Friday, September 30, 2005

Another Nail in the GOP Coffin???

William Bennett, on his radio show, "Morning in America," was answering a caller's question when he took issue with the hypothesis put forth in a recent book that one reason crime is down is that abortion is up.

"But I do know that it's true that if you wanted to reduce crime, you could, if that were your sole purpose, you could abort every black baby in this country, and your crime rate would go down," said Bennett, author of "The Book of Virtues."

He went on to call that "an impossible, ridiculous and morally reprehensible thing to do, but your crime rate would go down. So these far-out, these far-reaching, extensive extrapolations are, I think, tricky."

Clearly, the 'tricky' part is being able to get away with it. But I'm guessing if he thought it and said it out loud, it's not as morally reprehensible as he'd like to back-pedal on.

I am completely flabbergasted.

Thursday, September 29, 2005

American League East Sucks (face that is...)

Imagine what these two would do if they actually MADE the playoffs!!! Just another reason to loathe the Yankees!! Somewhere Jim Thome is J-E-A-L-O-U-S....cuz The National League West, you know, well they just caters to the Twink fans!

The Good and the Bad (and yes, the Ugly)

Good - Tom DeLay finally is on the road to getting his due. His arrogance will hopefully finally be his downfall. Talk about not seeing the forest for the frickin trees. Hopefully Frist is not too far behind (though I would like that to be delayed another year, just as presidency bids are being thrown into the ring).
Bad - John Roberts is our 17th Chief Justice. I'm not horribly surprised...nor do I think many people are. The GOP should be thanking g-d (or R-ve) for Katrina and Rita. Those hearings and lack of information slid right through every frickin crack there was in the system. But I do NOT want to hear the fuckin' republicans bitch ever about partisan politics. At least the Democrats were evenly split on Y/N votes (22 each). The GOP - every single one of em voted Y. Nothing like sticking w/party politics...right or wrong.
Ugly - Bolton is in place. Roberts is in place. One more Supreme Court judge to go (ugh!). Rove is seemingly off the hook for the CIA leak. Bush is going to rape the Alaska Nature Preserves for oil - AFTER he started a panic saying to conserve fuel, which will reap his oil friends BILLIONS in raised fuel prices. It's all working out quite nicely for Shrub...even if his ratings are in the crapper. He doesn't care about his popularity - he's on his way out anyway. His g-d will save him (or so he thinks), and he'll be richer than ever.

Wednesday, September 28, 2005

Los Angeles 5-0

It's been forever since I've blogged a thing. I can't even bring myself make fun of the news, as it has all been too damned depressing.

But the New Orleans news had gotten me thinking of York. Katrina came close to coinciding w/his 50th bday. New Orleans is where I met York.

Back in '91, Morty and I went to New Orleans after overstaying our drunken DRUNKEN visit to Houston! Somewhere during that lost weekend in NO (as the man in one of the doorways said: "Debauchery at its finest". I turned and asked Morty - "shouldn't it be 'debauchery at its worst?") I met York. Ok - it's me. I know exactly where I saw him, how many times and where we met - geesh...will you people NEVER let up?

Sure, I was drunk when I finally went up to him. Yeah - it was loud when he said his name, clearly one you do not hear everyday (or ever!). He must have repeated it 4-5 times. Finally I said - 'as in New?' I introduced him to Morty. After repeating his name 4-5 times, Morty finally says - 'as in shire?" - which was infinitely funnier than my response.

Drunkenness (mine - not his) and possible illegal substance (me again) aside - York and I bonded. It was an immediate connection I only experience with those who happen to be my close friends, and of whom I consider him one. Sure it'd be nice to see each other more than 6 times in 14 years - but email has kept us in contact. Like with all my friends - we share the highs and the lows.

I am extremely happy to have this handful sustaining friendships which I treasure - whether they are in CA, NY, NC, MA, OH. ....and who knew any of us would ever make it to 50??

Monday, September 12, 2005

"They're digging in the wrong place...."

Turns out that the Well of Souls is not located in Tannis afterall.






Sunday, September 11, 2005

Ray of Light (all things go back to Madonna)

Two articles that actually seem to be making even the non-liberal press more liberal. Let it be known that if there IS a liberal media - where are they? They are about as apparent at the DNC's gonads!

Richard Reeves and Nolan Finley take Shrub and his cronies out to task for the recent weeks of crap. All at the same time that Shrub's approval rating is in the toilet (though Morty says 39% IS his base - and that Shrub could eat their young and it wouldn't say them to disapprove of his job performance).

