I found the news uninteresting this morning. Same old rehash of bad news and who's cheating who! Went for a drive by of the History Channel and got embroiled in videos of the rise and fall of the Aztec empire. Very interesting! I like it much better than the morning news fare and am now going back to immerse myself in history!
Ok, this is a shameless heist of an NPR article. I just took the links and made them easier to follow. This is a great series on climate change and in my continuing quest for knowledge I really like this animated series. Anybody that denies people are affecting the climate of the world we live on are naive or blissfully sequestered in their own little rosy reality, complete with like minded friends in denial. Human activity is killing more species at an ever increasing rate. The Current Mass Extinction.This is not just gloom and doom, nor am I out hugging the knotty pines everyday! But, I am not ignorant and it doesn't take a genius to see the Human Factor is poisoning our planet in the name of civilization and economic prosperity. What's an ostrich to do? A clean strip of sand to hide ones head in is becoming increasingly hard to find!
We've been doing this for years, they're called Hunting Shacks! Whether you love the solitude or enjoy time with family and friends, the hunting shack becomes a haven of escape for a few short days out of every year. A time to catch up on a good book while relaxing after a day of freezing your ass off and coming back with only "Track Stew" or, bragging it up with your buddies about who got lucky on opening morning. The "Shack" evokes a heightened sense of awareness and comradery. The food tastes better, the laughs are louder, and the tales get taller. So, build a tiny house but, put it out in the woods, and fill it with stolen moments out of time for a few days/weeks out of the year. You can live a lifetime in a House and have a lifetime of memories, but the memories of the "Shack" will last a lifetime!
This is a really interesting article and raises some intriguing questions about a persons right to die, or anything else deemed socially unacceptable by society. After working on a medical campus for 13 years and attending court proceedings of patients to commit them or force medications, I can tell you this; once you are in that system, your 9th amendment rights are highly suspect. And, this can all begin with one slip of the tongue in an emergency room examination, especially if even a hint of alcohol is suspected. Once a doctor determines you May be suicidal, wheels are set in motion that strip you of your 9th amendment right to choose. As Sanjay said in the article, someone once told him the gist of the 9th amendment is;
" the rights of the masses should not impede on the rights of a few."
Unfortunately, a medical doctor can, with the flick of a pen, forever alter your free will and right to choose what You feel is best for You! The medical industry and the legal system are strange bedfellows of which neither knows much about, or what the other is doing, but happily scratch each others itch. Doctors will force you to "Be Better" and Judges will give them the power to "Make You Better" and be a productive member of society.
Should you have the right to choose to die? Jack thinks so and I tend to agree with him. Why should society be able to Make you live? I don't have the answers but, I do believe there should be a process for those wanting to depart societies self righteous rules for living.
Meanwhile, back at the psych ward, someone is drugging the pooch!
I got sidetracked this morning and only have this to share. It's an awesome read on the Comanche nation and even has an auditory aid for those disinclined to peruse the article.
Lions, Ligers, and Bears, Oh My! This guy, serving up "Lion Burgers", essentially hamburger with some lion meat sprinkled in, is getting the advertisement of a lifetime via the very people that are protesting his exotic culinary cuisine! Thanks to an animal activist bringing attention to his establishment, his product has gone viral and hit the news "Mainline"! Now he will have thousands of new patrons who will come just to sample the lion burger and say they tried it. Honestly, just because controversy sells and brings attention to a cause, it doesn't mean the results are going to be the desired outcome. In this case, I think it would have better sufficed to let this dead lion lay rather than beat it in to the headlines!
WTH? U.S. District Judge Martin Feldman in New Orleans, Louisiana? Marty is alive? And a judge in Louisiana? And people think I am crazy when I see Elvis?
Well, Martin is definitely a comedian, not to mention a US District judge in N'awlins! He issued a preliminary injunction Tuesday against the drilling ban, which halted all drilling in more than 500 feet of water and prevented new permits from being issued.
All the hypocritical rank and file are lining up behind Marty to get the drilling deep again.
"Jindal and Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-Louisiana, were among those asking the Obama administration Tuesday not to appeal the ruling."
