Selling Out

I really don't know what to think about the New York Times. 

While its readership is allegedly 62% left or left-leaning, they rarely make news for making news. 

Like so many other news outlets, they are good at reporting passing on "facts" and statements from our political leaders without really taking them to task directly.  At least that was the case when I was reading the news. 

As I haven't seen any 'BREAKING NEWS' from them, I'll assume it is the same old same old. 

And I get that revenue - or lack of - is what makes or breaks a paper. 

In my Journalism 101 class the professor asked first day what was purpose of the newspaper. Mind you, out of a class of like 60, I was the only person there interested in print journalism. Everyone else it would turn out was looking to be in Public Relations. 

As 18 year olds are, we answered with the pie in the sky responses of:  "report the truth", "investigate injustices" and the likes. 

What we got was a harder truth: "to make a profit".  Journalism 101 turned into Business 101 right quick. 

So, while I get the NYT needs revenue, I was more than disappointed in this:

Yeah - the font is hard to read in this screen shot, but fuuuuuuuuuuuck me. 

Now, do I think people who are on the Games section of the paper, going to play Spelling Bee are the ones who are thinking, "wow, a $50,000 signing bonus!"??   I do not. 

 I'm 90% sure Dean Cain doesn't read the NYT, or can spell. His fan (yes, singular), even less so. 

So, do I think Kristi Cunt Noem is cutting check after check for all her recruitment sign-ups from this ad?  I do not. 

Do I think the BLOTUS administration is fucking with the NYT and seeing how low they'll go for advertising income and sell out their alleged - and I really do mean alleged - liberalism for a few measly dollars?  

Yes. Yes, I do. 

Song by: Duncan Sheik

Not That Funny

Dibert is dead.  Long not live Dilbert. 

You may or may not know (I did not) that Dilbert creator went off on a fucking racist rant and has been 86'd by our paper. 

Effective immediately. 

I've never thought higher of the Plain Dealer.  I mean, that's a sad statement, however true. 

Adams was a douche with which to begin. Yes, being a science denying, election denying, faux voter fraud liar and MAGA fan and participant make you a douche. Being a racist is just part of their starter-package. 

I'd say "it's science", but what good would that do?

One of Adams' rants was:  "the best advice I'd give to white people is to get the hell away from black people". 

The Plain Dealer defended their move - which they said was not difficult - by addressing "cancel culture".  They said the paper is not a home for those who espouse racism and that they will not provide them financial support. 

BINGO. 

That won't stop people writing into the paper. And I so fucking hope they do, sign their name and get their letter printed exposing themselves as racists - or at very 'best' condoning racists and racism. 

I also hope that every other paper drop the bastard. I mean, sure southern states won't.  You know.....racists. And yes, I'm generalizing, but no state in the north has a lynching museum. But it they want to get him where it hurts - Hallmark stores (and the likes) have to stop carrying mugs, calendars, cards, etc with the comic strip crew. 

I was never a real fan of Dilbert. I get it's view of cube life, but it was fairly one-note. Honestly, save Bizarro and Speed Bump, I don't read any comics anymore. 

So now, for the time being, there is a grey box where Adams strip used to reside. Good riddance. 

Song by: Fleetwood Mac

Kill

I'm still on a gun rant.  There is no 5-day waiting period for that. But apparently, no one else seems to adhere to that phony bullshit. 

Just days after the mass school execution, our Sunday paper opted to take money to run this four page ad - three times.............in a row. Not three days in a row.  Ad after ad........for 12 full pages......right before the Mini-Page and comics. 

I shit you not. 

I do love the "Father's Day" angle.  Hey Kids - get your "dad" a gun. 

Maybe pops would be less thrilled when he finds Jr. took the gun to school and killed a bunch of kids. But YAY for shooting and killing things!

Song by: Jimmy Eat World

Insanity

Well, I'll be damned (and I probably will be...........but not for this....) !

When Rupert Murdoch & Co print this, you kind of know you're fucked. 

Naturally, they kind of lose me on the "legacy" part, as they infer up until now, BLOTUS would have had a good one. 

