Sorry For the Inconvienience

The Blog is taking a couple of evenings off.

Please try to carry on without me.

See you in a couple of days.

"Replacement Refs" and Airplane Windows

The Curmudgeon has been enjoying all of the passionate posts on Facebook over the last 24 hours or so, about the lousy job being done by the NFL "replacement" referees.

What I find most interesting about those posts is that the majority of them, among The Blog's FB friends, at least, are coming from his Republican friends.

(Yes, The Blog does have Republican friends, because that is the sort of "big tent" that The Blog has erected. Kumbaya, everybody!)

I don't know if that means that Republicans/Conservatives are more inclined to be emotionally invested in football than Democrats/Liberals, or what. (There may be a research paper to be found in that question.) But, what I do know is that the righteous anger being exercised by my right-wing friends demonstrates, not just irony, but layer upon layer of irony. An irony fritatta, if you will.

And, you know, The Blog loves nothing more than irony.

(Except, maybe, sarcasm.)

For starters, there is the fact that the NFL is using "replacement refs" in an attempt to break the Referee's Union. We "union thugs" have another word for "replacement refs."

And that word is "Scabs."

Remember all of the right-wing anger when St. Ronald successfully busted up the Air Traffic Controllers Union by bringing in "replacement" controllers?

Neither do I.

And, you know, both air traffic controllers and football referees have similar jobs. They both, essentially, direct traffic.

Except for the part where, if a referee makes a bad call, it doesn't result in mid-air collisions at 18,000 feet.

Other than that, they are the same job.

I could harp on a bit more about this. But, if you don't get my point by now, you are probably a Republican.

While I am on the topic of aeronautics....

                                                                                               This.

You might have expected your Ol' Uncle PC to have written a full post about this, last night.

I expected that I would have, too.

And, I tried.

To paraphrase Theo. Seuss Geisel, PhD, "I puzzled and puzzled until my puzzler was sore..."

And, then... Holy Shit! I realized... I can't top that!

Sometimes, satire just writes itself.

Of course, hours after the Mitt hit the fan, the Rom-pologists claimed that Willard's comment was a joke.

No shit.

So are 98% of all of all of his comments.

Now, back to the game...

The Blog won't rehash every single expression of outrage posted by his conservative friends about the desecration of the sacred game. You can probably find many of them posted on your own Facebook news feed.

But here are a couple of The Blog's favorites along with the layers of the irony onion that get peeled back... 

"Replacement refs cost the Packers a game they won. Worst call I have ever seen in my life! They have got to go!"

The worst call The Blog has ever seen "in my life," was that game back in 2000. The big Bush v. Gore decision cost Gore the election he won. 

Irony.

Here is the predictable, making it political, post...

"Anyone waiting to hear Obama blame Bush for the disgusting performance of the replacement refs?"

Keep waiting... (See The Blog's comment, above, about union busting. Dipshit.) 

 
And, here is the even more predictable rejoinder from that poster's friend...

"im [sic] waiting for Obama to get on ESPN AGAIN to pick his March Madness picks!!! Instead of doing his job..."

Ouch! Rapier, conservative wit.

Please give me a moment, while I Ell Emm Eff Ayy Oh. (As the kids say, these days.)

Okay, I'm alright now.

One final irony...

As a corporate establishment, The National Football League may be the most socialistic entity in The United States.

You see, whether you are The Raiders or The Browns, The Chargers or The Steelers or The Ravens or The Fighting Assholes, every dollar you make under the NFL umbrella goes into a central pot. From there, the profits are distributed evenly among all of the NFL teams, regardless of your team's individual value to the league.

Talk about redistribution of wealth!

Holy shit!

The NFL isn't socialist. It's a fucking Marxist, hippy commune!

And, on that note...

For your listening pleasure, please allow your Uncle PC to lay a bit of musical commentary about some other socialist aspects of America on you.

Give it up for "The Clark Kent of Folk Music," Mr. Roy Zimmerman!

You socialists!

The Problem With Democrats...

Check this guy out!

About Last Night's Post

In the blogosphere, there is one sign that a blog has made the big time.

Namely, when the comments section attracts one or two annoying, pain-in-the-ass, know-it-alls who take great pleasure in showing off their vast collection of minutiae by pointing out a blog's factual errors or outright lies.

These critics land in two different categories. 

The polite but smug fan who wants to show that he/she knows a bit more than the blogger and is just here to help...

"Love your blog, but thought that you should know that this post contains this error. Love you! Keep it up!"

(The Blog knows a thing or two about this guy because, truth be told, he is one of those annoying, pain-in-the-ass, know-it-alls.)

And, "The Troll."

"Nice blog, moran! Get ur facts strate, looser!"

When a blog starts getting those comments on his posts, then Woot Woot! It's time to start generating ad revenue!

Sadly, The Blog has not attracted any of those people yet.

*sigh*

I'll have to keep trying.

Until then, The Blog will have to troll his own blog.

Last night, while waxing poetic about his meet with Meatloaf singer Karla DeVito, The Blog omitted a fact.

