the First Cut is the Deepest

I'm trying to rush through this post before we lose electricity again. Some very powerful storms have hit us. And still are. 

I'm loving whomever has put up these billboards throughout Cleveburgh. 

It's looks welcoming to our National Park - and yes, the NE Ohio area has a National Park.  .....thank you. 

Last checked, the Cuyahoga Valley National Park (CVNP here out) is / was the 7th most visited National Park in the country.  Go figure. 

710 and I might be counted multiple times, but even Peleton has a bike tour through the park, so.....that's something. 

But often we take Shep there for our walks and picnics. And one of my running groups makes some of our longer runs through there. 

Or did. 

With the BLOTUS / Musk folks cutting funding, trail repair is off the table and many of the restrooms are just shuttered. 

It's a big-assed park so you'd literally have to "run" five miles to get to a bathroom. Sometimes longer. And most of the people down there aren't runners. So, the woods are gonna have to do. 

Our leaders are planning our runs elsewhere. Our metro parks are wonderful here - usually voted best in the nation - and there are no shortage of running options, though most require a LOT of hills. But they have facilities. 

Still, the billboards (and there are many) are calling out why there are fewer repairs and services, and laying at the feet of DOGE. BLOTUS who has never exercised (or even walked) in a park, and Musk who probably has never done Ketamine in our park. 

Everyone should have a bathroom to shoot up in, no? 

Song by: Cat Stevens

Sending Postcards from a Plane Crash

What can I possibly say that every meme, tweet, thread and bluesky hasn't already covered?

JFC. 

I fucking love "we" are taking a new 747 (I thought those were discontinued, but.....whatevs.......) from a foreign nation. One that has deplorable human rights issues when it comes to LGBTQI populations. 

Mind you, the U.S. isn't so forward thinking in that regard either. 

As this plane is a "gift" to BLOTUS, and Air Force One is run by.....you know, the Air Force, does the military have any say in this matter? 

I ask only because of, oh.........tracking devices implanted in the plane. Or any number of security breach issues that could be monitored by Qatar. 

Of course, I also don't get Pam I'm a Cunt Bondi approving this transfer of goods. She's "Attorney General".  Yes, I'm using quotes. 

"Gifts" from other nations goes through the State Department, not the DOJ. And by the State Department's own rules go like this:

• Government Gifts: Gifts of $20 or less per occasion, not to exceed $50 in a year from one source.
• State Gifts:State and local officials and employees are prohibited from receiving a gift or gifts totaling more than $630 in a calendar year from certain sources.
• Protocol gifts: are gifts that are usually given in formal and official settings such as business meetings, protocol events, state visits, conference meetings, diplomatic events, etc. These gifts usually have a symbolic meaning and are intended to represent respect, friendship, cooperation and brand promotion.

I'm not sure which government rule BLOTUS & Co are skirting now, but we know they are. And NO ONE IS CALLING HIM ON IT. 

Oh, Nikki Haley is. Like she matters. But where is Congress? Democrat or Republican. 

Conflict of Interest. Corruption. Greed. Rules Don't Apply. The total disregard just stymies me. 

NOTHING sticks to this guy.  HOW IS THIS HAPPENING????

I'm really sorry it's not a Boeing 737-Max.  Chances of it crashing are much higher. 

Song by: Fall Out Boy

Picture This

It is passport renewal time.  Bother. 

A lot has changed in a decade. Mostly Covid, I assume. Everything can now be done on-line as opposed to sending things in via mail. And you don't need to go anywhere to get your official passport pic taken. 

So to get it renewed, I do all the work and still get to pay $300+ for the US Government to process it.

At first it was 4-6 weeks to process this request - without it being expedited, but only days after submission I got an email saying 'due to volume' it would be longer. 

Two things sprung to mind:  everyone is worried about not having one to vote (unrealistic) and others are looking to leave the country (more plausible).  We are making sure you're not a subversive (most probable). 