"Legendary Texas oil and gas executive T. Boone Pickens also said such a ban is not needed."
My response to these self serving BP stooges? Watch this video over and over and over, wash profusely with Dawn, and get a new Rx for those bifocals because they're not working!
Meanwhile, down in Louisiana, has anybody seen the pooch?
Newt Gingr-"ick"! C'mon Newt, this is a shameless pitch for your book and show's exactly what is wrong with the delusional Republican party. It just amazes me that anyone would elect people with views like this. I can't even begin to categorize the faces of the Republican party because they wear so many at the same time and they all are spewing rhetoric to incite hate and discontent!
I'll let Newt speak for himself! (Newt; A Salamander. Slang Dic Def: astupidperson;adullanduninterestingperson. : Don'tactlikesuchanewt.)
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, a newt is screwing the pooch!
And, this is one of the most awesome reviews I have seen. What a great idea!
Meanwhile, back at the theater, the pooch snuck in to watch the flick!
ciao
Saturday, June 19, 2010
Ever wonder why you never see a video from MSNBC on here? One word; Commercials! 'Nuff said about that.
I am just having problems getting passionately invested in the political pompousness on Capitol Hill these days. Gloom, doom, and crap from the restroom leaves me continually looking for the flush handle! So, today, I just offer this sound clip lampooning Boob Barton's grammatical prowess. Enjoy!
Meanwhile, back at the classroom, someone is teaching the pooch to speak.
ciao
Friday, June 18, 2010
Change, Flashback to1995; the internet as we now know it was just getting started and the browser wars were raging.
There should be an article about the top 10 things commercialization has ruined on the internet. The top three that come to mind are, public information, specific information, and just plain information in general. Anything and everything you could possibly want to know has a price along with plenty of sites to sell it to you for the right price. Information and digital media are now "Intellectual Property" to be sold or bartered by whomever can lay civil claim to it first. Bla-bla-bla-bla-Bla....My rant runneth over and lost it's froth leaving it flat and froth-less! I hate it when that happens! Oh well, tune in next time when, Tainted Tweets Twiiter about Tatting. Or not!
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, someone is screwing the digital doge!
I feel for these security guys. The press are the absolute hardest people to deal with because they know no boundaries and think it's okay to do whatever it takes to get a story. The security guys in this video are just doing what they have been told to do and while this reporter proves his point, I think the resounding "NO" he receives speaks volumes. That's not a rehearsed or forced "NO". it's a "Get the Hell outta here and let us enjoy our break NO".
Meanwhile, back at the beach, BP is selling Suntan Oil.
Ok, Up late and Up late! The news is just depressing and I'm in a perpetual optimistic mood this morning looking for Something to Flog about. After sifting through all my news sites without anything positive being aired I find this:
Go Charlie! You made my day!
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Charlie saves the day! :-)
Yeah, I know, I could probably find more important things to rant about but, rumors of new boobs on a big boob is just to much to pass up without further investigation!
"No I have not had implants, I can't believe we are even talking about this,"
"To be judged on or to be talked about on appearance – say chest size – it makes me wear layers, it makes me have to waste time figuring out what am I going to wear so that nobody will look at an area that I don't need them to look at," She appears to be letting those puppies loose at the track!
We have had so many "Gates" over the years but, at least "Boobgate" is more appealing than Watergate or BJgate. This "gate" is truly about Boobs through and through!
Meanwhile, back at the track, the puppies are being ogled!
Tea Buggery gone awry? Tea braggers looking out for Numero Uno?
Judson Phillips, founder of another national organization, Tea Party Nation, said some activists are starting to act like mainstream politicians. "It's supposed to be something other than politics as usual, but some of these folks are only looking out for themselves and not for the country."
In the infamous words of Gomer Pyle; Surprise, surprise, surprise!The very name of the movement stands for degrading hi-jinx, excess, and self servitude. Those that envision these tea parties as a political movement or statement to change politics as usual are a naive and easily influenced mob being instigated by established and aspiring political pimps looking to retain or lay claim to their own street corner in the city of congress!
Finally, I think this commentary by Rachel Maddow sums up the Tea Party perfectly.
Meanwhile, back in the kitchen, someone is brewing the pooch!
