This place was created near the end of the twentieth century just for the heck of it..
Almost Februrary and almost back
This will have to do for now. I semi-watched that awful football game and even awful-er commentary and obscenely awful half time show and wanted to say something but instead here is George Will saying something.
A theocracy happening. Maybe a little hyperbole in my thinking but beware this "faith based" baloney-fat.
But maybe we will all get a fresh start! Look at this, for crying out loud.
Thursday, January 25, 2001
These big energy companies are making record profits and my natural gas bill for the last two months is nearly double what it has been for the same two months at any time during the last fifeen years. Hmmmm.
Me too!! Hmmm.
Well? Why not? And while your at it reopen the investigation of the Vince Foster murder. And The Clinton Chronicles. Hmmmm.
I am starting the hiatus. Now.
Wednesday, January 24, 2001
My webpage hosting provider has said that on the 26 and 27 of January they will be doing some stuff and the end result will be spotty or no service for a day or two and then, ta-da, flawless service. I've heard that baloney before so we will see what we will see. Whatever happens, I am going to take advantage and "go dark"( as we used to say in show business jargon back in the show business days ) for a few days starting Friday the 26th.
Meanwhile I can't remember if I have mentioned this strange stuff about the McVeigh execution. First, execution is just plain wrong. And then to invite all the "victims" to be witness and to consider some sort of closed circuit telecast of the offing is really bizarre. If this goes one step further, it will become another Pay-Per-View event like some WWF show or other blood-sport. Especially with the wackos now not only in power, but in vouge.
And speaking of the GOP, this story from the NY Times ( just a reminder that you must be a subscriber to the Times to see Times stories) seems to indicate that the Texas Seven as they are coming to be called blended into the redneck trailer park out in Colorado by behaving like typical right wing wackos. I like the part about gospel music.
Monday , January 22, 2001 7:25 PM
Here we are just a few days in and he/they have already rescinded most of Clinton's recent Ececutive Orders many of which were designed to protect the environment, and others to help Medicare pay it's bills more fairly. Then he/they have declared a national day of prayer. And then he/they signed an Executive Order that cuts off a lot of federal funding to organizations that do family planning all over the world under the phoney claim that the money is being used to promote abortion.( The obvious result of less family planning will be more unwanted pregnancies and either more very poor children or more abortions---probably the latter.) Then he/they send a letter to be read to the fanatics who are in Washington to protest the anniversary of Roe v. Wade. They send the letter so as to continue the lie that he/they is a uniter not a divider. Won't be any pics of good old uniter bush reading any speeches to the wacko right crowd..
Meanwhile, even the NY Times is becoming sucked into forgetting that he is both a fake and a cheat.
I will be away tomorrow. So an extra paragraph or two tonight. I hope my angst changes into something more mellow soon or I will have to quit this. I am bored of being mad.
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Monday, January 22, 2001
Well, it's Monday, bush/Cheney is the selected POTUS and all he has done so far is to rescind some of Clinton's final Executive Ordrs and pray a lot. But there are some clues as to what's ahead.
For instance here is a quote from a recent issue of the The Washington Times that brags:
----President-elect George W. Bush yesterday served notice to Washington that he's "not backing off" of his conservative convictions and warned Democrats in Congress to work with him "or they're going to be left behind."
As he prepared for tomorrow's ascension to the presidency, Mr. Bush had a blunt message for liberals who believe he stole the election in Florida and therefore has no right to appoint staunch conservatives to his Cabinet.
"Too bad," Mr. Bush said in an interview with Brit Hume of Fox News Channel. "I'm going to."-----
And yesterday Fox News said, and here I am paraphrasing a little, There were a few demonstrators and anarchists out to disturb Bush's parade. The use of the word anarchists is very scary. For your review here is how America treated anarchists in another repressive era. Can't you just imagine a zealot like Ashcroft going after demonstrators that have been labled anarchists.
And there is other stuff to talk about. For instance, I have recently read that the venerable Jeep Cherokee, the last of the trucky square old fashioned off-road cars is being discontinued by Chrysler in favor of a cutesy rounded non-trucky model called Liberty. Another icon bites the dust.
Then there is this awful movie winning an award of some sort. Let me tell you It's not Spartacus. Not by a long shot. That was a gladiator movie. And watch for the Nina Foch scenes. They are something else.
Oh...I know that I whined and ranted about the absurd amounts of money that baseball players are getting and how it might affect my view of the game and my beloved Red Sox...well, I sort of used a little hyperbole------- ok, ok, I lied. Pitchers and catchers report in just 27 days.Opening day is just 40 days away ............And I can't wait!