Since I LOVE having my picture taken, the only thing worse than doing a selfie was having 710 take them of me. It took me six tries before I figured "this will do".  I tried not to overthink it - and after the fifth, you just don't care as much as you thought. 

So it is with this picture I'm saddled with until my 70s.  Ouch - that hurt to type. 

It never occurred to me to play with lighting or filters. As my last passport photo was so good (thanks Solon Library!), I considered taking a pic of that pic to submit, but I assumed I'd get in trouble somehow. 

I assume some of the delays is this administration making sure my 'birth' gender is correct and being flagged for lord knows what. I feel suspicious of any process in which this administration has their fingers.

Hopefully in 6-8 weeks I'll have my renewal and start planning something. I also have to get on 710 to renew his as well...........or I just might leave without him. 

Song by: Blondie

Revolution 9

The hottish ex-Capitol policeman is not wrong.  At all. 

The histrionics of the last half decade have sped up the end to the U.S. democracy.  The dolts who voted and still support BLOTUS whilst still ignoring the blatant lies and dictator-like behaviour are only half the issue. The other being the demorcrats who truly don't care enough to truly make a change, partially because they feel they can't and that nothing will actually change. 

I totally get that last part. 

I'm still voting, of course, but you've seen those posts. Our dem senator candidate, who can possibly barely beat a red hot flaming turd on the republican side, is weak as fuck. The dem governor candidate is practically invisible. 

After this, or the 2024 election, I can honestly say I am not sure they'll actually be elections. We are no longer a generation or two of having no democracy. That timeframe is shorter.  Much shorter. 

Yeah, I get it:  I'm a downer. 

The ambivalence of course does come from the 'nothing will change' thought process. I'd say there has been a of change, but not for the better.  Restrictions and voting laws are now going to make it harder to initiate change. They took it away right before our very eyes and we did nothing.  

Getting these alleged freedoms back aren't going to be easy.  They might not even be possible. Not in my lifetime. And even that, not without a revolution. 

It really is time to fight. 

Song by: the Beatles

the Way I Choose

This tweet just kind of floored me. 

It is so simple and logical, so of course, the right won't see it or understand it - or think it truly applies. 

But this is it: isn't it?  I mean - really? 

Choice is an odd thing. 

You can't choose to have an abortion anymore - or soon - and yet you can't choose to adopt. And depending where you are, and if you're gay (which isn't a choice), you are not allowed to adopt if you chose to do so. 

In those scenarios, there is actually no choice. 

There are determinations. There are judgements. There is no choice. 

So why isn't this the counter argument to SCOTUS when it gets to their docket?  Not if - when. 

If a woman can be forced (!!) to carry a baby to term, why can the court not mandate that the father be on the hook for all care and costs?  Don't give the kid up for adoption, give it to their rapist, their prom date, their father (who raped them) and say "this is yours.........see ya". 

While I would hate to see children suffer, I do want every adoption agency, social services center, on the brink of collapse to to thousands of babies who enter the system and never leave. Can never leave. Will never leave until they age out.  I want to see agencies go broke because they have to pay $$$ to foster families.  I want to see everyone of these struggling states on the brink of collapse financially due to this. 

I want a dozen kids dropped per day at fire houses and hospitals. 

I don't really want to see that, but I don't want to see kids abused and die by malnutrition because their mom is 14 and cannot possibly care for, raise, feed or clothe a child. 

The Right has heard this all before.  They. Just. Don't. Care.   

For some fucking reason it wins them points at election, because the idiots who vote for them don't understand their dollars go to raise these unwanted kids. Oh sure, it's on the ultra-cheap, but that's where the money goes. 

And yes, the same Right will insist on cutting social spending for these programs, never seeing the irony. 

I hate people.  Truly. 

Song by: Bad Company

I'll Wait

 This sums up the shittiness that is Florida and its governor. 

