Tuesday, December 31, 2013

NFL Black Monday: Head coaches canned

Saw one of the Hasselbeck boys on my ESPN sports TeeVee making a fairly simple point which had escaped me; our media devotes hours off air time and even ink and paper for dead tree media speculating on which coaches will get fired and then more time on post mortems on reigns of these tinpot dictators and even more time on coaching relationship carousels figuring out the name of the next coach to get hired to run these losing teams.

Not to put too fine a point on it but screw the coaches.  What about the players, people who get cut all the time without anyone caring or noticing except maybe their mommas.

What about the players?

The coaches in many cases have years and multi millions more of dollars left to get paid on their contracts; players get jack squat beyond their guaranteed signing bonuses except maybe injury settlements.

Greg Schiano, bully, Tampa Bay, still has 3 years at 3 million per on his contract.  Should we cry him a river 'cause he gets to bang brews on the beach for 3 yearsand not worry how to feed his family?

God damnit, I thought life had moved on, at least at professional level, from having asshole coaches who physically and verbally abused their employees.  Schiano brought that back.  How well did that style work this season for Tom Coughlin of the New York football Giants?  Not very well despite the fact he fines players if they don't make it 5 minutes early for meetings.

That style only works in colleger or high schools nowadays when coaches can control every facet of their players' lives, even up to and beyond the point of death.  Exagerration you think.  No, football players die all the time from trying to play a game they love.

Let us remember a name, Derek Sheely, killed by football and whose parents received an anonymous letter describing Derek's death: [The writer said he was a player on the team and described a horrible sequence of events that led to Derek's death, of Derek hurting his head at practice, bleeding from the forehead, and a coach berating him for wanting to sit out. One line in particular has been repeated often in media stories: "Stop your bitching and moaning and quit acting like a pussy and get back out there!" the email quoted the coach as saying.]





The Sheelys do, however, want to change the culture of ignorance and faux toughness that pervades football....

The Sheelys say they didn't want to sue, but they say they ran out of options in their quest to find out what happened to their son. They wanted — still want — the NCAA or Frostburg State to investigate the case. They can't believe a young man is dead and neither has done anything to find out what happened. They can't believe the NCAA investigates parties thrown by agents, but not the death of a player. They can't believe other coaches get fired for foul language, but Frostburg State coaches have faced no consequences after a player died in practice. (Rogish resigned at the end of this season....)
http://www.sbnation.com/longform/2013/12/17/5217634/sharing-derek-sheely-a-helmet-to-helmet-hit-took-the-life-of-a-22?utm_source=sbnation&utm_medium=nextclicks&utm_campaign=articlebottom











http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/2013/12/30/5171100/greg-schiano-fired-tampa-bay-buccaneers

Monday, December 30, 2013

Hugh Janeus, calling Hugh Janeus

Whoops, did  this get posted?  Meant to save it to drafts.  Well, we need some laughs sometimes. Remember, many a slip betwixt cup and twit.

http://crooksandliars.com/2013/12/open-thread-best-news-bloopers-2013

"Like dogs returning to their vomit"

Just to remind any sentient being who cares how these right wing neocon slime spreading pricks operate--yes, Sarah Palin wears a skirt but really think her born a man and now post operative transexual--they invent the wildest lies, calumnies, and deceits to impugn the reputations of decent Democratic politicians and any one else who gets in their way by trying to tell the truth.

For example, my sources say Ted Cruz really sired by a Satan spawned demon and in his off hours eats roasted puppies and picks his teeth with leg bones of babies sacrificed on the altar of Mammon.

[For example, Fox News' Chris Wallace doesn't know that the NYT article was intended to "clear the decks for Hillary", but, as always, some people say...just as I don't know that Mike Wallace's death in 2012 was the result of heartbreak brought on by unbearable humiliation at having such a shameless hack for a son, but I hear some people say that too...

But seriously, like dogs returning to their vomit, if you have eyes to see and memory you will not fail to notice that the clowns who are now circling the Benghaaaaazi! wagons over the Treason! of Four Dead Americans! Murdered! Deliberately! By Hillary! The Butcher of Benghazi! are the same, blood-drunk chickenhawks who spend the Bush Years jerking off behind their keyboards as the lives of thousands of Americans, hundreds of thousands of Iraqis and trillions of your tax dollars were shoveled down the rathole of their dreams of Neocon Empire.

A regular, Chickenhawk High School reunion.]
http://driftglass.blogspot.com/2013/12/sunday-morning-comin-down_29.html

Lest we forget, these Chickenhawk shitheads lied us into war with Iraq for no gain and lots of loss, of money and the precious blood of American soldiers, and started a war in Afghanistan now perpetuated because of ignorance.

More recently, some of these very same people shut down our government like spoiled brats who dod not get their way with all they wanted.

Also found at Driftglass, Ted Cruz, Senator, state of unparalleled ignorance, gives an interview denying the fact he instigated that governmental shutdown, as befits a man of God whose illegal alien Canandian Daddy says annointed to save freedom, thus freeing Teddy boy from any pesky ninth commandment to tell the truth.

Chuck Norris vs. Jean Claude Van Damme

In an epic display of testicle tearing limberness, the American icon par excellence Chuck Norris responded to Jean Claude Von Dumb's obviously computer generated pseudo stunt with a patently real stunt of Chuck's own to prove America the bestest and all them other wog countries worstest, with each individual gun toting by God Amurrican gooder than any furrin colored person.

Chuck Norris and America, my sweet land of unbridled greed, kind of go together like peanut butter and bananas.

Sunday, December 29, 2013

Neil Young: "Waging Heavy Peace"

As both my readers may have noted, listening to a bit of Neil Young's music as well as reading his autobiography, Waging Heavy Peace, demolishing along the way my preconceptions of the man, his life, and his music.

Sure, knew of his reputation as bit of an eccentric, model train enthusiast, and father of an autistic son.  Yet, if possible, his book revealed him as so much more: artist searching his whole life through for glimpses of his muse, a humble kid from Canada, and a modern day Da Vinci--the Leonardo one--with an abiding concern for our planet and a future fucked by fossil fuels.

