agencies like "Entertainment Tonight," "Extra," and the "E! Network."

And The Blog will admit that American entertainment reportage can reach some pretty amazing low points.

TMZ and Perez Hilton come to mind.

But....

The Blog has endured numerous foreign news junkets with a number of glamorous American actresses over the last few decades.

And, I am here to tell you, Sacha Baron Cohen's "Borat" and "Bruno" have nothing, when it comes to inappropriate questions and behavior, over his real life counterparts.

"So, tell me about your breasts." One European reporter asked Pamela Anderson.

European entertainment reporters are, in The Blog's humble opinion, inappropriate pervs, who deserve whatever abuse that they receive from their targets.

Will's good humored love tap was an appropriate reaction to the reporter's attempted kiss. More, appropriate, in fact, than Madonna's low class, "I loath hydrangeas" comment that was aimed at the same reporter about six months ago.

Will's comment, "He's lucky I didn't sucker punch him." was funny and not at all off base.

It's Good Mood Food!

According to a news story, this morning, a teenage boy found a piece of a human finger in his Arby's sandwich.

The story tells us that an employee, operating the slicer, cut off a chunk of her finger, which landed in the sandwich she was preparing.

Rather than doing the thing that most people would expect one to do in this situation, namely, exclaiming, "Holy Shit! I just cut my finger off! Call 911 and retrieve my finger, so maybe the hospital can sew it back on!" She, instead, wrapped what was left of her digit, finished her shift, then went to the E.R. when her shift was over.

I don't know, exactly, what this means. I suspect that it means that the employee was so afraid of losing her crappy, fast food job, that she sucked it up and pretended that everything was fine, rather than raise an alarm.

Meanwhile, the teen who found the finger in his sandwich is reportedly traumatized and is now suing Arby's.

Full disclosure...

The Blog worked at an Arby's  when he was a high school student. Knowing what he knows about Arby's, as an adult with a wife and child, he has not set foot in an Arby's since his employment there.

The bottom line is....

A human finger in a sandwich is the least gross thing that The Blog has ever known about Arby's. At least that finger was a legitimate hunk of meat.

Those wholesome slices of roast beef that land on Arby's buns?

Chopped, ground and processed bits of meat scraps molded with tallow (beef fat) into ovoid loaves of a beef like substance.

Pink slime? That's fucking amateur hour compared to the shit that Arby's passes off as "roast beef."

And if you don't find that disturbing enough, let's talk about the "Arby-Q" sandwich. At the end of the work night, three loaves of pseudo-beef are sliced up into a tray. Then, the slicer (like the one that claimed the above mentioned finger) is cleaned out. Globs of scraps, mostly tallow and a bit of beef, are dug out of the slicer's works and tossed into the tray with the "beef" slices. A gallon of BBQ sauce is then hand kneeded into the tray of "beef" and slicer garbage, and left to marinate over night. That mess is then served, the next day, as the "Arby-Q" sandwich.

Are you struggling to keep from puking as you read this?

No?

How about this?

There is one employee in the back, scraping the mold off of buns that have sat in the back room for a day or two longer than they probably should have, so that they can be served to customers who will never know the difference.

At the Arby's that The Blog worked at, employee's meals were free. But, after a month or two, we tended to go next door to Wendy's or Hardy's (Carl's Jr. to you west coast bloglitts) where we paid full price, rather than eating any of Arby's crap. Probably no better. But, at least we didn't know about it, first hand.


Because, well, we did know about Arby's.

In fairness to Arby's, The Blog will tell you this...

Those Pepperidge Farm Apple Turnovers that they sell for desert are, indeed, fresh and, more or less, wholesome. At the end of a business day, Arby's employees get to take the surplus turnovers home.

The payoff, I suppose, for keeping our mouths shut about the shit that Arby's was serving it's customers.

Some Random Thoughts... And One That's Not So Random...

Grown men who make their living beating the crap out of other men while half naked and oiled up, should maybe ease up on the whole condemning homosexuality thing.