Ms. Devito  was not the singer that you hear singing "Paradise By the Dashboard Light" with Meatloaf  on his  first album, "Bat Out of Hell."

That was Ellen Foley.

After the album was recorded, Ellen went off to pursue a career as a solo artist and actress. And, while her recording career didn't amount to much, (three albums, no hits, but The Blog does own her first record) she actually did pretty well on television and the stage.

She landed a costarring role on the NBC summer replacement, variety series "3 Girls 3" and spent a year on the brilliant comedy "Night Court."

You can get the full lowdown on Ellen's career here.

Karla picked up where Ellen left off, touring with Mr. Loaf and recording subsequent albums with him.

And, for the record, the (almost) Karla look-alike, sound-alike in the absolutely brilliant 2000 something AT&T cell phone commercial, "Paradise By the Go Phone Light" was 1990's mall star Tiffany.
Wasn't that fun? Yes, it was.

Now, I will troll myself one more time...

A couple of paragraphs up, I called "Bat Out of Hell" Meatloaf's first album.

Actually, it was his second.

His first was a record (record: a big, black, round thing made of vinyl that played music back in the stone age) was a Motown produced number that went, pretty much nowhere, called "Stoney and Meatloaf." Re-released after the success of "Bat Out of Hell" as "Meatloaf: featuring Stoney and Meatloaf."

                                                  This was the 1970's record industry's idea of subtle symbolism.

Still sold something like three copies. So The Blog figures that his assertion that "BOoH" was the first album that counted.

So, neener!

Hollywood and The Blog's Nostalgia (For Real, This Time!)

One of the perks of working in the television industry is that, every now and then The Blog gets to meet people who were, through TV, movies or music, a part of his youth.

Whether a childhood hero like Davy Jones of The Monkees, a prepubescent crush like Maureen (Marsha Brady) McCormick, a rock god like Gene Simmons or a professional influence like Martin Landau (the first person the very young Bloggling ever saw glue pieces of rubber to his face to look like someone else, in "Mission: Impossible.")

Those are the times that make me step back and say to myself, "God I love working in Hollywood!"

One of my first paying showbiz  jobs was a "Grade Z" movie that starred my very first TV hero, Adam West.

 Yesterday was Adam's birthday. I don't know his age and I don't feel like googling it. But, he once made me promise never to tell anyone what my age was when he was my idol. So, I won't now. But, I will tell you that he made me make that promise 28 years ago!

So, Holy Methuselah, Batman!!! Happy Birthday, Adam!

But, that's not the point of this post.
                              _________________________________________________

This is...


Yesterday I ran into this woman at work...

 

Don't recognize her? That's okay. Neither did I, until someone told me who she was.

Maybe you will recognize her here...

                                                                                  And still, maybe not.

Her name is Karla DeVito.

Still doesn't help? Well then, I'm betting that you were never a teenage boy in the late 1970s!

See if this helps...

                                                                           Now you've got it, don't you?


 Karla was the tiny woman with the gigantic voice who, while playing the musical foil to Meatloaf's faux macho braggadocio, was the embodiment of teenage male longing and angst!

I didn't work with her, yesterday. She was there with her husband (we'll get to that) who was a guest on one of the shows that I work on.

But, that I got to tell her how much she meant to me when I was a lad and to see her smile as I recounted the time I saw her perform with Mr. Loaf at Cleveland's Public Auditorium back in 1977...

"I remember every little thing as if it happened only yesterday..."

...that moment was one of life's little gifts to me. I hope that it made her day, too.

Oh yeah. Her husband...

For the past 30 years Karla has been married to actor Robbie Benson.

                                                        A momentary pause to allow my female blogglitts of 
                                                                a certain age to gasp, titter and swoon...

Robbie, for those who don't know, was the star of countless teen tearjerkers on film and television. He was, later on, the voice of The Beast in Disney's "Beauty and the Beast."

It suddenly occurs to your Uncle PC that Robbie was, probably, the distaff version of Karla for a generation of teenage girls.

                                                           And, best of all, they are two really sweet people!

"God I love working in Hollywood!"
 
 

Hollywood and The Blog's Nostalgia (Or Not)

Okay.

Real quick.

Before The Blog gets on to his planned post of the night....

If the first thing that you have done on the internets today is log onto The Blog's blog, then you may not know that, last night, Willard "Mitt" Romney made an appearance on the Spanish language network Univision.

And, as pointed out by all of the bloggers who do not actually have day jobs away from computers had pointed out by 1:00 PM PST... There was something weirder than usual about him.

In case you are one of my bloglitts who does not actually know me, (Bless you and thank you for coming by!) The Blog is a make-up artist by trade.

Because, as a 100-year-old woman who once asked me if I did make-up for a living, quipped, "Well, everybody has to do something."

So, a couple of FotB asked me for my thoughts about Mittens' appearance.

There was a time in the movie business, when everyone in front of the camera except Hattie McDaniels and Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, was lily white.

Lawrence Olivier played Othello. John Wayne played Ghengis Kahn and Warner Oland played Charlie Chan.