Actually, they almost lost me at "Mr. President". 

Seriously Rupe, stop THAT insanity. 

Now, BLOTUS has been railing against FOX "news" for the last few weeks (months?) because they're not only not blindly supporting him 100% of the time (though they still do a fuck a lot of the time), but the network has even gone on record to walk back false tales they have told.   .....in order to avoid a huge law suit.  One not brought on by bottled blonde anchors. Allegedly. 

Yes, FOX had to say take back all the nasty claims they made about election fraud in terms of certain voting machine companies.  And this was months after, at a trial,  lawyers for the network argued that no "reasonable viewer" takes the primetime host Tucker Carlson seriously. 

But by all means, let's call everyone else "fake news".   

So, Murdoch might have cut off his nose to spite his face with this. But no worries, Jerry Hall will still love his billions of dollars him, regardless!

January 6th is coming up. Proud Boys have already taken over a hotel in Downtown DC, and there is more than speculation that BLOTUS will rile the troops to impose violence. BLOTUS has that power, but oddly enough, he hasn't needed it - as these twats are gonna do it without the Orange Jim Jones telling them so.

Ironically enough, that time of potential violence could be more hurtful - literally - to #moscowmitch, as right now the head of the Senate gets to take care of approving the Electoral College votes. 

This might be enough reason for him to want both GOP folks from Georgia to lose the day before. His head won't be on the block - literally - should he not have to be the one to make that approval. 

I'd say I'm not a dick - but I think we all know this isn't true - but I wouldn't feel the slightest thing if something happened to Mitch, physically during turmoil in DC. 

Alas, I'm sure Mr. Murdoch's words got through to BLOTUS and now all will be well.   

(insert eye roll emoji) 

Song by: Oingo Boingo

My Name Is

Overall these days, I'm finding that people suck - be them murderous cops in Minneapolis or white women in Central Park.  No offense to the black man she was maligning, the fucking way she was abusing that dog in the process.

But I was quite taken by the Sunday NYT front page - a listing of the dead from Covid-19. I love it, because you know the White House had.to.be.fuming! 

....though probably not as much as they are at whomever is this skilled at ye olde photoshoppe. I thought this take on that NYT cover as just frickin perfect.   

.....and it's all I have for the day, because people suck..........except for the guy who did the below mock-up

Song by: Eminem

Stadium Love

First off, and I've said it before: I read most of the obituaries most of the days. Sundays are a drag because there are SO many of them. I mean, how many bodies are they keeping on ice just to hold off to till the Sunday announcement.

I tend to gloss over the ones that start out, "went to home to the Lord". That' never going to end well for me. And clearly, it didn't end well for them either.

I also try to figure how people die, which is usually by the "in lieu of flowers....." section. I do like the ones who just say they died from an addiction. Just call it out - let people know it's an issue that need attention, even if it's in line 7 of an 8 line obit.

But the other day, this one was out there.   I. Loved. It.

First off, I love Stadium Mustard, so.......there's that.  But I love love love how his family are almost afterthoughts in this obit.

I have almost no doubt (hey baby, hey baby hey....boys say, boys say) that the deceased pre-wrote the sucker.

....and he died from heart disease.........I'm guessing, and that the hot dog on which he placed that mustard were beef.



Song by: Metric

Fear

O. M. F. G.

The last few days of book blurbs have given me a metaphorical hard-on.

While I'd like 100% of Bob Woodward's book, Fear, to be true (or what said blurbs have been), I'd actually be ok with only 30% being accurate.  Even if less than 1/3 is true, what a fucking shit storm.   ......and I love it.

We might not have to worry about impeachment with BLOTUS. You just gotta figure he's about to have a fucking coronary.

I love that the Minister of Propaganda Press Secretary immediately dismisses the book as "pure fiction fueled by interviews with disgruntled former employees".

Really?  The conversation between Gary Cohen and John Kelly was just those two. Are we calling Cohen a 'disgruntled former employee'? He was a douche, for sure, but I don't think so. Of course, maybe the story didn't come from anyone former.