Instead of just wringing his hands and whining like most hippies, however, Mr. Young has taken the lead in inventing new power system for our cars, ones which use biomass energy to create electrical energy to keep battteries charged.

We humans can literally use our waste to create propulsion, and can do this without converting too much corn into ethanol, thus leaving food for hungry masses--at least inasmuch half the book has explained to my little brain.

Perhaps more interesting to me remains still how he has internalized, dealt with, and accepted a series of health problems for himself and his son.

This stands in utmost contrast ti my reactions--denial and anger over the fact my legs have failed and again have to walk the path of becomiing a quadrepeligic if my spinal cord continues to atrophy.  For now, am angry at my legs for failling me.

Mr Young's life brought him many times for anger at fate or others and he chose other, peaceful paths.

Pray his exsample will teqch me how to wage peace,












Neil Young & Pearl Jam - All Along the Watchtower - Pro Shot

Bruce Springsteen w/ Neil Young - Keep On Rockin' In The Free World (Liv...

NEIL YOUNG & CRAZY HORSE - Hey Hey, My My (Into the Black)

Sex with The Hulk

Google is Going to Blackmail You (+playlist) NSFW

No Kid Hungry

Jeff Bridges: I choose to support the No Kid Hungry campaign because I'm outraged that every days kids across this country don't get enough to eat.

There are more than 16 million kids in America who struggle with hunger and they need our help. They are the most vulnerable members of society and their voices aren't often heard in the halls of their schools, let alone in the halls of Congress.

That's why I'm reaching out to you today. I hope you'll show your commitment to ending childhood hunger by making a tax-deductible donation to the No Kid Hungry campaign by December 31.

https://secure.nokidhungry.org/site/Donation2;jsessionid=D784C3DD674624AC0DF4C6365F9FB82F.app250b?df_id=9482&9482.donation=form1&df_id=9482&autologin=true&s_src=Email&s_subsrc=YE-6_D

Holiday Thank You

Neil Young, Willie Nelson and Crazy Horse - All Along the Watchtower (Li...

Neil Young and Crazy Horse - Like a Hurricane (Live at Farm Aid 2012)

neil young cinnamon girl live 2013 Bimbadgen

Neil Young & Crazy Horse - Cinnamon Girl, In Concert 11-8-91

Just A Song Before I Go - Crosby, Stills & Nash (+playlist)

Stephen Stills - Sounding Out (1972) Part 3 (+playlist)

CSNY at Bridge School Benefit Concert #27, 10-26-13

Neil Young - Heart Of Gold

NEIL YOUNG - OLD MAN

Friday, December 27, 2013

Watch UPS Tetris In 24-Hour Holiday Delivery Time-Lapse

Chromebook Sales Soar

Update to below: [On Thursday, Amazon.com called out a pair of Chromebooks -- one from Samsung, the other from Acer -- as two of the three best-selling notebooks during the U.S. holiday season. The third: Asus' Transformer Book, a Windows 8.1 "2-in-1" device that transforms from a 10.1-in. tablet to a keyboard-equipped laptop.
http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9245050/Chromebooks_success_punches_Microsoft_in_the_gut?source=CTWNLE_nlt_pm_2013-12-27

Call the Doctor!

A Snow Dalek!!!


"Conservatives have not read the Bible."

Could not have written nor said it better myself.  From the words of Isaiah to the minor prophets to the words of Jesus Himself to Matthew 25 where he said inasmuch as you've done it for the least of my brethern, you've done it for me.

Feels like I've come out of a coma to awake in a country I no longer recognize: where 7 homeless people froze to death in San Francisco already this winter, where a shanty town lives within stones throw of Silicon Valley, where the wealthy 1% gobble up ever more of the larder of this country, where decent jobs have gone to China because thise poor people oppressed with impunity by their class system, where rich Republicans claim our country broke yet inflation remainss low and the rest of the world uses our currency as the benchmark.

No, we are not broke.

Our country can do whatever it decides upon AND feed the hungry.

Makes me so damn angry!  Why have we not arisen, sharpened our pitchforks, lit our torches. ad gone after the bastards who oppress us.

Because we have bought their big lie that it's our fault when in reality the inequality we se is a feature and not a bug of this sick, diseased, corpulent, rotting body politic.

Damn youse, damn youse all to hell!

[The Right has successfully rebranded the brown-skinned liberal Jew, who gave away free healthcare and was pro-redistributing wealth, into a white-skinned, trickledown, union-busting conservative, for the very fact that an overwhelming number of Americans are astonishingly illiterate when it comes to understanding the Bible. On hot-button social issues, from same-sex marriage to abortion, biblical passages are invoked without any real understanding of the context or true meaning. It’s surprising how little Christians know of what is still the most popular book to ever grace the American continent.]
http://www.alternet.org/tea-party-and-right/right-wing-filled-biblical-illiterates




Wednesday, December 25, 2013

Rolling Stone: 12 best metal Christmas songs

Example: [On "Viking Christmas," the melodic death-metal band Amon Arath make an argument against revisionist Christian history. Or are they admitting that despite their lust for blood, they also like gingerbread cookies? It's open for interpretation.]Read more: http://www.rollingstone.com/music/pictures/12-metal-christmas-songs-for-unsilent-unholy-nights-20131209/amon-arath-viking-christmas-0455106#ixzz2oXWF9f2D 

Mary! Mary! Mary! Mary! Mary!

What day is it?


Springsteen and Morello: "London Calling"

I can see and hear Tommy Morello's guitar playing but still don't believe it.

"Ghost of Tom Joad"

"You see a bloood fight over deceent health care for our citizens."

And we still see this "blood fight."  Will Democrats grow a pair and defend decent health care for citizens?

HOLD THE LINE!

THE BAND / THE WEIGHT (1969.Woodstock Festival)

Tuesday, December 24, 2013

Concert for Bangladesh

Springsteen Concert

If you don't have anything better to do after attending church this 1 night of he year like most of y'all do, watch a Springsteen concert and turn that Mother UP!

Paul and Bruce

Saw Deidre standing there with her danciing Shiva tattoo and crushed on her ever since.

Thanks, Wendy my first love, for teaching me about the Boss; please forgive me for failing you.

But SHAKE IT UP NOW!