                                                        And then, there was the whole "Amos and Andy" thing.


I think you get my point.

There is a name in Hollywood, in our new, politically correct (or, as I like to call it, "sensitive, good mannered and non-racist) era.

It's called "painting down."

Painting down does not go over well in the modern age of show-biz. And, rightly so. Qualified actors of various ethnicities are deprived employment while Caucasian actors go under the brush.

It really just doesn't happen anymore.

In my 30 year career, I have been asked to do paint downs twice. (Three times, if you count painting a pornstar's penis "African-American." But, I would rather not talk about that.)

I have only agreed to do it once. (Unless you count the penis. It was a parody of "Watermelon Man" and it was the punch-line of the whole story. So it was okay, in context. But, seriously, stop asking! It was a long time ago and I had a family to feed!)

That one time was when the production couldn't find a female, African-American high diver to jump off the side of a ship, on short notice. So, yes, I "painted down" a red headed, porcilain skinned, Irish-American, high diver. So sue me.

Which brings us to Romney's Univision appearance.

                                                                     Because holy shit!

The line of demarcation on the neck and ears suggest major incompetence on the part of Mittens' make-up artist. And, oh, those hands!

                                                I hate to bad mouth fellow make-up artists, but, What the Fuck?!?!

The question has been asked...
"Why was Mitt his usual, lily white self, just hours before he went on the TV to talk to Latino-Americans?"

And, The Blog's answer is...

"Who the fuck knows?"

Was it just bad make-up? Or has El Mitten's gone so far off the rails (on a crazy train) that he actually thought that browning it up might get him some Latino votes?"

At this point, anything seems possible.

Oh, shit!

But, what The Blog finds the funniest about Mittens' Univision appearance is that he looks, not like the Hispanic audience that he seems to be pandering to.

But, rather...

John Boehner.

                                                                    See what I mean?

This post hasn't been so quick, after all.

I think that this is enough for tonight.

So, tomorrow night's post will be the one that I had planned for tonight.

"Hollywood and The Blog's Nostalgia ."

No politics. No outrage. Not even any snark. (Probably.) Just a fun post.

See you tomorrow night!

Happy 30th Birthday Emoticons!

On late tonight. Can't stay long.

So, I thought that I would share this article from Mental Floss....

At 11:44 am on September 19, 1982, Scott Fahlman changed how we communicate forever. The computer scientist at Carnegie Mellon University logged on to the college's computer science general board and wrote:

I propose that the following character sequence for joke markers: :-) Read it sideways. Actually, it is probably more economical to mark things that are NOT jokes, given current trends. For this, use :-(

In just a few months, Fahlman's symbols had spread to other message boards and networks. Users suggested their own variations-omitting the hyphen "nose" eventually became typical-and today, many of us can't send a text without including a sideways wink (or, you know, a message composed entirely of emoji cats, frogs and peace signs).

Though Fahlman's emoticons are the best known, they aren't the first. In an analysis of historic documents that began in 2004, Bryan Benilous at Proquest discovered what he thought was an emoticon in an 1862 New York Times transcript of an Abraham Lincoln speech:

"... there is no precedent for your being here yourselves, (applause and laughter ;) and I offer, in justification of myself and you, that I have found nothing in the Constitution against."

While some experts agree with Benilous, others insist it was the typesetter's mistake. And in 1881, emoticons for joy, melancholy and indifference were published in the magazine Puck, but they were read up and down, not sideways. But since Fahlman's were the first to be widely used, they win the day. Happy birthday, emoticons! :-)

47%

Is there no limit to Willard "Mittens" Romney's clueless arrogance?

Apparently not.

In case you have been off the grid for the last 48 hours, a video that was surreptitiously recorded during a $50,000 a plate, Romney fundraiser in May surfaced yesterday.

The portion that has gone viral shows the arrogance of the man who should be running for president of the country club, rather than the president of the country.

The Blog won't force you to watch the video.

Instead, here is the transcript...

There are 47 percent of the people who will vote for the president no matter what. All right, there are 47 percent who are with him, who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you-name-it. That that’s an entitlement. And the government should give it to them. And they will vote for this president no matter what…These are people who pay no income tax.

Did I mention... $50,000 a plate?

The Blog never ceases to be amazed by the fiscal conservative's inability to do basic math.

To be fair, 47% of Americans really do not pay federal income tax.

The Blog does not have an itemized breakdown of those that make up Mitten's 47%. But, here is a general breakdown...

• There are the actual poor who earn less than the national poverty level. Let's include those who have worked, but are, currently, unemployed by no fault of their own.
• The working poor. (Your average retail worker and waitress or waiter.)
• High School and college students who work while attending school, and, will one day be actual taxpayers.
• Seniors, who worked all of their lives,  living on Social Security, pensions and retirement funds.
• Soldiers whose families live on less than minimum wage and often rely on foodstamps, and whose combat pay is not taxed.
• The blog has not seen this one discussed...
• Beginning entrepreneurs who will have to hang in there for a couple of years before they can claim a decent profit. You know. Those "up from their bootstraps" folks that the conservatives claim to love. (The Blog speaks from personal experience on this point.)
• And... oh yes.... the top 1% who employ crack accountants to find every deduction and loophole, and do their banking in the Cayman Islands and Switzerland.
• People like, I don't know, Mitt Romney, maybe?