Saturday, September 10, 2005

Plain Dealer Question of the Day

Well, you can't say there isn't a good mix of Grandpa Simpsons in Cleveland. So, the question is/was:

Have you set up an emergency plan in case of a disaster?

and the answers are/were (please comment on your most favouritest):

"After seeing what happened in New Orleans, the only emergency plan I've set up in case of disaster is to buy more bullets for my gun." - Euclid

"We certainly do have an emergency plan, in case of a disaster. I was talking to my wife about it just yesterday. And if you don't have a plan, you're an idiot, because as you can plainly see, your government cannot be relied upon to help you! So you're on your own. Good luck!" - North Olmsted

"Oh, yeah. I'm going to kneel down and pray God takes me, and, when I get there, I'm going to thank him." - Garfield Heights

"My emergency plan in case of a disaster: If it's a minor disaster, it's five quarts of Vodka; if it's a major disaster, five gallons of Vodka. That should do it." - Lakewood

"I think I would get on my bicycle and head for a safe area BEFORE the disaster starts." - Cleveland

"To me, there's no plan for a disaster. Look at 9/11. What stopped those poor people from being incinerated? Or when the planes crashed into the Twin Towers? There was no amount of water, food, can openers or whatever that could save those people. Same thing with New Orleans. Those people that did survive are still in their homes, and the Marines and the National Guardsmen they're going to come and forcibly take from their homes. So there's nothing you can do with a disaster. It's in God's hand, not ours." - Cleveland Heights

"My emergency plan is to catch a ride with the news media. They can get there. They have generators. They have satellite phones. They have transportation. That's my plan." - Cleveland

"No. I have lived off the government my whole life. Why should I start worrying about something like this?" - Cleveland

"Yeah, I have an emergency plan in case of a disaster like that. It would be a .38 Special." - Parma Heights

"Yes. I'm going to take all my wine and head to New Orleans because there's no room for me here since we took all their people in." - Cuyahoga Heights

"No, I don't have an emergency plan, because Cleveland is the best location in the nation. The day we have a disaster like that, I know it must be the beginning of the end of the world." - Cleveland

"With the crisis going on down in New Orleans and Mississippi, my mama always said, 'From the day of your birth, till you ride in a hearse, it could've been worse.' And that's so true. And that means hope, hope, hope and trust." - Sagamore Hills Township

"My plan is that I only plan to pray to the Lord. He has protected me for 80 years, and I'm sure He'll keep on protecting me. I ask him for help, and he always gives me what I need. I thank him all the time." - No city

Thursday, September 08, 2005

Won't Somebody PLEASE Think About the Children??????

If only folks in New Orleans and the rest of the gulf states (MS and AL always get the short shrift, don't they?) had been listening to Helen Lovejoy.....or Eminem for that matter. But they didn't.

Clearly FEMA places the blame on the residents of those hard hit areas - as the first line in the second verse clearly points out.

But the bigger question might be - what IS Michael Brown doing with his budget? Clearly not securing levees.

866 knowng missing children in New Orelans alone. Had they only be visting the FEMA website.......

this was provided by Kris L-?-R-H.

Wednesday, September 07, 2005

Oh it's so sad and so funny.......

I mean, I wouldn't want the job for the world, but Scott McClellan is a dick. My only regret is that it couldn't have been Ari Fleischer. At least it's nice to know that the White House press corp aren't as spinless in their questions as they seem to be when their stories make it to print.

Tuesday, September 06, 2005

Have to Love that Spirit

Two headlines today:

Death Toll to Reach 10,000 (AP)
Don't Count Mardi Gras Out in New Orleans (AP)

Cuz nothing says celebration than taking some dead guy's beads! But really, I'm all for breaking with tradition, but if the city gets to place where there can be some type of normalcy, why not do it? Not my cup of tea - but who am I to judge.

I am impressed by outreach that has happened, because the entire scenario is just so unfathomable. But relocation of these folks to cruise ships and worse (Utah!) seems ridiculous. I mean - living with the Osmonds must be considered cruel and unusual punishment.

But Barbara Bush has stepped in it again (see my blog entry from 05/24/04). She should just keep her mouth shut (actually, so shoud her kids):

"What I'm hearing is they all want to stay in Texas," she said. "Everyone is so overwhelmed by the hospitality. And so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway, so this, this is working very well for them."

I know just how they feel of course! I stayed at the Swiss Hotel in Chicago this weekend and the thread count on the sheets wasn't even 300!!!! Oh the HELL of it!

Back to the outreach. Andrew Schamess M.D. was great about going to Houston to see what he could do on his days off (let's not forget Rebecca for coordinating the arrangements!). Though he's had little time for blog entries - you should read them here....and here. Also on the Daily Kos and an interview on WAMC.