I truly do not get Desantis' end game with this. How does all of this not hurt his state's economy?  I mean, I suppose he hopes the less affluent populations perish, as they weren't going to vote for him in the first place.  .....but then who is going to clean all the Kentucky Taco Hut bathrooms - should the people who he thinks are the spreaders of the disease - once they call kick the bucket? 

I mean, I suppose they don't call the state 'g-d's waiting room' for nothing.

Song by: Van Halen

Why

Boris Johnson is stuck on the roof.

You've heard the "the cat's stuck up on the roof" joke, right?

It's classic - and funny.  I first heard it while watching Maude.  Yeah - I'm that old.

The joke starts with explaining to whomever you're cat-sitting, that the now dead cat isn't dead.

First it's stuck on the roof. The next day you tell them, it slid off the roof and at the vet. The third day you tell them the vet is trying, but things don't look good. The fourth day you tell them the cat passed away.

The joke ends with, "so, how's grandma?", and the other person says, "she's stuck on the roof....."  Honestly, it's really in the delivery. Bea Arthur's delivery specifically.


So, once again:  Boris Johnson is stuck on the roof.


That is 710's and my guess.

• Day One:  Johnson tested positive for coronavirus

• Day Two: Johnson's symptoms had subsided, but he still had a fever. 

• Day Three: He continues to self-quarantine at Downing St.

• Day Four: QEII has a rare national televised message regarding covid-19.

• Day Five: Boris Johnson is admitted to intensive care. 

• Day Six:  well...............

Mind you, I'm drafting this at 20:00 on Monday, so by the time I wake up tomorrow, this might no longer be a prediction, and just reality. Maybe I'm wrong. Perhaps I'm not. Or possibly my timing is just a bit off by a day or three.

I've already made a wager of drinks on this......and oddly, not with Mike.


And I'm going to say what you're all thinking:  "why couldn't have been BLOTUS?"


Why indeed  Why indeed.



Song by: Fleetwood Mac

In My Reply

NOTICE:  There is mandatory reader participation at the end of this post. 


Gird your loins folks.  This Thursday, coming directly to your mobile device, is a FEMA test message from your benevolent overlord - BLOTUS.

Yes, that is right the Federal Emergency Management Asshole-lickers will be sending the first end its first 'Presidential Alert' in emergency messaging system test that will allow BLOTUS to send a message to every U.S. cell phone.

There is no opt out feature

This is bad on SO many levels.

What little sub-fraction of privacy you thought you maintained with telecommunications is now officially gone.  Every. Single. Phone.  The U.S. government is using your carrier - the ones you pay money to - to forcibly accept an SMS or phone call to your device.

And now we'll be getting things worse than tweets from that blowhard in the oval office. And really - what's to stop him?  It'll be like living with Kim Jong Un, but without the whimsy.

So, since it is a text - well, I'm assuming - it should allow us to text back, though that would be so very very very foolish on FEMA's part.  Though my thought is, if they can inundate our phones, why shouldn't it be able to work in reverse?

I have a proposition for all of you.  ALL OF YOU.   Here me now......and heed me now.

• Think of your reply. I encourage you to be as vile as possible.  
• Text it. 
• Snap a screen shot. 
• Email it to me - do not post directly to the blog.  
• I will make an entry of what I can only guess are your witty witty witty replies. 

As Otter from Animal House would say:  "this is gonna be great!"


UPDATE:  the test has been delayed and rescheduled to October 3rd.  I found out after completing, but having no time to draft something different. You have time to come up with something clever.  Do not disappoint me. 



Song by: Linda Ronstadt

Following

In my very best Jerry Seinfeld voice:

What is up with the TSA?

< ....and scene >

Really?  For years they've been following passengers?  And they don't call it 'surveillance" - which might be the biggest joke / insult of the entire thing.