"Extreme deep water drilling is not the preferred choice to meet our country's energy needs, but your protests and lawsuits and lies about onshore and shallow water drilling have locked up safer areas. It's catching up with you. The tragic, unprecedented deep water Gulf oil spill proves it." —Sarah Palin, blaming the Gulf oil spill disaster on "extreme environmentalists,"
Sarah, go to the the gulf coast and have a walk about. That is if you can be seen down there without a lynch mob chasing you. By all means, take Limbaugh with you. He seems to be getting a Rush from this and has such deep, prophetic words of wisdom to bestow about this disaster.
Rush Speaks: (and speaks, and speaks, and speaks,,,can't teach an old dog anything)
"The ocean will take care of this on its own if it was left alone and left out there. It's natural. It's as natural as the ocean water is." —Rush Limbaugh
Tony Hayward Speaks: (and wants his life back pre-spill)
"I think the environmental impact of this disaster is likely to have been very, very modest." —Tony Hayward, interview with Sky News television
And, to put all of this nonsense about a spill in the gulf of some minor petroleum substance, Fox news weighs in to validate Sarah and Rush.
"There's a good question today if you are standing on the Gulf, and that is: Where is the oil?" —FOX News anchor Brit Hume, scoffing at the BP oil spill disaster
*Shaking Head* Sigh, Where do these people live? In a Vacuum?
Meanwhile, back at the well, someone is oiling up the pooch!
This video is about the real Spam but it sure does fit the bill for the electronic variety as well:
Ads, advertising, spam, the scourge of entertainment communication! And what model do advertisers base their trade on to ply their wares to the consumers? The illegal drug trade of course.Give it away free until the user can't live without it, promote it with incremental ads of its virtues, then start charging nominal fees slowly increasing with usage.What a business model, and proven effective too!
I remember when Hulu first started, No ads, little visual advertising. Then it was one ad at the beginning of your show, then one at the beginning and one at the end. Now? I couldn't tell you because I stopped going there because of the ads. Does this sound familiar Cable subscribers? Remember when AMC was commercial free? Now, when you get to the last hour of the movie you get 4 minutes of movie and 5 minutes of commercial. Newspapers, yes, they still publish those people! I will not patronize any establishment that physically attaches their ads to the comic section. You know, that 1/3 page flap that gets in the way when your trying to read the first page. Economy Garages will never get my business, not that they ever would anyway. And, I miss Papa John's take and bake pizza but, as spiteful as it sounds, I have to draw the line somewhere. And yes, I do email these folks and tell them why I don't patronize them anymore. Most email back to tell me sorry chum, we have to make a buck too. C'est la vie!
Ok, this rant has gone on long enough. Tune in next time when "Pet Peeves and Pistols" are the hot topics of the day. Or not!
Meanwhile, back at the Ad department, someone is screwing the Spam!
This horrible for the residents of these communities. Right? This real human pain and suffering covered in this article right from the get go. The fact that all these people and their economy are reliant on the very oil that is killing their communities is probably lost on the average reader. The oil industry must really hate this article, right? Not! They're probably applauding this article as I type. The real gloom and doom in this article predicts all kinds of really bad things for everyone in the country. Bad news for an industry on the defensive? Nope, just like the banks held the country hostage over the financial meltdown, the oil industry is using the same strategy to spin the need for more drilling not only in the Gulf of Mexico, but in every gulf and sea Nationwide. They are counting on our reliance on oil and are spending a lot of slick money to convince us without that oil we are all doomed! Sound familiar? "To Big To Fail" Except in this case they don't need a bailout, they need a buy in. Grant our drilling permits or suffer immeasurably horrible economic consequences.
Here is an example of damage control and things to come:
BP Using Google To Manipulate Public Opinion And, the cost to do this? Ten thousand dollars a day? Wow! They will go broke in a Billion years or so at that rate! After they have done as much damage control as possible, BP will fade out of mind and memory, change their name, and re-brand themselves as another eco-friendly energy company serving the needs of the people.