Del Shannon: "Runaway"

Why, Why, Why, Why?





Stupid Crook News

Ought not to pile on or judge these people, but their exploits make my miserable life--stuck in hospital over Christmas--more tolerable.  Plus, I find 'em funny.

When visiting and not miving to Florida, remember that alligators, as endangered species, have more legal protections than you do.  The law forbids screwing 'round with gators in any way but knd of countenances you getting shot down fer nuthin.

Also, gators will eat you so stay the frank away, even if you have a powerful thirst.
[A man looking to trade a live, four-foot long alligator for a 12-pack of beer at a Miami convenience store was cited for the illegal possession and attempted sale of the creature, NBC News reports.
Fernando Caignet Aguilera came across the gator at a nearby park, where he trapped it, according to Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) spokesman Jorge Pino. Although there are no specific laws that apply to Aguilera’s case, it’s illegal to harass, touch or feed alligators in the state.] http://www.salon.com/2013/12/17/florida_man_caught_on_video_trying_to_pay_for_beer_with_a_live_alligator/
Next, don't drink and drive; you might spill your drink.  Especially don't drink and drive, sell drugs, crash into a local fire house, and flee.  Just don't do it.
[OVIEDO, Fla. —
Police are looking for the driver who crashed into an Oviedo fire station.
Oveido police said they spotted a suspicious SUV behind a shopping center on Alafaya Trail early Tuesday morning.
But the driver took off as soon as the officers approached, authorities said.

A few minutes later, they found out that same SUV crashed into a fire station on Central Avenue.

Oviedo Fire Chief Lars White said, "I would suspect they've got some serious injuries. Damage to our fire engine will have it out of service temporarily. Our rescue vehicle is OK...."

Police said they found cocaine and pills in the car, and think the driver may have been dealing drugs out of the car.]

Monday, December 23, 2013

Kim Jong Un vs. Christmas

Ding Dong the Wicked Monopolist is Dead

Though trying to hold at bay the dread cliche, it does loom as tempting since it allows one to write what we think ought to prove true; nevertheless in absence of data and numbers over time, such statements might amount to naught, essentially working as lies we tell ourselves to make us feel better like if I work at my marriage she will love me and stop leaving all the time.

So although one may write that in economic terms monopoly power in the marketplace leads to higher prices and lower quality, we really mean anecdotal evidence over time leads to that hypothesis.  For instance, one cannot know if a single abacus maker in ancient China started making inferior machines as the market share went higher and higher.

So although many have written off Microsoft as maker of crappy softtware, railed against the company and wished for its demise, or prayed for deliverance from the Microsoft monopoly, we ought to recognize the fact the company put many chickens in its own pot and a personal computer in many homes and nearly ubiquitous, the chickens may come home to roost.  (How ya like that stew of mismatched cliches?)

In fact, the fact that Microsoft has launched an ad campaign against Google could mean fear of competition from the lower cost Chromebooks, plus from Google products in general: [Will Microsoft's effort to cast Google as Scrooge pay off? The company hopes so: Bing currently loses billions each year, and reports suggest Microsoft's much-hyped Surface tablet is having disappointing sales. "I have a theory as to why this might be," a CNET tech blogger wrote. "Too many people are searching for it on Google."]

One theory of politics in general holds that a king acknowledging a rival claimant to the throne gives legitimacy to that claim.  So, Microsoft may have overplayed the hand on this one.

Nevertheless with manufacturers, Original Equipment Manufacturers, willing to explore and employ options like Chrome and also Android for mobile devices, cracks in the Microsoft facade have occurred.

[Does all this portend the end of Windows? No. For now, Chrome isn't making a serious dent in the PC market, and the PC Plus computers aren't likely to make a serious dent immediately as well.

In the long run, though, PC Plus and Chrome are certainly dangerous to Microsoft. People are already comfortable using non-Windows operating systems on their mobile devices. With real alternative on traditional PCs, they may break their Windows habits there as well.]

http://blogs.computerworld.com/windows/23315/big-pc-makers-aim-android-heart-microsoft

[Computerworld - Microsoft will face a rebellion of long-time partners at next month's Consumer Electronics Show (CES) when OEMs introduce Windows personal computers also able to run Android mobile apps.

According to two analysts, multiple OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) will roll out what one called "PC Plus" at CES, the massive Las Vegas trade show slated for early January.

Tim Bajarin of Creative Strategies mentioned PC Plus in passing in a Dec. 16 piece he authored for Time. "A PC Plus machine will run Windows 8.1 but will also run Android apps as well," Bajarin wrote, adding that the initiative would be backed by chip maker Intel....



Android and, to a much lesser extent, Chrome OS, are the only alternate games in town for OEMs. Linux has failed to spark interest except among a tiny fraction of technology's cognoscenti. Apple's iOS and OS X are out of bounds, as Apple restricts them to its own hardware.

It will be interesting to see how Microsoft reacts to the double dipping of these OEMs. While a PC with Windows 8.1 still means Microsoft has been paid for the operating system's license, the company will not be happy with PC Plus and its implications.

"This should scare the heck out of Microsoft," said Moorhead. "They should be very, very afraid because if goes widespread, it demotivates developers to create native Windows apps."


"....This is a gift that will keep on giving," said Moorhead, predicting not only a splash of coverage next month, but after those initial shots of rebellion, months more ripples from PC Plus' impact.]
http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9244953/Microsoft_to_face_computer_makers_rebellion_at_CES






Cracker Barrel: Saviors of the Republic!

Oh yay!  Cracker Barrel takes a brave stand for free speech and corporate profits.  Can't believe this 1 ignorant redneck even got to turn on a TeeVee much less get on a cable network show where any measurable audience means big ratings for that medium.

He said blacks in Louisiana did not sing nor have the blues before the civil rights era.  His momma must never let him off the plantation much.

WTF?

STFU!

I'm offended the damn racist, mother loving, genetically inferior offspring having, RepubliKKKan idjuts got offended.

I will neither write nor speak on this matter again--unless someone pays me.

[Dear Cracker Barrel Customer:

When we made the decision to remove and evaluate certain Duck Dynasty items, we offended many of our loyal customers. Our intent was to avoid offending, but that’s just what we’ve done.