As a guy who was a road warrior, I had to chuckle at the criteria for being followed:

• whether they change clothes or shave while traveling
• abruptly change direction while moving through the airport
• sweat
• tremble 
• blink rapidly during the flight
• use their phones of computers
• talk to other travelers
• use the bathroom

One has to ask:  has TSA actually ever been ON a plane?


Save talking to other travelers - because who the fuck wants to do that? - this could be me.

Ok, I don't really sweat or tremble, but you have been on UScare, right?  Almost everybody sweats, trembles and blinks.   .....then invariably uses the bathroom....and usually right after the movies is over, but before the credits.

The phone / computer thing killed me.

I guess the bigger question would be: how many people does TSA actually employ?  Because of these are the triggers, wouldn't they have to follow 74% of every plane everywhere?

I get we have little privacy anymore, but what is the end game here?  What it tells me is that TSA didn't do their job at check-in, at bag check or at assigning pre-check.

You want to follow me, TSA?  I dare ya to go into that airplane bathroom after me! I dares ya!  I also triple dog dare you to look at my phone. The music selection alone - as anyone here will attest - will make you cringe, though it's probably not a lock-up-able offense, must to the dismay of many.

I'd say this is all just so fucked up, but these days it barely warrants a shrug.  And that's kind of sad.



Song by: the Bangles

sexcrime

A few months back I wrote about how my personal information was hacked when I was a vendor for government agencies. As I needed security clearance at some of them - can you believe they gave it to a guy like me?? - they had quite the plethora of 4-1-1 on yours truly.

Oddly, 710's was not. He was on my info and while other people I know also got hacked, their spouses / partners got the same notification that I did. 710 did not. I guess they didn't snoop enough on me.

Their loss.

So about once a month since, I've gotten 'alerts' from the site that has been monitoring any activity on these accounts. I'm finally getting used to them, but for a moment they always make my heart stop for just a second.

Logging on isn't that easy - which isn't a bad thing. You sign-on, or attempt to, and they have to send you an access code each and every time. I can deal with a little hoop-jumping when it comes to this level of security.

So the first time, I barely dared to see what 'activity' had taken place. I wasn't sure if I would find bank accounts pried into or if they opened two dozen credit cards under my name.

What I wasn't expecting was a list of sex offenders in and around town.

I suppose it's a nice-to-know, but I am not quire sure where it fits in a government breach. Is there some correlation of guys who advertise for Subway and who hack into accounts to commit identity theft?

Oh - and when you hover over their location, it gives full name and address. It doesn't say what they did and it is quite amazing that so many of them live together, though it might be some kind of half-way house.

I don't know all the ins and outs (get it?  get it??) of being a sex offender.

All I know is, that so far, no one has done anything to negatively affect my financials. Or my sexual reputation...that is, if that were possible.



Song by: the Eurythmics

Standing in the Breach

I guess it was only a matter of time.

I rarely shop at Target and am not even sure what VTech might be. I do go to Homo Depot, but haven't been on Ebay in years, so I figured the risk of having my personal information compromised was less risky than it might be for others.

But two days ago I got a letter in the mail telling me otherwise.

Curses.   (yes. say like Mojo Jojo)

With one of my jobs, I had government security clearance at more than one government agency. To get such access is quite extensive - in length of time and scrutiny.

Let's just say the government know everything about my finances, education, car buying history, overdue book fees and my neighbors. Oh yes, they needed to know about neighbors and interviewed some of them about me.

I totally got it though. The risk of passing along information (not that I had any!) or someone thinking you had any, put you at risk - as a suspect or a victim.

So when government files were hacked in June (!!!) - 21 MILLION of them - for government workers or contractors (me), my ears pricked up, but after hearing nothing, I kind of assumed I was in the clear.

Until two days ago............

You can see the letter from the Office of Personnel Management. It's not a scam, though they urge folks to type in the URL and not do a search, as it might take you to a phony site. They provided me a 25 digit PIN to access free credit reports and other such things to see if anything has been compromised.