Holy shit!

Bits and pieces of the "secret" Mitt video are all over the internet and mainstream media.

But, if you have about 48 minutes to spare, you should really check out the full video. (The one that Mitt requested to be posted.)

Here it is.

But, while Romney's dissing of almost half of America is worth noting, If you couldn't be bothered to watch the link above, you should watch the part where Mittens waxes poetic about Chinese slave labor work ethic.



If you still don't want to watch the entire video, (and I can't blame you...)
 


Here are his comments on Chinese labor.

So, really? Are you still thinking about voting for this douchebag?

Interestingly, 47 was the ranking of job creation under Governor Romney.

Coincidence? I think so.


The Blog is all about civil, adult, high road, informed debate.



So you, my bloglitts, know that your old Uncle PC has reached the end of his rope when he says...


"Fuck you, Mitt Romney! Fuck you and the fucking dressage horse you fucking rode in on!"


FUCK!

9/11/2012

Earlier today, a FotB sent the blog the following message...

Your thoughts? What happened to Chris Stevens was unacceptable and horrific. Why did the media kept this very quiet? We did not start hearing about this until Sept 12th, and not much....

She attached the following graphic from a right-wing blogger...

 This was my response....

Oh, where to begin?

First off, the media that I follow was reporting the two main uprisings and unconfirmed reports of deaths in Libya mid-evening, my time. By 11:00 PM or so, I had read the confirmation of Ambassador Chris Stevens' death and the others. By my morning drive into work on the 12th, it was all that Bill Press and John Fugelsang (in for Stephanie Miller) were talking about. I don't think that the newspapers had much information when they went to press, so I can't fault them. I don't watch TV in the mornings, so I don't know how much they were covering.

With that said, let us analyze the claims made in the graphic that you shared with me....

I am familiar with "The Scarlett [sic] Sage's" posts. I accept nothing she posts without a thorough fact-check and I cannot recall a time that one of her posts has passed scrutiny. Creative spelling and grammar aside, her posts are big on right-wing, self righteous emotion and short on facts.

Paragraph One: This statement is entirely subjective and based on Bush administration spin released days after 9/11. The one absolute factual error is the "4 minute" claim. If you have seen the video of Bush's "The Pet Goat" moment, his inaction lasted nearly 15 minutes. In my entirely biased opinion, his "deer in the headlights" expression spoke volumes. We know that Bush ignored the famous August 6th briefing. It came to light just a few days before 9/11/2012 that he also ignored six other briefings that are still, currently, marked "Confidential."

Paragraph Two: It is arguable that there is any equivalence between 2001 and 2012. The attack in Libya was on our consulate, not an embassy. So, it was not "American soil" as the pundits are arguing.

The claim that "Obama skips 50% of his DIBs" has been soundly debunked. That claim was first made by former Bush speechwriter and Fox "News" contributer Marc Thiessen. In reality, Obama didn’t “attend” these meetings, because there were no meetings to attend: The oral briefings had been, mostly, replaced by daily exchanges in which Obama reads the materials and poses written questions and comments to intelligence officials. This is how it was done in the Clinton administration, before Bush decided he would prefer to read less. Bush’s results — Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction, and the failure to find Osama bin Laden — suggest this was not an obvious improvement.

The next claim, that Obama had "received notice of a planned attack 48 hours in advance." I just spent 20 minutes trying to get to the bottom of this claim. (Really? Do I have time to do everyone else's homework for them? I guess that it is my lot in life!) Every single place that I found this claim was on right-wing blogs. While I have found no proof that it isn't true, the official White House statement denies this claim.

Let me digress, for a moment...

Both Obama and Romney had agreed to put politics aside on the anniversary of 9/11. According to reports, at about 10:00 PM EST, Mitt Romney gave a statement to the press, with an embargo preventing the press from releasing the statement before 12:01 AM, 9/12 and RNC chair Reince Priebus posting a tweet, also at 12:01 AM, before anyone had all of the facts. Obama waited until the morning of 9/12 to make his statement. IMHO, the appropriate thing to do.

On 9/12. Obama attended a fundraiser in Las Vegas. That is true. Romney also attended a fundraiser that night. They are both in the middle of a presidential campaign, for better or worse, driven by fundraisers.

When "...the flag draped coffins of murdered Americans arrive[d] home" President Obama and Secretary of State Clinton were there to meet their arrival and speak appropriately. As it should be.

"More U.S, Embassies come under attack..." Well, no. More U.S. embassies have seen protests. Not attacks.

There is no question in my mind that the protests were triggered by the odious anti-muslim video that was broadcast in countries where blasphemy against Mohammed is offensive and illegal. I am also confident that al Queda or some other Muslim extremist group took advantage of the unrest to attack our consulate in Libya.