You told us we made a mistake. And, you weren’t shy about it. You wrote, you called and you took to social media to express your thoughts and feelings. You flat out told us we were wrong.

We listened.

Today, we are putting all our Duck Dynasty products back in our stores.

And, we apologize for offending you.

We respect all individuals right to express their beliefs. We certainly did not mean to have anyone think different.

We sincerely hope you will continue to be part of our Cracker Barrel family.


http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2013/12/23/cracker-barrel-will-carry-duck-dynasty-products-again

Santa Deconstructed


Ginger Hair Rocks!

Dammit, now that ginger hair has become the in thing and desireable to women--as fickle creatures as exist--my hair might not look red enough!

Just looking for a date for lunch., Deidre.

Goddess, can't I catch a break?

"Thomas Knight bravely acknowledges something that I’ve known for ages: that ginger men are hot. No, seriously. We tend to fetishize redheaded women, while completely ignoring redheaded men. That is just nucking futz"  
http://www.lawyersgunsmoneyblog.com/2013/12/ronald-reagan-shoe-porn-more


[In the United Kingdom, children with red hair can be really bullied at school. The Anti-Bullying Alliance were very excited to be a part of the exhibition as there is very little being done to combat this particular form of bullying -- it's incredibly ingrained in our culture. There are very few positive male role models with red hair too, so the exhibition tackles these issues and starts a conversation.]  
Emphasis added because I could gert touted as red headed positive male role model, especially if someone paid me. Crap, saw chick on TeeVee labeled as "Pop culture consultant interviewed as if her opinions meant something. Geez, pay as entry level pop consultant?
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/14/red-hot-thomas-knights_n_4067509.html

Sunday, December 22, 2013

For Christmas, No Child Hungry

For Christ's sake as you rush about buying last miute gifts in the consumer frenzy of our modern Christmas, please give to No Kids Hungry and food pantries in your local area.


Government Zoning Laws: Unfit for human habitation

Conservatives hate government because of pesky things like declaring buildings unsafe and unfit for human habitation.  If we want to live in filth, squalor, and expose ourselves to communicable diseases, we should have that right, dammit!

What goes with Republicans and squalor, anyway?  Surely they can afford maid service after their meth binges?

You'd think Mrs Congresswoman wife Riohrbacher would art least hired some illegal aliens to swamp out their house when the lease expired.  Guess it comes easier to threaten legal action and abuse one's office rather than do the right thing.

(It's OK if you're a Republican)


[The story, to recap, was reported last month by The Houston Chronicle. According to the Chronicle, officials in Webster, Texas in November ordered the emergency closure of Stockman's campaign headquarters, citing multiple safety violations. The newspaper reported that various campaign staffers and volunteers were working and sleeping in the office, located in a former a former motorcycle shop considered unsafe for habitation.]

Jesus Rebranded

For quite some time, have suggested my church update the look and mouth feel: merchandise miracles, condemn gays, sell adverts onn the altar and etc.

Geez, how we gonna compete with 2000 year old Gospels as our gospel?  Can't we  sell some miracle ointments?

http://youtu.be/USeR4myzKQI

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/12/20/1263810/-Jesus-Rebranded (With 20% more fiber plus added links.)



Saturday, December 21, 2013

George Thorogood - Rock and Roll Christmas

Questions on "Encounter with God"

Calvary Chapel, Melbourne, FL, 2 pm-8 pm Christmas Eve.

Do I bring presents?

If yes, should I go vengeful deity thing and look for Philistine's foreskins or peaceful hippie thing like hemp bracelet?

What do you give the God Who already has, literally, everything?

Should I make plans for after?

Can I send my youngest sister who hates me for some well-deserved smiting?

Should I call ahead for reservation?  Oh just tell me the less crowded times since You already know.

Even Mormons allowed.?

How should I dress: black tie or FL casual?  Flip Flops allowed or marking wearer for damnation?

If my family---people related to me by blood--attends, I'm drinking.

Breyers, Say It Ain't So; All Natural Doesn't Mean All Milk

Great Haysoos, Mary, and Joseph, even at my most jaded and cynical, had hoped the world held a few things to count upon: man's cruelty to other humans, wars, occasional glimpses of love, and teevee preachers stealing money from the gullible.

Nevertheless among the chaff of human life, always thought I could count on curling up with a quart of Breyers All Natural Mint Chocolate Chip or Butter Pecan ice cream.

Psych, they've started adding natural but crap products.

Do I really have nothing to believe in any more; has everything gotten sacrificed on the altar of Mammon?

[....Breyers has been making ice cream since 1866, and was famous for its Pledge of Purity guarantee and simple ingredients. But Breyers has done a little under-the-radar switcharoo, turning many of its products into something called a “ frozen dairy dessert,” complete with nasty gums and corn syrup and unpronounceable ingredients. The company can no longer legally call such products “ice cream” because there’s not enough cream or milk fats to meet the standards set by the USDA (score one for government regulation).

But you’d have to read the fine print on the packaging to know that your beloved Butter Pecan ice cream is now a chemical swamp.

In what appears to have been a cost-cutting move (using less dairy fat is cheaper), Breyers has been selling this gunk to unsuspecting customers for a few years now. Despite shrunken packages and cheaper ingredients, the price has only gone up.]
http://www.alternet.org/economy/7-major-consumer-rip-offs-watch-out-holiday-shopping-season

Scenes from Behind the Medicaid Cuts: Droolers

Droolers disgust me.

I don't know why.

Oh, that amounts to a lie.  I do have some ideas.

First, we humans have deep innate fears of freaks and geeks and gimps; in olden days perhaps those got shunted off to circus side shows gnawing on chicken bones while caged for spectators.  So my innate fear of a life lived in mockery scares the shit out of me.

Then, we also know in our bones that even if not born a geek, the random number table and physics applied to frail human bones and brains can turn the strong into gibbering idiots, twisted like scrap metal from an "accident" and or with mental faculties faulted, synapses and circuits burned, hands twisted, face contorted into an unfunny grin, trying to point with hands turned claw like and with speech now reduced to squawks, grunts, and moans to try to communicate our wants, needs, and desires, spittle spilling out of our mouths without our noticing., leaving us husks of our former selves.