So far, so good.

And I get three more years of free access reporting. I'll just need to remember to do a weekly or monthly check, I suppose......for the next 156 weeks.

My rub is - besides the breach - the length of time from the event to the notification. Granted, 21.5 million got hacked, but I'm not sure out of how many employees / contractors. And I guess someone had to sift through all those to find the 21.5 million.  Then they had to sort our 300,000 deceased and pass that information along to their dependents.

But still.........six months? And, a former co-worker got his last week and his husband got his a week prior to that. Mind you, the husband got it because his SSN was on the co-worker's application. And here we are and 710 has yet to receive his, though I now am sure it is coming.

I should mention that this former co-worker lives a mile away, so I can't explain the delay in me getting mine. But again, 21.5 MM of these had to go out.

Bother.



Song by:  Jackson Browne

Treason

I've been very unsettled the last few days - and yes, it has to do with the GOP.

Shocking.

The 47 members of congress' more than likely treason-like activities have inflamed some of the Facebookers, myself included.

Their signed letter to Iranian officials places them in direct violation of the Logan Act.

While that act might be well intended, it is unclear whether it has ever been enacted. Reagan did nothing to Jesse Jackson when he discussed things with Cuba - though it was threatened. Ditto with Bonzo and the then Speaker of the House, Jim Wright.

Maybe it is toothless, maybe not. I suppose it was there for a reason - even if going back to 1799 (though amended in 1994).

It's a good time to test it out. Jackson and Wright didn't really put the U.S. in harm's way. These 47 douchebags could quite be responsible for long term last effects in diplomacy, if not outright military actions.

Senator "Nobody who just made a name for himself" Cotton put forth this letter attempting to circumvent any deal or plan that the President is negotiating. They are making 'threats' that a plan will be reversed upon Obama leaving office.

This means (to me) that they're assuming that a democrat won't win in 2016, or will side with them should that happen. This GOP group is even covering bases inviting Hillary to sign the letter as well - which of course is a huge Catch 22.

If she doesn't sign: she'll be on Obama's side. If she does, they'd call her a traitor.

But Clinton isn't sitting as a public servant. Though it could be argued that none of these guys are either.

Now, you don't seem attempted group treason very often, but look closely kids: it's happening.

And you DO have to look closely.

For all this fucking "liberal media' that the GOP bitches about, I'd like to know where it is. Enlarge the top image for CNN yesterday. Go ahead. I'll wait.

It's not even in the top 11 stories. And if I took another screen capture, it's not in the next 10 either.

But a friend on FB wondered aloud who these people illegally representing foreign policy for the U.S. might be and how they're getting away with it.

My reply was (because, you know I just couldn't hold back):

I'm not advocating what they're doing, but why shouldn't they?? 

NO ONE IS DOING A THING ABOUT or TO THEM. They have, and continue to, walked all over the American public and the Constitution, and not only have we let them, "we've" ELECTED AND RE-ELECTED them.   

Why would they stop?

And seriously - why would they?

Once again, the GOP has got the Dems and the country by the short-hairs and no one does a thing and except for some papers (the Washington Post), no one has it on the front page complaining.

But no one notices, because print is dead no one reads the papers anymore. And no one - myself included - has faith in the system anymore that anyone can or would do anything to stop this behaviour. Hence, my unsettled mind.

This mentality is just fucking soul-crushing.

But the GOP is good at this tactic - getting away with robbery in plain daylight. No one held them accountable for shutting down the government and adding $24 BILLION to the deficit in the process. Nope, they actually gained seats in the House and Senate.

They also know that if the Dems had attempted this, it would be front page news....EVERYWHERE.
Instead, the GOP has gotten people to look at Clinton's email habits - which not only were the same at Colin Powell, but any changes to the email policies were enacted after Clinton left her office.

Still............they made you look. You're distracted.


The Dems, as usual, are castrated little bitches. And after they're cut off, you cannot grow a pair.