***********

Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin signs "Open Carry" bill (S.B. 1733) allowing OK citizens with "concealed carry" licenses to let their guns hang out in the open.

The Blog knows that there is an "Open Carry" penis joke here, somewhere. He just hasn't worked it out yet.

************

An observation about the above comment...

Oklahoma's "Z94 The Rock Station" seems to be an "All Nugent, All the Time" sort of station. Check out their "drive time" guy. "Critter." It's like bad satire!

************

The group "California Taxpayers Association" is currently running radio ads opposing California's Proposition 29 (a tobacco tax) saying something to the effect of "when a Proposition is passed by 'the voters' it immediately becomes law, flaws and all." And in the case of Prop 29, nothing in that referendum can be changed for 15 years. The "California Taxpayers Association" believes that a tax hike on tobacco users (read: smokers) is too flawed and dangerous to be trusted to California's voting citizens.

(It should come as no surprise to anyone that these ads are being funded by R.J. Reynolds and Phillip Morris tobacco companies.)


Now, The Blog actually agrees with the "California Taxpayers Association" on this one. The Blog is a smoker who has voted in favor of tobacco taxes in the past. The PC is, generally, in favor of "sin taxes." I have seen the cost of my favorite vice nearly double over the last decade. And, I'm okay with that. But, Prop 29 is a poorly written law that needs to be defeated, if only to allow a better thought out version to be put in it's place.

But, here is the weird thing....

Back in 1978, the same "California Taxpayers Association" was the sponsor of a ballot measure called Proposition 13. A referendum nominally designed to keep property taxes down for long term, California property owners.

A referendum voted into law by California voting citizens.

"Flaws and all."

The selling point was that Prop 13 would keep senior citizens from losing their homes to increasing property taxes. And to it's credit, it did serve that purpose.

But, Oh! The flaws!

You see, there was a built in loophole that allowed business properties to place ownership in holding companies. That way, most California businesses, from restaurants to major office buildings are, in the year 2012, still paying 1975 property tax rates. While those of us who bought residential property between 1980 and today are shouldering the majority of the state property tax burden.

And of those people, the folks (like your Unlce PC) who bought their houses during the real estate bubble, are paying three to four times more than their neighbors, who bought their homes ten years earlier.

In case you have lost track of the original point....

The folks that are now saying that voter referendums are bad because they contain flaws that will haunt taxpayers for years, if not forever, were the same people that sold California voters on Prop 13, a bad law that will never, realistically be overturned, thanks to it's disingenuously "flawed" wording.

Oh. And did I mention that the end result of Prop 13 is that the State of California is now teetering on bankruptcy?

The Blog loves irony.

But, he hates hypocrisy.

The Wealth Gap, Pt.... I dunno... 3? 4? Whatever...

Over the past weekend, the right-wing has gotten their collective panties in a bunch over Friday night's, George Clooney hosted, Obama Reelection campaign fundraiser.

According to sources like Breighbart.com (Damn! Breighbart has put out more material, post mortem, than Tupac!) Townhall.com, Fox "news" and the rest of the Newscorp. family, and the myriad of Koch Brothers backed, "astroturf" movements, it is sheer hypocrisy for the "Hollywood, liberal, elite" to raise any amount of money for Obama's reelection, let alone 15 million dollars!

You see, those folks think that Obama should stick to raising campaign funds $3.00 at a time from average folks, like he did (with, it should be noted, an amazing level of success,) the last time around.

The "hypocrisy," of course, really comes from the right-wing's assertion that Obama should roll over and do with what he can come up with through individual contributions, while Romney collects millions from anonymous (thanks to "Citizens United) corporate contributions.

"Hypocrisy," to The Right, apparently, means that Democrats should not object to bringing "a knife to a [Republican] gunfight."

$15,000,000 is a lot of money. It's true.

But, when you consider the guest list that came up with about $40,000.00 per guest, you realize that most of these people collected their contributions from under their couch cushions.

You see, when Republican contributers are corporations (which "are people, my friend!") that contribute millions, anonymously, that's just good old American democracy at work.