It is also my opinion that President Obama responded as the leader of the free world should have. And that Romney's vile attempt to politicize the incident goes one step further to prove that he has no business dabbling in foreign affairs.

One more digression...

As much as I hate to admit it, about 25 years ago, when I was beginning my career, I worked on a film produced and directed by the scumbag that made the anti-muslim video in question. It was a soft-core porn film that was shown regularly on late night Cinemax. He still owes me money.

A quick  comment directed to "The Scarlett Sage..."

Do you want to be taken seriously? Learn to spell your own fucking name.

On another note...

Today was, I am told, Constitution Day.

An evangelical, right-wing FotB, with a PhD in social studies and a professor at an evangelical university posted the following status...

HAPPY CONSTITUTION DAY!
The nation commemorates the United States Constitution and its foundation to our democracy each year on Sept. 17. This year marks the 225th anniversary of the document’s writing and signing in 1787. This would be a good day to pray for our country!!

Attention: Alanis Morisette, THAT is the definition of ironic!

To my FotB, In honor of Constitution Day, I will exercise my Constitutional, First Amendment right to NOT pray for my country. Thank you very much.

And, oh yeah. It also happens to be Rosh Hashanah for our Jewish Americans.

So, in the spirit of our Constitution's freedom of religion...

L'shana tova!

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday to Mrs. Blog.

She is my paradox.

She is my best friend. She is my strength.

She is the source of my biggest worries. She stresses me out and gives me panic attacks.

She is terminally ill. But, incredibly stubborn.

I am grateful for every day that she wakes up alive. But, I wish that she would take a more proactive stance to keep that happening.

There is only so much that I can do.

She is why I wake up in the morning.

She is why I drink myself to sleep.

I am sure that  I could function without her. I'm just not sure how that would happen.

She is my love and my life.

I wish that she will see many more birthdays. I wish that she will live to play with her grandchildren.

She is computer illiterate. So she will never see this post.

But, I hope that she knows that I love her with all my heart.

Campaign 2012... Romney vs. Winfrey

A conservative FotB gave his critical thinking the day off, today, and shared the following graphic on his Facebook wall....

                                                  Propaganda points for finding the worst photo of Ms. O... ever.

 The Blog thanks his friend for practically writing his blog for him tonight!

Oprah -- Born in relative poverty to a single mother.
Willard -- Born to a billionaire CEO and future governor of Michigan and his wife.


Oprah -- Abused and molested as a girl.
Willard -- Amused self and friends by bullying others (i.e. a blind professor and a gay classmate) as a boy.


Oprah -- Began career path at the age of 19 in Nashville, TN. Worked at a radio station.
Willard -- Draft deferral at 21 while on Mormon mission to Bordeaux, France. Lived in a castle.


Oprah -- Became the first black news anchor at WTVF in Nashville in 1972, a Baltimore talk show host in 1978 and star of Chicago's  "Oprah Winfrey Show" in 1984.
Willard -- Took high level position at Bain & Co. at the age of 30.


Oprah -- Nominated for Oscar in 1985.
Willard -- Started Bain Capital in 1984.


Oprah -- Pulled herself up by her bootstraps.
Willard -- Was pulled up by the silver spoon in his mouth.


Oprah -- Created several thousand high paying jobs in her production company.
Willard -- Outsourced hundreds of thousands of jobs overseas while bankrupting companies.


Oprah -- Pays employees well above market rates, plus benefits and bonuses, 52 weeks a year,     whether production is up or not.
Willard -- Opposes the Minimum Wage.


Oprah -- Retires her daily show, but creates new shows so that her staff and crew can continue to work.
Willard -- Enjoys firing people who provide services to him.


Oprah -- Builds schools in Africa.
Willard -- Offends North African governments.


Oprah -- Supports Barack Obama.
Willard -- Opposes Barack Obama


Oprah -- Has no desire to run for public office.
Willard -- Aspires to public office.

So, you see, my Republican friends?

It's not about net worth. It's about how they got to that point and what they have done with it once they got it.



 

Very Low Information Voters...

The Blog knows. He has been promising an ever growing list of topics that he will eventually get around to blogging about. It will happen. I will get around to those subjects sooner or later.

The problem is that the shit is going down so fast that your old Uncle PC just can't keep up.

• Riots and murder in Egypt and Libya and the dickless film "director" whose odious movie sparked the violence.

                                                       "Yes, it's true... This man has no dick."

• Willard "Mittens" Romney politicizes the above events, while lying (surprise!) about who said what and when.
• "Legitimate rape" and women "lying" about  being raped.
• Republican wives and their laundry.

And, holy shit! The list goes on and on.

The Curmudgeon isn't one of the many bloggers who fill their days with blogging after they have lost their jobs. Nor is he one of the many super-humans who blog daily, about the latest events, while they hold down full time careers.

The Blog is dancing as fast as he can and is wondering what the fuck he got himself into with this whole blogging thing.

So, for tonight, there is this...

If you have been a loyal reader of this blog (thank you for that!) you know that The Blog has often commented on the rash of Ultra-Right-Wing propaganda that infects his email inbox.