Friday, January 19, 2001
I don't know everything that will happen in the next day and a half, maybe Bill Clinton will pardon a few more folks, maybe we will learn about more sins and even more crimes committed by public figures. There might even be some parties in Washington , DC, that are not outrageous, It may rain or snow on the parade. The public's expectations---well it doesn't say much. Who knows what it even means. What will happen is that the newly selected POTUS, bush/Cheney will be sworn in. He will make a speech. And after that.....GIHSUFAT
I did finally remember the guy's name yesterday. It was Rip vanWinkle. I will not "go to sleep" for the next twenty years, but for the next couple of days anyway.
Thursday, January 18, 2001
Maybe it's just that as we get closer to the day that the wacko's take over, I am getting wackier too---or maybe there actually is a connection between these two stories that I read first thing this morning. Story 1. Story 2.
Just two and a half days for us to wake up and be told that it's all just been a bad dream. Or to figure out a way to be like that guy in the story who went to sleep for a long long time....blast, I can't remember his name for the life of me. Anyway.
Wednesday, January 17, 2001
I listened and watched the Ashcroft nomination hearings in an on and off way yesterday until I realized that I could predict all of the questions and speeches that pretended to be questions and all of the smooth (smarmy) practiced (disingenuous) baloney-fat (baloney-fat) answers. What a waste of time. The theocratic, smug, pious bigot and zealot will get confirmed. And without the need of an unavailable bush/Cheney statement of defense.
Now another thing that really gets my goat. What could this guy Powell have to say about anything that could have earned him nearly thirty million dollars in seven years? Now I know he is a nice enough guy. He is not a wacko right wing zealot like most of the bush/Cheney team. But who would pay money to sit in an auditorium and listen to him talk about anything? So my conclusion is that the "nice guy" takes advances on bribes. What else could all this money be? Think anyone will ask him today?
I have nothing else to say today. My little grandson is coming over and I intend to "clean his clock" at several games of checkers. So I am off to study.
Besides, if I really wanted to put my money where my mouth is, if I had any real gumption left I would be going to Washington to join groups like this in their protests of the bush/Cheney selection.
Tuesday, January 16, 2001
I did it again. I sat this morning and watched C-SPAN and read the paper. C-SPAN had an Ashcroft apologist from an extreme right wing group on. The guy was not only a member of the Federalist Society he was a mucky muck in the so-called Institute for Justice. Both of these radical groups are at the center of the vast right wing conspiracy funded by the usual suspects.
Well, they will probably win this one. It seems a foregone conclusion that the best the forces of truth will do is to bloody him up a little.Ashcroft, who is truly an "evil" man, will continue to hide that fact behind his pious attitude and phoney smile. The Nation today has some more information about him. By the way, I use the expression "evil" because that's the word or kind of word these mad-men of the extreme right like to use to paint their enemies . But in this case it's as true as that word can ever be.
Exactly ten years ago Bush the first, along with Powell and Cheney decided to launch the Gulf War, and eliminate "the wimp" factor. Let's hope this article is not right or maybe were in for some "real manly" stuff from bush the second along with Powell(again) and Cheney(again)
Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh and sigh! It's going to be a long, long, long, long four years isn't it?
Monday, January 15, 2001
I can think of no better way to honor Martin Luther King and the hundreds of other martyrs of the civil rights movement, than to stop the bush/Cheney appointee John Ashcroft from being confirmed. I suppose I ought to refer to Ashcroft as the bush/Cheney/Falwell/Robinson/Dobson,and all the other extremists who are the so-called Christain Right's nominee. That's who he is and that's who he will take his orders from.
So do your part to stop this theocratic zealot from becoming the countries lead law enforcement official. Sign up here. Better yet write to your Senator directly, or call him/her up! Do It!
Saturday, January 13, 2001
So Zippy says it for me again today. So here he is again. So sue me. I am in a sluggish time. It will pass.
Meanwhile, there is still lots of buzz about this Dean Kamen guy and his "Ginger" or "It". Actually serious speculation that it is this!! The tech world may be getting as strange as the political world.
And speaking of strange, now the Right Wing Wackos have dreamed up another worry. And this one too.I am telling you these people are all nuts. . Wait a minute. This sounds a little like "sluggish" is on the wane.
Friday, January 12, 2001
Et tu, Bob's Chicken-Boy Combo, mine too.
Thursday, January 11, 2001
And I know I am getting off to a late start today. Not late enough to forget to remind us all about the dimness of the bulb we are about to have to suffer for the next four years.