When Democratic contributers are highly paid individuals, personally contributing a couple tens of thousands of dollars, then they are "elitists" buying a campaign.

California right wingers are already whining about how many public school teacher's jobs $15,000,000 could save, or how many police of firefighters that amount could fund.

Because, now, suddenly, California Republicans give a shit about public schools and services.

What an exquisite, steaming load of bovine manure!

But, The Blog has sort of digressed from the points he wanted to make...

This past week, the only privately owned version of Edvard Munch's  "The Scream" sold at auction, to a private collector, for a record $119,922,500.00.

Let's round that up to Two Hundred Million Dollars!!!!

That's right. A private buyer, (who probably wisely, has remained anonymous, lest he be visited by a gang of 99%ers wielding torches and pitchforks) outbid museums for the boasting rights (presumably, only amongst his friends) of paying more than anyone else ever for a famous work of art. And, not even the best version of the work. But, rather a pastel copy of the original oil, tempra and pastel version.

                                 The fourth version. Just a pastel sketch. Been there, done that. Three times before this. And better.

Talk about a disconnect!

                    The Blog paid $25 for a t-shirt depicting the better version, at The Museum Store, a few years ago.

                                      You can probably pay $12 for this at Spencer Gifts.

On a related, but slightly different note, check out this story...

George Lucas Does Something Awesome!

This is great because George understands that the only thing that his millionaire neighbors hate more than having a movie studio in their back yard, is having poor people living there!

Updating an Old Post...

The Blog has had the flu, or a bad cold, or something, for the last couple of days.

The only reason that I am awake and at my computer right now is, I slept all day and am now waiting for tonight's NyQuil dose to kick in.

So, The Blog will take a minute or two to update an post from a couple of months ago.

Here is the original post....

The Gun Shop

In that post, The Blog expressed his disgust for the overtly racist targets being sold at "the club."

He offended a few gun loving friends who felt that The Blog was unfairly painting fine, Second Amendment loving, patriots with too broad a brush.

The Ole PC agreed that not all gun fetishists are racists. But, still maintains that their is too much evidence that too many of them are.

And, as offensive as The Blog found the various race based targets available for sale at the gun "club" in question to be, and as really offensive as he found the shop's owner's reference to the POTUS as "the nigger in the White House" to be...

There is little that could have prepared The Blog for this...

                                                    Hoodie. Skittles. Arizona Iced Tea. Gun site.

And it isn't that some scumbag entrepreneur thought that making a buck off of the Trayvor Martin tragedy was a good idea.

It was that he had sold out his entire stock (at $15.00 per dozen) before the media ever got wind of the story.

The flu has given The Blog congestion, a sore throat and a low grade fever.

It's this story that is making The Blog want to puke.

The Sociopath and the Art of the False Apology

In case you are not up to speed on the latest about Willard "Mitt" Romney, the following story broke this morning.

An F.O.B. (Friend of the Blog) asked the question, "Was this considered normal behavior in 1965?"

Now, this particular F.O.B. was one of The Blog's favorite school teachers during Junior High and High School. The Blog imagines (or maybe, more accurately, hypothesizes,) that this teacher was a long haired, bearded, raging hippy in 1965, when Willard was wearing a tie and carrying a briefcase to school. Because, a decade later, he was a long haired, bearded hippy! And, Damn! I loved that guy!

So, The Blog has to believe that this F.O.B. was playing "Devil's Advocate" when he asked the question.

Here is The Blog's response....

It probably was "normal" behavior in 1965. Especially in a private boarding school. The fact is that bullying has only begun to be taken seriously in the last decade or so. The "present day issue" is this...

When Romney was confronted with this story this morning, he spent a good part of the day pretending that he didn't remember it. (Or, maybe, keeping with the notion that Mittens is actually a sociopath, so no, he really doesn't remember humiliating and physically assaulting a fellow student who was different than he and his friends. An idea that seems to fit, considering Willard's afternoon "apology.")  The other participants remember it well, as did, reportedly, the victim (who is no longer alive.)