Would I still inside my mind have full thought but just too many blocks between thinking and expressing, left grunting and squealing at the nurse before meal time because of hunger in our belly, even left like one fed through a tube in his belly to fill the stomach but never to enjoy the rich tapestry of taste while eating?  In a like manner, fear comes of knowing of kindness and compassion in the hugs and pats of loving caregivers but never the love of sleeping next to a partner on a cold winter night, of knowing another in a biblical sense, of la mort petit, of what we too easily and hurriedly call love when we really mean instants lived fully in the moments of physical selves but also grasping the ineffable and infinite.

Even the well-spoken Ronnie, a bit of a misshapen lump in his souped up electric wheel chair who has to look at you askance from his 1 good eye, drools a mite bit on his crisply pressed shirt.

So a high functioning quadriplegic like myself could fit into this adult living facility and hopefully help other residents and prove a positive example even though burn to return to a life of lonely Independence.

So every policy debate in Washington, DC, and state governments around the land come not as choices on entitlements or Medicaid but must measure against the care given those broken beyond repair.

Come and live one stinking, scary day in my wheelchair, Senator Ted Cruz, R Fantasy Land, and Representative Paul Ryan, R Austerity, then tell me what your Jesus would have you do.

Sorry, Lord, droolers disgust me for fear of becoming thus.

Thursday, December 19, 2013

Joey Ramone - Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)

Resting.....

....up after dialysis.  Don;t feel  bad; don't feel good either.  Am sort of concerned 'bout getting murdered in my sleep tonight by a vengeful Italiano mafioso grandmama.

You see, every skilled nursing facility, "rehab" centre, and high school  has those think they run things: those to deluded, dim, or beautiful to realize they--and all humans-- merely maintain an illusion of control as we surf the tides fate and fortune.

So this slight, stoop shouldered, shuffling slip of a woman doing laps up and down the hall from after supper until midnight paused early her travels and put her hand on my doorknob and went to close the door.

Don't know why, perhaps just spite or fact had finally door open and view into hall after a  long day of hiding behind a drawn curtain while various indignities and assaults visited upon my person, I told her no.

Then we had a tense 15 minute stand off with her talking in Eyetalian and me saying no.

Good thing she fell for my bluff,

What was I gonna do; get out of bed?

Unfortunately, ain't happenin'.


Wednesday, December 18, 2013

Clarence Carter Back Door Santa

Rot in Hell, King Leopold

Unaware until today that yesterday stood as the 104th anniversary of death of bad King Leopold the Royal Deuce of Wannabe-Bad-Ass Belgium, as wretched a tyrant as ever lived and mayhaps the worst as he had empire envy: other European powers split most of the the world, and he only got the stinkin' Congo.

To that, he reacted with savagert all too predictable of a civilized Christian:
[Leopold thought, how could a country be influential if it didn't have darker peoples under its boot....The despot's nefarious forces, dubbed the Force Publique, invaded the Congo Free State and unleashed a horror many of us can't even fathom. The invaders raped Congolese women, destroyed homes and villages, sucked vital resources (rubber and ivory) from the country and, more infamously as shown above, cut off the hands of native peoples to intimidate those who didn't produce enough rubber to meet the quota or to show military superiors that bullets hadn't been wasted on, gasp--wait for it, animals. Those beautiful black hands, by the way, are still a presence in Belgium. I was in Brussels several years ago and a candy shop, near the European Commission's headquarters, was selling chocolate hands. No other customer seemed to recognize the odious irony of it all. But, then again, that's Europe for you: a lovely and historically rich continent spectacularly ignorant of its role in multiple genocides.]  (Emphasis added because of sarcasm below, Also can't bare seeing pic at this link)  http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/12/17/1263307/-Rest-In-Hell-Dear-Leopold?detail=email

So US does count as more moral place than Europe 'cause we only have the blood price of one genocide on our heads.

Don't Move to Florida

Sure come to visit and spend your hard earned ducats, euros, and dollars to keep our low wage service economy going, but please don't plan on coming to live.

We will soon run out of water; ever' damn body has a gun and can't wait to stand their ground, and we have crooks aglore, some seemingly too stupid to even breathe.

Things get weird in a hurry down here.

It would help to be crazy to live here, but you gotta embrace the strange: such as the cutest convict or actual flesh eating zombies, and sinkholes swallowing our penninsula.

Rule # 1, cardio.




"Sinkholes illustrate an interesting point: In some cases, what we call natural disasters actually aren't. Florida's sinkhole problem is partially due to a shrinking water table, caused by millions of thirsty citizens. To its credit, the state is looking for alternatives for potable water, and is actually a global leader in desalination. But desalination remains an extremely expensive, energy-inefficient process of turning saltwater into consumable water."  emphasis added



Update part du trois (Part the three)

OK, count me all in for national security of the homeland, vaterland, and even U S hinterland--plus favor fulll employment for otherwise on the dole, pudgy, living in their parents' basements, and for God's sake at least wear a robe when you role play every waking minute of your pathetic-dreary-afraid-to-talk-to-real-girls lives--but to have the United States of Irrational Security and formerly Great Britain pay so many gamers to "infiltrate" video games like World of Warcraft looking for actual by gosh terrorists that they end up playing with each other, things have gone a trifle too far.

Shoot, Ameriduh, terrorists have passed messages in porn so hire me!

[Computerworld - American and British spy agencies apparently believe there are real-life terrorists lurking among the elves, gnomes and the trolls of online gaming worlds.

For the past several years, the National Security Agency (NSA) and its British counterpart, the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), have secretly monitored activity and harvested data from massively multiplayer online game networks like World of Warcraft and Second Life....

Just last week, the Washington Post reported on how the agency is daily collecting location data from millions of cellphones around the world, including those belongiong to Americans travelling abroad.]


Tuesday, December 17, 2013

Update Part the Second

Sad that CBS 60 Minutes has lost whatever shred of journalistic integrity it once had: [On December 15, 60 Minutes aired a report on the National Security Agency based on unprecedented access to its headquarters and interviews with Agency staff, including its chief, Keith Alexander, who discussed the concerns many Americans have about its operations since the disclosures by Edward Snowden.