If you are new to this blog, (welcome!) go ahead and catch up. I'll still be here when you get back!

Tonight, a long time FotB (Friend of the Blog) posted a status on Facebook that gets right to the heart of what The Blog has been saying about "low information voters" and the propaganda machine. The Blog's friend is brilliant, and based on the comments that ensued, so are her friends.  

                                             (Pay close attention to commenter Mark B. who fucking nails it!)
                  *Click on this image to enlarge it, so you can read it. Really? Do I have to do everything for you?*

A few years ago, Right-wing extremists figured out how to use their newfangled computing machines and the emails and the internets to spread their interesting brand of paranoia and hate.

Holy fuck, they were so proud of themselves for mastering a medium that the average American sixth-grader had gotten a handle on back in the mid-1990s.

And since then, there has been no stopping them!

Mark B. mentions that he had been hearing the stories this summer.

Not to one up Mark, but The Blog has been hearing the same stories for nearly four years.

"Pres. Hussein Obama and Sec. of State Hillary R. Clinton are days away from taking away our freedoms!!!!!! The sky is falling!!!!

They are taking away our guns... pretty soon.

They are attacking our Christianity and banning Christmas... any minute now!!!!

They are signing away our sovereignty to the God Damned, Commie, Marxist, Fascist, Atheist, Muslim United Nations... in the next 24 hours!!!!

And, did we mention guns?

Oh, the humanity!!!!!!"

The Blog has heard it, over and over again.

And more.

In cut and paste, verbatim emails.

FOR FOUR FUCKING YEARS, PEOPLE!!!!!!!!

The Blog has no idea whether the assholes propagating this sewage are really this paranoid or ignorant. Or, if they just believe that their prime demographic are just that stupid.

Based on The Blog's observations, sadly, a small but scary number of the people that this swill is reaching really are stupid enough to buy into this shit.

The Blog just hopes that those people are also too stupid to get themselves to a polling place. 

Obligatory 9/11 Post

Today is September 11, 2012.  At least, for a few more minutes. By the time that this blog gets posted, it will be September 12th. But...

Bear with me. As a blogger, The Blog is obligated to say a few words about the attack on September 11, 2001.

There is no arguing the fact that the attack that early morning was horrible and tragic.

Somewhere in the neighborhood of 3000 people lost their lives.

People working in The World Trade Center. People working in The Pentagon. People on three different plane flights.*edit* Four flights, actually.

Firefighters and police officers who ran into the buildings, while others were running out.

The Blog, personally, knew two of the people on one of the planes.

The Blog knew one of the people working on an upper floor in one of the "Twin Towers."

This year, as in the ten years prior, The Blog deeply grieves the loss of his friends and the other 2097, give or take,  people who lost their lives on that terrible day.

And he honors the extraordinary courage of the first responders and the later rescuers who put their own lives and health on the line that day.

There are conspiracy theories.

Most of those theories are bullshit. But, a few, in The Blog's not so humble opinion have credence.

Where was NORAD? What part did the Bush administration higher-ups, charter members of The Project for the New American Century, play on that day?

Those are topics for another day.

We will get to them, by and by.

But, it has been eleven years,

While we should never forget, isn't it time to move on?

For now, I will mourn the deaths of David and Lynn Angel. May those wonderful people rest in peace. The same for my friend who will remain anonymous, who died as the building collapsed around her.

There is so much for The Blog to discuss on the subject of 9/11.

Maybe tomorrow, But, not tonight.

Too much sadness. Too much grief.

Outrage can wait until later.

Tea Bag "Patriots"

T.E.A. P.A.R.T.Y.  "Total Economic Amnesia Permits Additional Republican Trickle-down, Y'all."
-- John Fugelsang, comedian, political commentator, FOtB (Friend of the Blog)

Back in April of 2008, the corporate lobbying group "FreedomWorks" in cooperation with Fox "News" began a social experiment they called "The T.E.A. Party."

Their original mission: Convince middle class voters, via a coordinated distribution of misinformation, that the Federal Government was robbing them blind at the very same time that their taxes were being reduced to a 60 year low.

And, by God, it worked!

Never mind that the original Boston Tea Party was a protest against corporate tax breaks by the British government that gave a single company (The East India Trading Company) a decided business advantage over small business in The Colonies.


Let's not confuse the current party of "Taxed Enough Already" with historical facts.

Several months later, the phony grassroots (aka: astroturf) movement, put their real agenda to work... Setting the same low information group of people against any sort of healthcare reform.

Back then, a group of T.E.A. Partiers began staging protests on the corner of Hawthorne Blvd. and Torrance Ave. here in The Blog's Los Angeles South Bay.

In the beginning, there were about two dozen protesters. Most of them, clearly of the age to be receiving Social Security benefits and some of them sitting on their Medicare provided "mobility scooters."

About four years later, the protests continue.

                                                  This photo was taken this afternoon.