Later this afternoon Romney issued a statement where it becomes apparent that he may remember the incident,(or not) but writes it off as a "prank." (See the above link.)

Romney states, “As to pranks that were played back then, I don’t remember them all, but again, high school days, if I did stupid things, why, I’m afraid I’ve got to say sorry for it,”

Too many "pranks" to remember them all. And "if" he did stupid things, he is "afraid [he] has to say sorry for it."

Not, "I'm sorry for the stupid things I did. I was a real asshole when I was young."

No, Mittens is sorry if someone was offended by his "pranks."

Thus, the title of this post, "The Sociopath and the Art of the False Apology."

To continue my response to the F.O.B. ...

In school days, and sometimes after, a "prankster" is really just a bully. And being a bully is not okay. Not now or then! Regardless of cultural norms.

The Mittster goes on to say that it never occurred to him that the victim of his "prank" might be a homosexual.

And, in fairness to Willard, the concept of homosexuality was kind of alien to kids in the midwest in those days. In any specific way, at least.

But, here is something that The Blog, who grew up in the midwest in those very days, knows first hand.

If you couldn't run fast. If you were bad at kickball. If you were better at art class than gym. If you got good grades in academic subjects, liked to read and preferred the company of girls rather than boys, or wore your hair long. There was a name for you.

"Sissy."

And, as you progressed from elementary school into Junior High and High School, "Fag," "Queer" and yes, "Homo" were added to the list.

It was just that in the '60s and '70s, midwestern kids had no idea what those terms meant.

Not a clue!

In the Year of Our Lord, 1978, "We Will Rock You!" and "We Are the Champions" were the anthems of the most macho guys on the football team.

Sung by Freddie Mercury.

Irony much?

Not long ago, a classmate of The Blog informed him that The Blog's "Bully Zero," the alpha bully who first hung the term "sissy" on him in the second grade and presided over regular beatings of Your Uncle PC, for over a decade, came out about a year after he graduated from college.


That's right. The asshole who led the bullying of your favorite blogger was, in fact, a "Queer, Sissy, Homo, Fag," the whole time that he and his minions were bloodying The Young Blog's nose.

How cliché is that?

The Blog hopes that he, (who I will call Gary B. because, well, that is his name,) has dedicated his life to teaching kids about tolerance. If he has, then The Blog can find it in himself to forgive him.

If he is still a bullying prick... Well... then he can go fuck himself.

This Just In... A Mr. Rogers Update

The Blog accidentally ran across spent days and nights of hard hitting investigation to discover the true story of the "Mr. Rogers flips Mr. Bird" photo.

The truth isn't pretty, my bloglitts. But, like so much truth, this truth is not what it appears to be.

The Blog's eye was caught by the following photo, clearly taken seconds before or after the original pic that was shared here three nights ago. And, this lacks the mischievous whimsey of the original.

                                      "Seriously. Who writes this shit? Fuck the writers and the producers!"
Man, he looks pissed!

Okay. Fun's over. None of this is really what it looks like. (Well, most of it isn't.)

Yesterday, one of The Blog's favorite humor websites, Cracked.com, posted a column by David Wong called, "14 Photographs That Shatter Your Image of Famous People."

And there it was. The true story.

In an early (and by "early" The Blog means, "In black and white") episode of "Mr. Roger's Neighborhood," the Reverend Fred "Mr." Rogers led a group of kids in a sing-a-long of a song that The Blog, reaching back several centuries to his own childhood, remembers as "Where is Thumbkin?"

When Mr. R got to "Where is Tall Man?" the middle fingers went up.

And that is the story.

Man, that's disappointingly boring.

Or... is it?

Because... There is still the matter of the goofy grin.

That grin occurred barely seconds into the "Tall Man" verse.

Some have theorized, (and The Blog would like to believe that it's true) that Mr. Rogers suddenly realized what he was doing and struggled, not entirely successfully, to keep a straight face and get through the verse as fast as possible.

In order to be fair, The Blog will now share the YouTube video that gives you the whole thing in context.
The Blog reports. You decide.