On another news note: I'm not sure I could be more ashamed to have been an ΣAE.




Song by: Lindsey Buckingham

Won't Give In

Hats off to the Democrats for acting like Republicans.

I mean that in the best of ways:  they played off the same book, they held their ground and they didn't play dirty.

Ok, that last part wasn't like a Republican.

But let's face it, Republicans win more often than not because they play in unison and play dirty. Neither is a strong suit of the Dems - and while I wish no one would play in the mud, sometimes the Dems need to.

This time, they really didn't.  They held the high ground, and it seems everyone knows it - the general public and even the mainstream GOPers.

Yes, the Tea Party faction of Congress and their equally disturbed constituents are claiming "foul", but they really can't discern from reality.   ...and I don't say that to cast stones.

Honestly, there is a logic gene that just seems to be missing - from those folks who voted to shut down the government and then would yell that the National Parks and Monuments were closed and they need to be reopened.  A+B=C.   But apparently they failed that portion of school - but only because the NEA was in cahoots with the liberals to teach things like evolution and science.

Of course, we have to go through this all again in January and February, so we'll see if the GOP has learned anything.  For that, I'm not hopeful.

I also hope they have not - let's keep this fresh in everyone's mind for November 2014. We, as a nation, have short attention spans. It will be a distant memory come election time - and the GOP can spin yarn around any ad from an opponent that tries to tag them with this disaster.

As for John "Crybaby" Boehner, it must be hard to know that this 2013 disaster, will be his obituary. No doubt he has a few more decades to live (ok, 1 or 2, maybe 2.5) and he can think about that every fucking day, but it will be in the first paragraph of his obituary.  

Ditto with Ted Cruz.  I mean, how embarrassing, for him, that Houston's newspaper basically apologized for their endorsement of him a year ago.

I'm sorry for those who think Obama as weak, but he pulled the Dem team together and he was not shaken or stirred - at least publicly.  And that is what pissed the GOP off more than anything.

I would like to think this is a whole new playing field for the Democrats. I hope they remember these last three weeks as well - but do it for good, not for evil.   Don't be the next GOP.



Song by:  the Finn Brothers

Shut Us Down

Since I'm writing this before 12 midnight, so who knows if the government will be shut down.  I'm not sure it matters - the dye has been cast.

It is the out-of-touch Congress that is just fucking off the wall.  As of yesterday they have a record low approval rating of 10%.

10!   Even Cop Rock got higher ratings than that.  Hitler even probably enjoyed better polling numbers....and that would be from the Jews and the Poles.

Congress doesn't have such a welcoming crowd. You gotta figure that 10% doesn't even cover their family and friends - assuming they all voted in the affirmative.

Yet Boehner says 'this is what the American people want'.

Dude - you're getting a lower than low approval rating and you claim to know what the fucking public wants?  Get your fucking head out of your ass and maybe talk to your constituents, not just the hand-selected ones that won't dare to disagree with you.

The "joke" is that the people who keep this economy rolling - you know the daily government workers who don't take "recess" will be staying at home without pay.  Congress, who shows up when they feel like it or not out raising election dollars will draw their $174,000 salary.....because they are "essential".

I can only assume they determined who is and is not an "essential" government worker.

While I don't want the GOP to shut down the government, part of me says let them. It worked so well for Newt Gingrich 17 years ago.  Still one of his biggest mistakes - but at least that was over a budget. It is scary as shit that these cluster fuckers are doing this over a law that they help passed THREE YEARS AGO.

This is dangerous territory, regardless if they actually shut it down tonight or not.

...and if not this time, well the debt ceiling deadline is just around the corner.  So they will do it again, threaten to do it again, or will just continue the shut-down that will already going on.

But at least they know what the American people want.  Or at least 10% of them.



Song by: Lindsey Buckingham

Bullets in My Hairdo

Time and again, I've made no secret of my shock and awe at the NRA and specifically Wayne LaPierre.