Now what's all this silly hype and buzz all about. A long time ago I had a friend, an otherwise very smart guy, who was always after me to offer an opinion and a conclusion that UFO's were real and that the little guys who flew them could be here. I used to tell him that so what if they were, 'cause unless they made themselves known they might as well not be here. So I wouldn't give the subject any more thought. And he used to get so mad. And he would insist but what if they are and I'd say so what unless they either do something or otherwise let us know. and he get madder and say but they might and I'd say if they do then I will give it some thought. And. well you get the drift. Same as the stupid story about IT or ginger or whatever it may be. And what prompts this waste of time even guessing or thinking about this stuff.
Here is something real to think (and even worry) about. And this guy will not get even a tough question.
Wednesday, January 10, 2001
Heh, heh, heh. You know that's what I am thinking about don't you. I only wish that she was gone because she is an extreme right wing wacko and not because she is simply a liar who has been hung out to dry on her own petard as they like to say. And, to give me even more glee, this is a mild example of what POTUS-(s)elect bush/Cheney's core true believers are thinking. They are livid. I wish you all could have seen the look of sheer hatred on Gary Bauer's face last night when he heard a CNN reporter say that the bush/Cheney camp was putting all the blame on Chavez and that they had called Senator Kennedy's office to test out a few names as Chavez replacements.
Man oh man, I love all of this baloney-fat! I do.I do.
This too. A make believe one song jerky flash-in-the-pan for an illegitimate POTUS.
Tuesday, January 9, 2001
Despite being a person with very little to do most of the time and today having very little to say, I woke today with feelings of urgency and quickly discovered that I think I have stuff to do that is going to overwhelm me. And an urgent need to say something even if it's of no consequence to anyone but me. So.
The other day I lost a glove. I lost it while walking about 100 yards or so to a friends condominium unit , visiting for a while and walking back to my own place. The stinking glove is gone. It's a cloth glove insulated with one of those space age insulations and has a leatherette palm. It is forever "lost in the shuffle" .
Yesterday a young friend e-mailed me and mentioned that she ws setting up her new office, she is at Oxford, researching and writing a dissertation on a very obscure subject, and she said, casually, that her office was once occupied by Isaiah Berlin and that of course I knew who he was. Well I didn't and when I found out who he was, I was, and remain chagrined.
Sandwiched in between the lost glove and the "you jerk" incident about the philosopher were a couple of family things involving ...well I won't go on about them.
Now to the list of things to do. Buy some one cent stamps, buy some thirty four cent stamps, empty the wastebasket, get a haircut, buy another glove, or if I have to, a pair of gloves identical to the lost glove, mail a birthday card, bring the car to a car wash place, go to the drugstore...see what I mean. It just goes on and on.
And on top of that is this question and you and I both know the answer.
Monday, January 8, 2001
Even before the "indentured servant" issue boiled up yesterday this dreadful woman's nomination for Secretary of Labor had been called "...an insult to every working American" by labor leaders and other thinking people. And as this article from a few days ago states she was a target for a fight, along with the zealot Ashcroft and the cold hearted protege of James Watt, Gale Norton.
One of their( bush/Cheney) excuses for her (Chavez) is, and I am quoting here, is as follows:
"Ms. Chavez did not employ this woman as a housekeeper or anything else," he said.
"On an irregular basis, she was given spending money. On an irregular basis, she did chores around the house," Eskew said. He said the money was mainly for "living expenses and to help her feed herself" and not compensation for the chores.
Oh, OK sure, I believe that. Yeah right.
It's time for the long knives to come out and to to stay out against Chavez, Ashcroft and Norton. Using a paring knife on the rest wouldn't be too bad an idea either.
Last night, I went out for supper with Mrs. ThereYouHaveIt and some friends and would you believe it they wouldn't let me talk politics! I actually was forced to sit nearly mute while they actually tried to find other stuff to talk about.
Saturday, January 6, 2001
Today is the day that a Joint Session of Congress meets to accept and ratfy the (s)election of bush/Cheney to the offife of POTUS. This deserves a full fledged God-- metaphoricaly speaking of course-- in Heaven--same disclaimer to be inserted here-- Save me from all this! And poor old Al Gore, as presiding officer of the joint session, will have to say the awful words"...President of the United States, gulp, gasp,sigh, George W. Bush", or something like that.
And it's the day that officially paves the way for this extremist zealot--lost to a dead guy--to be made the nations chief law enforcer.
And for this possible trade of loyalty for talk show face time and who knows what else, by a Senator that I just don't quite trust.
At least Tom Daschle won the first round--big time. But then again this guy Lott has never shown much.
As for me, today I will use Ron Popiel's greatest invention. "Just set it and forget it!" Can you guess which one?