And, whatever you decide...

The Blog still thinks that Mr. Rogers has some explaining to do on the subject of ....

                                                                      Mr. McFeely.
 

Blatant Lies...

Check out the above graphic.

This is the photo that the Dick Armey/Koch Brothers billionaire funded "Americans for Prosperity" (The folks behind "The Tea Party") have posted to promote their "sponsored" Facebook page.

According to them, President Obama is responsible for nearly $5.00 per gallon gasoline.

Really?

The day before yesterday, The Blog paid $3.99 per gallon for gas. Too much, yes. But, nowhere near $5.00 per gallon.

The last time The Blog saw gas prices this high was in the early months of 2007. (And, remember that The Blog lives in Southern California, where gas prices tend to be higher than anywhere else in the country, except Alaska.) That was under President George W. Bush.

So, The Blog is calling bullshit.

Are you paying this much for gas?

No?

Didn't think so. 

If "Americans for Prosperity" will lie about this, what else are they lying about? 

Wake the fuck up people.

The Blog...

...will let this photo speak for itself.

Photos That Make The Blog Very Happy....

The Reverend Fred "Mister" Rogers flips off the cameraman...

Proving that he was not just one of the nicest men in the world...

He was also, a human being...

With a wicked sense of humor!!!

What is the Deal...

...with this guy?

Seriously.

Ted Nugent has gotten more press in the last month than he got in 1977, when he was actually, you know, relevant.

A few weeks ago, Nugent made some comments at the NRA convention that were crazy enough to warrant a visit from the Secret Service. At that time, The Blog said he would comment on Ted's threats against the President. (and make no mistake, Ted's comments were threats, no matter what he claims.)

But, after a few days passed, those comments really didn't seem very important. So The Blog let it slide.

But, holy shit! This guy just won't go away!

Let me be clear. The Blog is an old hard rocker from wayyyyy back.

The Blog has "Cat Scratch Fever" on his iPod. And, really, as much of an asshole as this guy is, he can really make an electric guitar scream.

(The Blog would scream, too, if he knew that the show would end with crossbow bolts being shot threw him!)

Nugent says that if Obama is reelected, he (Nugent) will be "dead or in jail." This is the remark that warranted a visit from the Secret Service. And, rightly so. Back in 2008, Nugent invited the candidate Obama to "suck on" his machine guns.

And, unlike so many right wing pundits who have said some pretty vile things about our president, The Blog is pretty sure that Ted believes the shit he is spewing.

Witness Nugent's diatribe on a recent CBS Morning Show interview.


The Blog saw Ted perform live about a decade ago, when he opened for KISS.

At that time Dubbya was still president. But Nugent had some particularly choice words for Senators Dianne Feinstein, Barbara Boxer and Nancy Pelosi. The word (God, The Blog hates this word, but for the sake of accuracy will type it) "Cunt" was used to describe all three California Senators.

He also told the crowd that they were... "In America. So speak fucking English!"

The Blog was disturbed by the  number of audience members who cheered for this shit.

Which brings us to another uncomfortable fact.

Okay. As much as I hate seeing my favorite Rock God, Gene Simmons support Romney, I get it. He's, like, a gazillionaire. So, social liberalism, which Gene is known for, be damned. Economic Conservatism takes precedence. Whatever. Fuck him. Two of the others pictured are Detroit natives, Ted and Bob "Kid" Rock. Supporting the guy who thinks that we should have let Detroit go bankrupt.

And really, who gives a shit about failed presidential candidates Donald Trump and Herman Cain? Fuck them. In a week or so, Mittens will agree to pay off Newt's $4 million campaign debt and will get his endorsement. Fuck him, too!

And, while it pains The Blog to out his favorite '70s rockers, don't be surprised if Alice Cooper endorses Willard, too.

Which brings The Blog to the question, "When liberal celebrities speak up for Obama and Democratic, liberal issues and candidates, the "Right-wing" says that they should just "shut the fuck up." Why are they so ball-less to not call out extreme right-wing celebs like Nugent, Norris, Willis, and Grammer, Kid Rock and Alice Cooper to do the same?