Yes, I'm kind of late to this, but there were holiday posts and things to attend to.  I suppose if I posted multiple times per day, I could get everything in. As you might not yet notice, so far I haven't gotten in my Record of the Month posts, my App of the Month, Site of the Month, etc.

This isn't a bad thing, it just means I don't always need placeholders and I have things to babble on about.

Back to the NRA.

What fucking idiots. Seriously.

Here is what good armed guards would do at each and every school: job creation.  At least in theory.

125,000 schools nationwide.  Of couse, now already over-strapped school systems will have to lay off teachers to pay for this initiative, along with benefits and supplies (you know: guns, bullets, vests).  The  good thing is, no one has to shell out tax dollars for background checks, licenses or training. None needed!

I'm sure the teacher's unions (or the teachers themselves) won't balk that the average armed guard will get double an educator's salary, since the same people who rally behind the NRA (the GOP) already want teachers to sacrifice and take pay cuts.

I'll say it again:  fucking idiots.

But I'll go on.

Logistically, an armed guard ratio could be solved via a math word problem, no?

Q: If a school has 10 exits, 6 stairwells, 40 classrooms and 400 hundred students, and a shooter has four assault rifles each with a magazine of 1000 rounds of ammunition - how many guards would be needed to kill the shooter?

Extra Credit:  how many students would the shooter kill before the guard(s) got to him?

Yes, Wayne, the only thing stopping a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.  My only question is - how do you tell who is who?

Idiots.

Speaking of idiots, don't even get me started on the responses I got back from my republican state senator, Rob Portman.  Frustrating, but not surprising.  ....nor was it surprising that a wuss like him was on the short list for Romney's VP.  

Idiot.


Song by: Finn Brothers

Everything Counts

I finally got around to filling out that 2010 Census.

It's not like it took too much time and effort, and yes I actually did it a few days ago, but just getting around to blogging about it now.

Ok, that's a lie. I drafted the post days ago but had other things to publish first, so, this is just stock blog info. There - happy now???

I have to say, I'm amazed at the number of television ads that are out there for census information - that it is coming and why to do complete it. I'm not sure the demographic they are actually targeting, but these ads seem to speak to most of the people who would already comply with request.

Of course, I'm seeing this through the eyes of a white male.

The underserved are not looking at these ads, in my opinion, and saying, "hey! they're talking about me!"

And neither are those frickin tea-baggers. Those putzes, storming the Capitol and talking assassination threats against those they don't like: homos, people of colour, democrats! Basically anyone who is not them. I suppose they think the government is trying to getting all this information on their bidness to spy on them with this info.

Actually, I hope they don't fill it out. Let them lose representation and funds. Fine by me.

It’s estimated that Ohio could lose $12,000 per person over the next ten years for each Ohioan not counted in the Census. That means if we have just a 2 percent undercount from the last census, our state could lose $2.7 billion in critical funds from the federal government over the next ten years. If we experience a 5 percent undercount, that total value of lost federal funds would increase to $6.8 billion.Cuyahoga County alone represents over $334M and $836M respectively. It must be true, Sherrod Brown told me so.

Personally, I can easily see at least 5% of our county not completing this. Easily easily.

As for over the next ten years, hell, who even knows if we'll still be in this state in 2020? At this rate, Ohio might just padlock the gate at the border after everyone has left. But we'll be that much closer to "retirement" (not that that will truly happen) and I am not sure Cleveburgh is where I want to spend my final ambulatory years.

For a split second, I thought it would be fun to say I spend part of my time 'in jail or prison', but who needs that karma to come around and tap me on the shoulder?

Since this time, I filled out the census, I marked that we were same-sex unmarried partners. In 2000 Mr. Partner did not do that - as I don't think he wanted the government getting all up in our bidness.

....and no, he's not a tea-bagger.


Song by: Depeche Mode