Friday, January 5, 2001
The GOP and the POTUS (s)elect bush/Cheney, seem to be taking the approach that "the people"---those of us , including the sappy bush---who will be busy watching all the new "reality" TV shows--- will accept as reality, the lie that bush/Cheney not only won, but that their reactionary agenda has a mandate to be passed. They seem to be right so far. Even the Democrats are going along with this baloney-fat. They are still talking about healing and other nonsense.
Well. It's time to stop all this nice stuff. Let's start with making sure that even bush/Cheney's most beloved cronies are exposed and given a hard time. I have mentioned how overrated this guy Powell is for instance. So while the obvious problems that the smug and theocratic zealot Ashcroft present are getting some attention, even the rare bush/Cheney good guy should be challenged and at least exposed to the "reality" loving American public. I don't think anything that these guys try should be unchallanged by the Democrat's. So let's have some fun with Powell, Christie Todd Whitman and then let the sharp knives come out for these three really bad guys. ( despite the easy and moderate tone of this article, these are really bad guys ) In fact, we should topple at least one of them.
Here are two stories from today's Salon that must have a deeper meaning. One. Two . Well? Don't they?
Thursday, January 4, 2001
I saw a little blurb about this somewhere on TV yesterday and again in my newspaper this morning, and here is a denial that I found here this morning. Hmmm. I assume that she will get something for her work, and a post that is primarily hostess with the mostest seems appropriate----if you get my drift.
Let's see, what else is there to talk about today. Well, there is this story about the Florida unofficial media recount. But what's the point. Does anyone care. I mean aren't we supposed to be "healing" or something.
And for a few days there is a Democratic majority in the Senate. Do you think they will show any gumption and pass on these nominations by Clinton. They should. Come on Leader Daschle, go for it.
Ah, baloney-fat!
Wednesay, January 3, 2001
Last night, after supper I got a call from a polite enough and sincere sounding guy who said he was Josh, calling on behalf of the Democratic Socialists of America. Well, I actually let him speil me for a few minutes then I had to cut him off. "Josh", I said, " I am a geezer who actually remembers the unsafe at any speed Corvair automobile, and remembers the demonstrations of the fifties and sixties, and remembers lots of other stuff from before that time and I don't want to seem to patronizing, but if you don't shut up I will not even send you the $25 bucks I usually send you" And then he said well the WTO is not all that fair---or something like that---and then I said--- look I am a peel the onion type not a revolutionary type--- and we talked past one another for another couple of minutes.
I don't think Michael Harrington would have been proud of Josh, nor would he have tolerated my patronization.
What's my point today? None really. Josh was trying to inform me, I was stubbornly refusing to listen, thnking what can this kid tell me. I did send the DSA my $25. Why not?
I don't feel like thinking about or talking about bush/Cheney today. Not the 107th Congress which convenes today. Not even Linda Chavez. I think it's finally hitting me just how big a shame it is that these people seem to have won.
Tuesday, January 2, 2001
It would be easy to just say the heck with everything and sit back, muse about 2001, nostalgia, the nature of things and drop out and watch the absurdity of a bush/Cheney presidency play out with an attitude that essentially says, " I don't care what they do to one another as long as they just leave me alone". But I can't. Every time I decide to do just that I read something like this jerk's "plan" for ed-u-ca-tion to write it like he says it. I don't care what some others are saying, they will push for some sort of vouchers even if they use their forms of new speak to address it.
These people are reactionary and nothing will convince me otherwise. I wouldn't be surprised if the hapless fool makes some wild speech encouraging some wackos to try to go get Elian Gonzalez back from the god-less Castro. Look at who some of the the wacko's have declared the hero of the year.
And if you missed it the other day, the completely looney Marvin Olasky was on C-SPAN touting the bush/Cheney theocracy plans.( this being one case in which the bush character is leading the cheney character around). In case you have forgotten, Olasky is bush's "faith" guru, and a very weird person and was introduced to the world by none other than Newt Gingrich who when he decided that he would lead the "revolution of the wacko right" must have read some of the dust jacket blurbs on Olasky's books and declared Olasky to be just about the second coming of someone or other.
Holy cow! and Good googely moogely! And ex---I lost to a dead guy--Senator Ashcroft as the cheif law enforcement officer to boot. I am telling you. Look out.
Monday, January 1, 2001
Now isn't that a grand date. It's finally here. 2001, that is just something else. I love the idea of it, and the sound of it. I am telling you, for a man who as a kid just loved the old pulp science fiction and later the newer more modern science fiction( like this winner in 1987 of the Arthur C. Clarke Award...even though I have to admit that I did not read the book, but did see the movie.), this is the time!
So for the rest of today I will just take down the last millennium's last Christmas tree and then, contemplate the nature of things. How's that?