As you can see, the crowd has grown smaller. (I was going to say that the crowd has thinned. But, take a good look at the three "patriots" waving their "Don't Tread On Me" flags. Nothing thin about them! The Blog is betting that there are a few pre-existing conditions here, i.e.: Type 2 diabetes and/or congestive heart failure.)

The Medicare and Social Security recipients are staying home. Maybe they got wise. Or maybe they now reside in Medicaid funded nursing homes. I don't know.

The protest is now down to three individuals and three very young children (not pictured) passing out flyers. Because eight-year-olds know their shit when it comes to politics.

Truth be told, The Blog took this photo on the fly for the sole purpose of posting it on the internet and making fun of the ill-informed yahoos in their cowboy hats, happily advertising their ignorance and their willingness to advocate against their own best interests.

But, when The Blog opened the photo on his computing machine, and took the time to take a closer look, he realized that the photo contained a great big, heaping helping of tea bagging IRONY!

                                                             "If a person who indulges in gluttony is a glutton, 
                                                               and a person who commits a felony is a felon, 
                                                               then God is an iron." --Spider Robinson

Think about it. Because, they won't. 

"I Woke Up In a Great Mood..."

Did you ever have one of those days when everything was going your way?

Didn't have to be to work until an hour later than usual?

Got to leave work at 2:00 PM and still be paid for a 10 hour day?

Taking a bit of guilty pleasure from the fact that your coworkers still have, at least, six more hours to go?

The weather is beautiful. The sun is shining, but not too hot?

Maybe you will do a little yard work?

Or, better yet, take a nap?

But, suddenly and unbidden, that little voice in your head, the one that sounds like Flo, the Progressive Insurance lady,

                                                                            on crack...

...says, "Hey! This is just the sort of day that is going to kick you in the balls, pretty much any time now!"

 "Yayyy!"


The Blog bets that you have had one or two of those days.

                                      Mike Damone knows what The Blog is talkin' about.

Fortuitously, The Blog wanted to wash his hands before he worked in the yard took a nap.

Thanks to a billing glitch by the for profit utility that provides The PC's water, there is no water here.

So, I had to deliver a cash payment to the water company's office, two cities away.

A pain in the ass, to be sure. But, easily taken care of. The Blog's water supply was back on line by 5:00 PM.

Crisis averted.

Relief.

Oh, but the afternoon was still young.

The Blog gets a call from Mrs. Blog's dialysis center.

Thanks to a too high dosage of anti-coagulant, they just can make her stop bleeding.

Another hour later, 911 is called.

                                  * A brief digression*  A dozen paramedics and firemen arrive.
                                     Each one, the totally straight Blog  admits, more handsome
                                     and macho than the next. Mrs. Blog is being rescued by a
                                     fucking beefcake calendar. I mean, really? So cliché,
                                                                                                        *End digression*

Major props to the Torrance, CA FD and EMTs! (You handsome assholes.)

After three hours of effort by staffers of Torrance Memorial Hospital ER to staunch the bleeding, the genius vascular surgeon stops the bleeding with one small suture.

The doc tells Mrs. Blog that she "lost a little blood."

The Blog wonders what the doc's definition of "a little blood" is. Because Mrs. Blog looks like Carrie after the prom.

                                     An actual photo of Mrs. Blog at 10:30 this evening.

"All's well that ends well." said The Bard.

The Blog hates roller coasters. Mrs. Blog loves them.

So, The Blog wonders, "Is life fucking with me? Or, is life giving her the ride of her life?"

Are You Better Off Now...?

A Republican friend asked, on his Facebook wall, "Are you better off now than you were four years ago?"

Rather than belittling his wildly unoriginal question, I gave him a straight forward response...

"The question is, "Am I better off now than I was four years ago?" The answer would be "Well, yes I am."

Four years ago, I was far worse off than I was in 2000 when Clinton left office.

The better question would be, "Am I better off now than I was 12 years ago?" That answer would be, "After getting worse and worse off during Dubbya's eight years, I am finally back to where I was 12 years ago when Bush took office."

Four more years of Obama, with a Congress whose number one agenda isn't to make Obama fail, and I should finally be ahead of the game. "

To expand on that...

In the year 2000, I was making the most money, annually, than I had ever made.

In 2001, in fairness, by no fault of the Bush administration, I lost my job. I picked up part time jobs in my profession, and in 2002 I got a full time job at a drastic cut to my previous salary.

At that same time time, my wife, Mrs. Blog, a public school teacher, began to make less and less money, thanks to federal and state budget cuts. By 2008, she was earning $15,000 less a year than she did in 2000.

As anyone who does not have their ideological head up their ass knows, the U.S. economy jumped into a hand basket to Hell in the year 2000 and plummeted toward the abyss, culminating in a complete economic melt-down in the summer of 2008.


That was, in case you are not paying attention, before Barack Obama was elected president.

Every increase in income that The Blog earned during that time, was countered by the decline in income of public employees, including public school teachers.

Thanks to the Obama administration, and no thanks to the obstructionist Republicans in Congress, the U.S. economy had pulled back from the abyss, and by 2011, The Blog household had hit a "break even" point.  By 2012, things are now a bit better. With any luck, a couple more years of Obama and Democratic policies will get The Blog's household back to the point that we can afford a bi-weekly house cleaning service and a new computer. Like we could in the year 2000.