The segment opened with reporter John Miller's acknowledgement that he had once worked at another federal intelligence agency. It featured no critics of the NSA....

Miller's report was immediately ripped apart by NSA critics and veteran journalists. Some have called the veracity of CBS News' reporting into question. Others termed the segment a "puff piece" and an "embarrassing" "infomercial," saying that it filmed was under guidelines that overwhelmingly favored the agency and proved the effectiveness of the NSA's communications staff.]
http://mediamatters.org/blog/2013/12/17/nsa-report-means-more-trouble-for-60-minutes/197310

Veracity, the ability to speak truth, one would think that important to a "news" show.

Also see: http://prospect.org/article/four-takeaways-yesterdays-nsa-ruling#.UrBw1xOrFws.twitter.

#XMAS JAMMIES - Merry Christmas from the Holderness Family!

Update on 60 Minutes 15 Dec NSA Piece

[Instead, during an interview by CBS correspondent John Miller with NSA officials, we learned of a nefarious plot worthy of the best Cold War era spy novels. NSA brass spoke of a Chinese "BIOS Plot", designed to "brick" all computers and crash the global economy. The supposed evil plan was foiled by the NSA, with the help of a few good computer companies.]

Derision best expressed in a comment: [Second, the US economy is too vast, diversified, and chaotic to have a single point of cyber-failure. Third, China’s economy is so tied to the US’s that Beijing would ultimately damage itself by mass-bricking US computers.]
http://blogs.computerworld.com/governmentindustries/23289/nsa-flashes-bios-60-minutes-itbwcw?source=CTWNLE_nlt_dailyam_2013-12-17

Monday, December 16, 2013

Santa Claus Go Straight To The Ghetto-James Brown

"All this time, I Just Thought I Was Being Paranoid"

First, let me write it pains me to write anything remotely positive about Larry Klayman, some what less necessary to societty than an enema nozzle. You hate 'em, avoid 'em like plague, but if taking pain killers and constipated, you sometimes need 'em; but c'mon, this ass tool sued his mother.

In this case, Klayman files suit against Obama and others for excesses of NSA spying; a noble cause indeed but he never bothered nor cared nor filed suit for such spying until a brother--oops, a Democrat--gets elected prez while these programs started as far back as when the embers of World War the Deuce cooled.

Now, a federal judge has ruled the current prctices of the National Security Agency may well be proved unconstitutional. (Full Opinion)

Thanks, Mr. Enema, oops, Klayman.

[Computerworld - In a potential blow to government surveillance efforts, a federal judge in Washington D.C today ruled that the National Security Agency's practice of collecting phone metadata records on millions of Americans may be unconstitutional.

In a 68-page ruling, Judge Richard Leon of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia noted that the plaintiffs in the case had a legal basis for challenging the constitutionality of the government's bulk data collection.

Based on information presented to the court, the plaintiffs have demonstrated "a substantial likelihood of success on the merits of their Fourth Amendment claim" against unreasonable search by the government, the Judge ruled.

He granted a motion for a preliminary injunction filed by public interest lawyer Larry Klayman and other plaintiffs in the case seeking an immediate end to the NSA's bulk collection of phone metadata records. However, because of the significant national security interests at stake and the novelty of the constitutional issues raised by the case, Leon said he would stay the preliminary injunction pending an appeal by the government.]
http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9244833/Update_Judge_rules_NSA_spy_efforts_may_be_unconstitutional?source=CTWNLE_nlt_pm_2013-12-16

Full Opinion

History: (My emphasis throughout)

[Project Echelon began with a secret post-World-War-II pact between the United States, Australia, Britain, Canada and New Zealand, countries housing Echelon's half dozen listening posts. These groups funnel intelligence to the NSA and receive in return technology sharing with the NSA to monitor their own people and a chunk of the budget.

The project has five "ear-in-the-sky" satellites capable of monitoring sounds from thousands of miles away. They allow Echelon to intercept virtually any internationally-transmitted phone call, fax, e-mail or data transfer for the ostensible purpose of tracking international terrorist groups or drug cartels. But unlike many spying relics of the Cold War, Echelon is aimed at surveillance of civilian communications, such as business and personal e-mails. Barr's office estimates Echelon intercepts up to 2 million transmissions per hour.

While the NSA will neither confirm nor deny the existence of the Echelon system, a report commissioned by the European Parliament last year confirmed that every communication in Europe has been subject to surveillance for years and the system can decode any clever encryptions. More alarmingly, European business intelligence has been known to leak from the NSA to American businesses, providing American businesses with illicit information on mergers, take-overs and bids.]
https://www.fas.org/irp/program/process/991116-echelon.htm


While CBS program 60Minutes from 15 Dec 2013 allowed the National Security Agency Administration to burnish the image of the Agency, once jokingly referred to as No Such Agency, their own correspondent reported on the Agency and listening rograms as far back as 27 Feb 2000.
[60 MINUTES
Television Broadcast February 27, 2000

ECHELON; WORLDWIDE CONVERSATIONS BEING RECEIVED BY THE ECHELON SYSTEM MAY FALL INTO THE WRONG HANDS AND INNOCENT PEOPLE MAY BE TAGGED AS SPIES

STEVE KROFT, co-host:

If you made a phone call today or sent an e-mail to a friend, there's a good chance what you said or wrote was captured and screened by the country's largest intelligence agency. The top-secret Global Surveillance Network is called Echelon, and it's run by the National Security Agency and four English-speaking allies: Canada, Great Britain, Australia and New Zealand.

The mission is to eavesdrop on enemies of the state: foreign countries, terrorist groups and drug cartels. But in the process, Echelon's computers capture virtually every electronic conversation around the world.

How does it work, and what happens to all the information that's gathered? A lot of people have begun to ask that question, and some suspect that the information is being used for more than just catching bad guys.

(Footage of satellite; person talking on cell phone; fax machine; ATM being used; telephone pole and wires; radio towers)

KROFT: (Voiceover) We can't see them, but the air around us is filled with invisible electronic signals, everything from cell phone conversations to fax transmissions to ATM transfers. What most people don't realize is that virtually every signal radiated across the electromagnetic spectrum is being collected and analyzed.