The Truth About Employer Provided Healthcare Coverage

Your Old Uncle PC is going to tell you something that you have probably never heard before.

The Blog has never heard it before, anywhere, and he keeps pretty close tabs on political commentary.

So, if you have heard this before... good for you! You are ahead of The Blog! If you haven't heard it before... Well then, you heard it here first.

The Paul Ryan/ current Mitt Flop concept of taking the onus of medical insurance away from employers and replacing it with individual vouchers or tax credits so that each one of you fine American citizens can shop around for your own medical insurance is never going to happen. Because, in spite of their whining like little bitches about the ever increasing cost of health insurance, big employers don't actually want the responsibility of health insurance coverage taken away from them.

It's true!

Let's look at the events of the last few years, vis-à-vis health insurance reform.

We progressives have been championing the concept of "single payer" health insurance for a long time. (For the record, in spite of what the right wing propagandists will tell you, single payer is not even remotely "socialized medicine." There is socialized medicine in The US. We call it "The Veteran's Administration.") We hoped that when we elected President Obama that would be the reform route that he would pursue. Take the onus of paying for health insurance off of employers, (that sounds familiar. Where did I just hear that? Oh yeah! A couple of paragraphs up.) Put everybody into the pool, reducing costs and spreading out the risk over a wider number of people. Which is, in theory, how insurance works.

Understandably, the private, for profit insurance industry cried holy hell. But, for far less obvious reasons, all those businesses, big and small, that cry about the cost of insuring their employees, also jumped on that wagon.

So a deal was struck. Create a law that requires employers to provide their employees with health insurance or pay a fine via a tax penalty. Subsidize small businesses so that they can comply. And, subsidize the remaining uninsured, so that they, too, can buy insurance.

Once again, understandably, the for profit insurance industry loves this idea! Require employers to do business with them, AND deliver somewhere between 45 and 50 million new customers into their hands. Sure, they have to give a little. No more exclusions for pre-existing conditions and no more canceling policies because the insured have the nerve to get sick and expect coverage. But, all-in-all, it's a win/win for them.

But big business and pubic employers are also cool with this deal. (Well, except for a few vocal Catholics and Evangelicals who want to make it into a "WAR ON CHRISTIANITY!!!!")

With that background, lets return to my original prediction. Big business is going to realize, very soon, that Ryan/Romney plan is not what they want. Once Willard gets the GOP nomination, there are going to be some very intense, but quiet, meetings between big business and Mittens. They will be telling Romney, "Ixnay on the Iynray Anplay."

I hear you saying, "Okay Uncle Blog! What's your point? Get to it!"

The Blog has been privy to a number of contract negotiations over the last decade or so. Contract negotiations are always complicated matters. But, let me boil it down to the very basics.

They go something.....

...like this.....

Union:  We haven't had a raise in three contract periods. We have given up perks and taken on more responsibilities. We are being paid less for more work. The time has come for a decent raise.

Management:  We would love to give you a raise. And we would be happy to do so. But, you know, the cost of health insurance keeps rising and it's killing us. So we can offer you a raise, but we will have to end health insurance coverage in order to do that. We can give you a raise, or we can continue to provide healthcare benefits. Your choice.

Are you getting the picture yet?

No?

Okay. I'll continue...

The union negotiators go back to the members and lay it all out.

They say, "This is a bad deal. They are fucking with us. If you accept this deal, you will never see another raise as long as you live."

And the school teacher, the police officer, the factory worker and the camera man all say, " Are you kidding? I have three kids and a pre-existing condition! I can't give up my insurance coverage for a 6% raise. Do you know how much individual health insurance coverage costs?  Take the offer!"

Healthcare benefits are the biggest and best bargaining chip/ hostage (Think a puppy with a gun to it's head.) that management has ever had at it's disposal.

                                   The Blog is dating himself here. If you get it, then you are as old as I am!

No way are they going to give that up!

Health insurance, once a perk, is now the most effective union breaker ever.

And THAT is the truth.