The Ryan/Romney Romney/Ryan ticket has a plan to return America to the failed "trickle down" policies of the early 2000s.

Dubbya's daddy called "Supply Side, aka: Trickle Down" "Voodoo Economics."

That may be the last time a Republican told the truth about anything.

Republican Celebrities

Today, the web site Mediaite.com posted an interesting column and slideshow entitled "Celebrities You Probably Didn't Know Were Republicans"

Mediaite begins by siting several well known conservative celebs. Chuck Norris, Kelsey Grammer, Robert Duvall, Ben Stein, Gary Sinise, Jon Voight, and Clint Eastwood. They left a few "well known" celeb conservatives off that list. Just off of the top of The Blog's head, they missed Mel Gibson, Bruce Willis, Victoria Jackson (Okay, she just barely qualifies as a celebrity,) and Patricia Heaton.

Maybe not so well known, Gene Simmons of KISS and Alice Cooper. Sad, but true.

Conservatives love to deride Hollywood liberals like George Clooney, Susan Sarandon and Sean Penn, saying that they are just actors who should shut the fuck up, because, really, what do they know?

Ben Stein famously claimed that Hollywood conservatives were forced to meet secretly in Malibu basements, much like early Christians had to do. Pure bullshit, but that's what he said.

Kelsey Grammer claims that he was snubbed by the Emmys this year, for a show that few people have actually seen, because he is an "out of the closet Republican." More bullshit, and whiney bullshit, at that. But there you go.

But, Republicans come out in droves to support their celebrities, while dismissing Democratic celebs.

Republicans elected Sonny Bono mayor of Palm Springs. Clint Eastwood spent some time as mayor of Carmel, CA.

Republicans voted Arnold Schwarzenegger governor of California for one and a half terms.

And, Republicans voted for.... oh, what was his name?... B movie cowboy actor... starred in a movie with a chimpanzee...

Oh! Right! Ronald Reagan... as President of the United States.... TWICE!

But, yeah.

Hollywood is full of liberal elitists who should stay out of politics. But, Hollywood, conservative, elitists, vote them into public office!

Right.

But, I digress...

Mediaite's post provides a slideshow of celebrity conservatives that might surprise you.

Or, maybe you shouldn't be so surprised. For the most part, they are successful and mind bogglingly wealthy. So sure, it shouldn't be surprising that they lean toward the "I got mine" philosophy.

Here is what caught The Blog's attention.

Out of the nine people listed, The Blog knows, likes, loves, is a personal fan of, three of them.

The Blog isn't going to out which ones.

Except the one that The Blog was shocked to find on the list.

Clint Howard is one of the nicest, kindest people that The Blog has ever had the pleasure to know. A great guy, all around. It absolutely pains The Blog to have to do this, but...

But here are a couple of facts about Clint Howard...

He is not a wealthy celebrity. He has a modest cult following. His career peaked before he hit his teen years.

When The Blog last saw Clint about two decades ago, he was living in a one bedroom, West Hollywood apartment. He was starring in a direct to video horror flick that is considered, by his cult followers, to be the crown jewel of his oeuvre, where he picked the trash on the set for water bottles and soda cans for recycling, not out of any environmental concern, but rather, to collect a few bucks from the local recycling center.

As an adult, 99.9% of his roles have been provided to him by his very liberal, Democratic brother, Ron Howard. Without Ron's help, Clint would be appearing, exclusively, in direct to video schlock and famous cinematic disasters like "Barb Wire."

So, Clint! God, I love ya Dude! But, what the fuck are you thinking? You owe your modest success to your liberal family. (Brother Ron, Dad Rance and Mom Jean.) Where would you be without them?

But, whatever. The Willard "Mitt" Romney party calls Dems "elitist."

No hypocrisy here!

More About An Empty Chair

Okay.

So, The Blog admits that he is weirdly obsessed with last night's Clint Eastwood, RNC appearance.

I know, I know! The Blog has promised a well thought out commentary about the pattern of Republican presidential candidates over the last three decades.

The Blog promises that that post is half written and residing on his hard drive, to be finished and posted soon. Assuming that nothing so bizarre comes up again in the next day or two.

But, The Blog has realized something about the Eastwood appearance.

Clint's RNC appearance is the most appropriate representation of the Republican position about Barrack Obama since the 2008 campaign.

An old, rich, white guy, arguing against an imaginary version of Barrack Obama.

Ever since the 2008 campaign, The Republican party have chosen to argue against an imaginary, invisible, Obama straw man. An "elitist" (pretty rich, coming from the party of Willard "Mitt" Romney) who is, in reality, a centrist, moderate, all too willing to compromise with the extremist opposition.

The Blog hopes that Obama will win the 2012 election and, as a "lame duck" give a great big "fuck you" to the Republican obstructionists who stand in the way of America's forward movement.

That is how The Blog sees it. That is all for tonight.