How much of the world is covered by them?

Mr. MIKE FROST (Former Spy): The entire world, the whole planet--covers everything. Echelon covers everything that's radiated worldwide at any given instant.

KROFT: Every square inch is covered.

Mr. FROST: Every square inch is covered.

(Footage of Frost; listening post)

KROFT: (Voiceover) Mike Frost spent 20 years as a spy for the CSE, the Canadian equivalent of the National Security Agency, and he is the only high-ranking former intelligence agent to speak publicly about the Echelon program. Frost even showed us one of the installations where he says operators can listen in to just about anything.] My emphasis throughout.
http://cryptome.org/echelon-60min.htm

Even erstwhile Republican. Eric Margolis,  now recognize the dangers of such a program to our civil liberties:
[In 1975, I was invited to join the US Senate’s Church Committee that was formed after the Watergate scandals. Its goal was to investigate massive illegalities committed by the CIA, National Security Agency and FBI.

As a then staunch Republican, and having worked on President Nixon’s reelection campaign developing Mideast policy, I declined.

With the wisdom of hindsight, I should have joined the investigation.

Senator Frank Church warned: “ If this government ever became a tyrant, if a dictator ever took charge in this country, the technological capacity that the intelligence community has given the government could enable it to impose total tyranny, and there would be no way to fight back because the most careful effort to combine together in resistance to the government, no matter how privately it was done, is within the reach of the government to know. “

The Church Committee revealed Washington’s role in the assassinations of foreign leaders, CIA collaboration with the Mafia, wide scale subversion around the globe, mail and phone intercepts, spying on Americans by the US Army and intelligence services, collusion with right-wing terrorist groups like Gladio, and much, much more.

Edward Snowden’s revelations of NSA malfeasance have done much the same thing today. Both Church and Snowden were branded traitors by rightwing zealots and flag-wavers. Government security agencies were reined in for decades. But it’s now clear they are not only back to their old tricks, but are out of control.]

The gigantic rock lifted by the courageous Snowden revealed the chilling global reach of US electronic domination and intrusion.]
http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/eric-margolis/52487/ben-franklin-was-right-about-the-nsa


Now lest you think this of just academic or historical import, consider the US Drug Enforcement Agency has formed a secret unit to pass on information collected without warrants to local law enforcement agencies about drug crimes, non-violent drug crimes.
[(Reuters) - A secretive U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration unit is funneling information from intelligence intercepts, wiretaps, informants and a massive database of telephone records to authorities across the nation to help them launch criminal investigations of Americans.

Although these cases rarely involve national security issues, documents reviewed by Reuters show that law enforcement agents have been directed to conceal how such investigations truly begin - not only from defense lawyers but also sometimes from prosecutors and judges.

The undated documents show that federal agents are trained to "recreate" the investigative trail to effectively cover up where the information originated, a practice that some experts say violates a defendant's Constitutional right to a fair trial. If defendants don't know how an investigation began, they cannot know to ask to review potential sources of exculpatory evidence - information that could reveal entrapment, mistakes or biased witnesses.

"I have never heard of anything like this at all," said Nancy Gertner, a Harvard Law School professor who served as a federal judge from 1994 to 2011. Gertner and other legal experts said the program sounds more troubling than recent disclosures that the National Security Agency has been collecting domestic phone records. The NSA effort is geared toward stopping terrorists; the DEA program targets common criminals, primarily drug dealers.

"It is one thing to create special rules for national security," Gertner said. "Ordinary crime is entirely different. It sounds like they are phonying up investigations.]
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/08/05/us-dea-sod-idUSBRE97409R20130805

Phonying up investigations: your tax dollars at work.

Thanks, Larry.

Sunday, December 15, 2013

The Kinks -- Father Christmas (better audio)

Crosby Stills & Nash - Southern Cross (Remastered/lyrics)

One of my favorite songs of all time.  Had to include version w/ lyrics since, as a poetry lover, a few lines bedeviled me for decades.

Plus, perplexes me this music less popular and known; it occupies a greater space in music history than just soundtrack for a target advert: "Teach Your Children," an excellent example of how 3 distinct voices blending in subllime harmony.

Perhaps more importantly, "Teach.." teaches us so-called hippie ethic of love and tolerance and essential elements of ethical human living.

'Nuff ssaid.





Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young - Woodstock - w lyrics

The Allman Brothers Band - Melissa



My favorite Sunday morning song.

Saturday, December 14, 2013

Getting Irritated w Nadia G -- Black Friday Stampedes

Atheists, Listen to the Pope

[Francis wrote in a papal statement, “Some people continue to defend trickle-down theories which assume that economic growth, encouraged by a free market, will inevitably succeed in bringing about greater justice and inclusiveness in the world. This opinion, which has never been confirmed by the facts, expresses a crude and naive trust in the goodness of those wielding economic power and in the sacralized workings of the prevailing economic system…. Meanwhile, the excluded are still waiting.”

When the Pope washes the feet of convicts while calling for greater efforts to lift up the world’s poor, he makes it possible to establish meaningful partnerships with other moral communities, secular and religious. Of course, when Francis speaks about the “idolatry of money” and “growing income inequality,” you know, the things Jesus spoke about, you can set your watch in waiting for someone on the Right to accuse him of being a Marxist. Hello, Rush Limbaugh.

Atheists like to talk about building a better world, one that is absent of religiosity in the public square, but where is the atheist movement, as defined by the some 2,000 atheist groups and organizations in the U.S., when it comes to dealing with our third-world levels of poverty? Not only is the atheist movement absent on this issue, it is spending thousands of dollars on billboards that make atheists look like assholes, at the same time Catholicism is looking hip again. The Pope has changed the perception of the Church in the minds of millions while the atheist movement has been sucked into the Right’s fictitious “war on christmas.”]




35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

Merry Christmas from Chiron Beta Prime

"Did I say Overlords?  I meant protectors."

Friday, December 13, 2013

The Ramones Pinhead Live at CBGB 1977

Put the 2 together and makes 1Christmas song:








Jesus a Man of Colour?