Meanwhile, back at the office, someone is screwing the pampered pooch! ;-)
Move over Sarah, Minnesota has a maverick wing-nut of their own, complete with her own district and small circle of media cohorts to spew to. She doesn't "Do" mainstream media so there's not much chance she'll usurp your National stage anytime soon but, her ego is growing and she is going out amongst the herd, culling the fringes for tea minded sheeple looking for a cause to rouse from docility. Or so she thinks! Culling from the fringe get's a lot of opportunistic wolves in sheeples clothing! They're agenda is the same as hers, get control of the sheeple, prey on the young, and devour the opposition. Hmmm...Who is riding herd when it's all said and done? The "Cowbankers", that's who! ;-)
Meanwhile, back at the pasture, the pooch is screwing the sheeple!
Isn't this the guy I see all over the news crying about how the Fed isn't doing enough to contain the spill and solve all his woes? This guy has been in BP's hip pocket since before he took office. He's covered in BP green and uses scent of gulf oil for cologne. Now he's whining about not being able to do more drilling in the gulf and how it is killing his state by losing jobs. Again, it's the Feds fault!Another great governor from the state of Louisiana!
This all sounds eerily familiar to the whining of another governor from same state over Katrina. That governor refused to evacuate people prior to landfall and then blamed the Fed for not responding quick enough to solve all His woes! Images of flooded parking lots full of unused buses comes to mind but only after the horrible images of human suffering forever imprinted on the memory chips.
Perhaps there is some truth to the saying. "The squeaky wheel gets the oil". Mr Jindal surely has enough oil now to grease that squeak, but the wheels are coming off his wagon and his slippery pals are oozing into the deep horizon!
These guys must be in Louisiana!
Meanwhile, back at the BP hacienda, someone is screwing the oiled up pooch!
Reading these articles and watching the videos is like witnessing a train wreck. You know it's going to be gruesome yet morbid fascination keeps your eyes glued to the impending disaster. If you are squeamish about the world we live in and what we are exposed to, I wouldn't recommended reading or watching any further.This is ugly stuff and the price we pay to live like we do. The price we pay for convenience at the counter has an ugly price that will be paid in lives and health for generations to come.
It truly is an Inconvenient Truth! If you've made it this far then you probably are feeling a little ill by now, I know I am! Most of the money spent is not to research the safety of these products, but rather to convince you that they are safe to use. The effects on our health and lives won't be truly known for a few generations.
Meanwhile, back at the factory, someone is screwing the polluted pooch!
As we were watching the Twins Vs. The Mariners last night, replays of this blown call caused a collective groan in the Sportress of Follitude. But, being a Minnesota sports fan we are used to seeing these types of calls quite frequently. Besides, we have a great game going here, tied 1-1 in extra innings and Icky-Roe is at the plate. Icky-Roe hits it up the gut, it's stopped spectacularly by Tolbert who flips to Hardy for the out....wait....Wilson is Safe? The Mariners win? WHAT? I think I saw the Ump slip his Crack pipe back in his crack! He had to be smoking something out there to blow that call. Wilson was out by almost two steps! Gardy???
"Did you think he was out?" Gardenhire asked reporters after the game. "And the replay shows he's out. We don't need to talk about that any more. It's all out there. Just go watch the replays of it."
Meanwhile, back in Ump Central, somebody is screwing the pooch! Again! ciao
So this is the price of progress? We are our own cancer! But, how many companies will stop making these products and how many people will stop using them? And, can it even be done? I seriously doubt anyone will discard their house and almost everything in it to eliminate the risks associated with living in an industrial society. The food we eat is already contaminated and even the wild creatures have semi-toxic levels in one form or another. Check the lake you fish on, I'll bet there is some kind of advisory for how many fish you can safely eat. I won't even comment on the processed food we eat everyday. What is the price the piper will demand when all is said and done? Extinction at an extreme, transformation maybe, war, famine, and disease most likely. The sustainable tipping point has long since passed and now the price of progress is just becoming due. Blind progress is civil suicide and $$$ is the driving force of our demise. The medical community wants you to live longer so they can make more money. The industrial community wants the medical community to help you live longer so you can buy more products that ironically make you sick and the medical community then has to find a cure for. Meanwhile, back at the ranch, someone is screwing the pooch!