[As light-hearted evidence that Jesus was black, it adds that he "called everybody 'brother', liked Gospel, and couldn't get a fair trial".]
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/3958241.stm

James Bond: A Limp Drunk?

{The doctors' report in the festive edition of the British Medical Journal concluded: "Although we appreciate the societal pressures to consume alcohol when working with international terrorists and high stakes gamblers, we would advise [James] Bond to be referred for further assessment of his alcohol intake."
Patrick Davies, a consultant in paediatric intensive care at Nottingham University Hospitals, told the BBC: "You wouldn't want this person defusing a nuclear bomb.
"He's a very glamorous person, he gets all the girls and that's totally incompatible with the lifestyle of an alcoholic, which he is."
He said Bond would be classified in the "top whack" of problem drinkers and would be at high risk of liver damage, an early death and impotence.
"So he might be practising safe sex after all," said Dr Davies.}

Take me to the Festivus Pole

[A "Festivus" pole made of 16 beer cans took its place next to a "freedom from religion" banner Wednesday in the rotunda of the Florida Capitol.

Chaz Stevens, who assembled the marker and got Department of Management Servicespermission to add it to holiday symbols on the Capitol's first floor, said he made the seven-hour drive from his Deerfield Beach home in response to the placement of a Nativity scene last week. A 10-foot menorah was also displayed during Hannukah.

"It's just ridiculous," Stevens said of the displays.

Pam Olsen, president of the Florida Prayer Network, greeted Stevens as she arrived for her usual Wednesday prayer session at the Capitol. Her organization placed the manger scene across the rotunda last week.

“Thank you for exercising your freedom of speech and you're welcome, in your Capitol and mine," she told him.

The bare aluminum Festivus pole gained fame in a 1997 episode of the "Seinfeld" TV show, in which the characters devise the pseudo-holiday "for the rest of us" as a reaction to commercialization of Christmas.

Rather than get involved in legal action over church-state separation, DMS has declared the rotunda a public forum where any expression of belief is welcome. After the Nativity and menorah displays went up, the Freedom From Religion Foundation placed a large sign in the rotunda marking "the Winter Solstice and honoring the Bill of Rights.
Reporter Bill Cotterell can be reached at bcotterell@thefloridacurrent.com.]


Thursday, December 12, 2013

Artists United Against Apartheid - Sun City (Official Video)





Sun City (MTV: Pop Up Video).

 Yes, my nieces, back in the time of dinosaurs--the 1980's--there existed a TV network called MTV, standing for Music Television, and it actually played music, not just shows about drunk hillobillies and pregnant teenagers sbbing because immature boyfriends predictably cannit handle committed life with a waoman much less playing their part as creator of a tiny, needy human being.

No, nieces, then we knew peoplecould organize to redress wrongs, to make things right, to make thw world a better place, to....oh screw it, MTV doesn't even play music any more.

ACLU: The NSA is Coming to Town

Wednesday, December 11, 2013

Can You Believe?

President Obama let George W. Bush fly with him and have pictures taken.  Guess Barry O. needed to pump up his ratings with a popular ex-President onboard.

Bah, Humbug!

Face it, the modern American Christmas of orgiastic spending and Black Friday riots simply sucks the big one.

Take away Food Network dishes you'll never make much less sit down to the Norman Rockwell family table; take away the browsing for gifts you'll never afford for yourself much less your family, unless you live as part of the 1% spitting down on me from your Park Av, NYC, terraces and then fuck you; take away extended unemployment benefits THREE days after Christmas, damn youse Republican'ts; take away my family where my youngest sister actively hates me and her sons, worse still, ignore me; take away my friends who would always stay around and they gone; geld is weg, madel es weg, alles es weg, o du lieber Augustin; take away Sea Pines Rehab hospital which my insurance copany won't let me return to because I've made too damn much progress even though can't dress myself much less walk; take away rhe mark I meant to leave on the world 'cause--ha, ha, ho, ho--after struggling to walk for 33 years after a broken neck ain't left nuthin' but piss and shit stains in Orlando; take away the Christians who only make it to church on Christmas Eve and ostentatiously give a dollar to a homeless dude--fuck you, Norman Rockwell--take away that Christmas flick with Ji-Ji-Jimmy Stewart 'cause, dude, you did waste your life, well except that hottie wife while I'll never get a kiss much less much of a life; take away all that and all you gots left is What Would Jesus Buy?

So to make my Scrooge Ass Self happy, I'm a gonna post rock Christmas songs--the sicker the better--to make myself feel better.

So there!



Steve Stockman, God's Judgment on TX and Gift to Comedians and Twitter

[Or, as Tim Murphy sums him up, he's "almost certainly the only member of Congress to have been caught with 30 mg of valium hidden in a cellophane wrapper in his underwear. He's defended militia groups; accused an attorney general of 'premeditated murder'; appeared on a Holocaust-denying radio program; waged a one-man war against Alfred Kinsey; compared his constituents—favorably—to Branch Davidians; and traveled to Denmark to protest climate change while wearing a red blindfold. The man who bested his 2012 opponent by 44 points isn't the most ballyhooed of incoming lawmakers. He's just the nuttiest."]
http://prospect.org/article/daily-meme-you-are-foxhole

OMFG!, TV Listings Edition

The only thing more horrifying than seeing a listing for a Home Alone 4 on TV came from a listing for

Larry the Cable Guy's Hula-Palooza Christmas Luau!

The Horror1  The Absolute Horror!

Dolphins Improbable Comeback

While abhoring cliches, maybe adversity can bring a locker room together?

Still offensive line stinks, but as 50 year fan a 1 and done playoff run will make me happy as expected worse from season.  Dolphins let left tackle go and tried to force fit Johnathan Martin to that side when I had seen him just rag dolled on right side--in between Jaguars games NFL forced me to watch in Orlando--another fine move by Jeff Ireland, witness trade for Bryant McKinnie..

Found disturbing allegation someone on Dolphins staff wanted Martin toughened up as reminded me of them bringing Kevin Gogan in to toughen up and bring some nasty to Dolphins O Line.  Didn't work.

Did Mike Golic vs. Gogan fight occur during that time?  Mr Golic entertains greatly on M and M, even if he always play bullies Greenie.