I mean, you did read the anonymous op-ed piece in the NYT, right?  The call is coming from inside the house.

Could the inside senior staff person be WH counsel McGahan who just gave his resignation, but not yet gone?  Kelly himself (though allegedly he's wanted to quit, but clearly too wussy to do so)?  It can't be Melania......she cannot write this well.  Jared and Ivanka?  No.  They have their pardons in the bag. Jeff Sessions could be pissed enough at the thrashings he's been taking.

Back to Woodward's book though. My g-d.......I love one of his staffers said BLOTUS had the understanding of a 5th or 6th grader.  They wish!

The names his staff use for him are the same ones we use!  "Fucking Moron", might be over-used, but it is just so on the mark.

And BLOTUS complaining about Woodward. Classic. Let's say that Bob didn't tell BLOAT he was actually writing a book. Why. The. Fuck. Would. You. Talk. To. Bob. Woodward?   He's the Ronan Farrow of the Baby Boomers. No good can come of either one showing up on your door.

I almost feel the need to purchase Fear.

I'm thinking of waiting for the audiobook version, as read by Sarah Fuckabee Sanders.




Song by: Sarah McLachlan

Just Like Heaven

I'll be the first to admit, for someone so cynical, how I can be so easily baffled by some people's thinking ?

710 had the nerve - the nerve!, I tellz ya - to read me snippets of a Washington Post article on BLOTUS voters regarding g-d, BLOTUS and the meaning of morality.

The fact that I could stay on the road is testament to what a great individual I am.

All I can say is: if you're not a Post subscriber, please do so. They are better than the NYT for covering this administration.  And please do so you can read the above hyperlinked article.  It. Is. So. Fucked. Up.

How the reporter did it with out busting a gut or saying to their subjects: "are you FUCKING kidding me?" is beyond imagination.

Just regarding heaven alone:

“Most say it’s gonna be 15,000 miles wide and that high,” Jewell said. “We don’t know whether when it comes down how far it will come, if it’s gonna come all the way or if there will be stairs. We don’t know that. But it’s gonna be suitable to each person. You know that old song, ‘Lord, build me a cabin in the corner of Gloryland?’ See, that’s not right. It’s not gonna be you have a cabin over here and I have one over there. It’s gonna be suitable to each person. So, whatever makes me happy. I like birds. So outside my window, there will be birds.”

Who are these 'most'?   I have never heard the dimensions of heaven.

They know 'this', but don't believe in science. Or facts.   ....and you know what, I do NOT know that 'old song'.

The discussion on BLOTUS and his morality - and these folks' ever changing view of morality, when it suits them - is just stomach churning.

But folks - THIS is what we are up against. There is no logic involved here. None. We are not going to win on that front, so it has to be some other fucked up method, though I don't know what it will be.

Honestly, if you can get through this article, you should. You won't be glad you did.




Song by: the Cure

Mr. Self Destruct

I am by no means the most ardent Nine Inch Nails fan. I know a handful of songs and little with which you can sing-a-long.

Trent Reznor (who basically IS the band) has some NIN project or other coming down the pike - the end of a trilogy he started in 2016 - so he was in the Sunday Times.  It was a short Q&A about several different things.

There was a question on if artists have a responsibility to address politics. Mr. Reznor believes they do, as they have a voice and certain influence. He thinks it is easier to keep one's mouth shut and that certain artists are more worried about their brand - and he only kind of sort of mentions Taylor Swift - but as an example, making sure there are more hers out there.

But it was the follow-up question that really hit me. Not the question, but his answer. The reported asked if it is different now than when he started the trilogy. He said it does, but it was the rest of his response that resonated....or Reznorated, if you will....with me.

My worrying about it isn’t helping anything. But what Donald Trump is doing is concerning and infuriating — and it’s not the conservative agenda, it’s not a question of religious preference, it’s not a question of should government be big or small. I don’t have any problem with those topics. But the disregard for decency and truth and civility is what’s really disheartening. It feels like a country that celebrates stupidity is really taking it up a notch.

That last two lines.

Oddly it made my heart sink and swell at the same time. Trent put into words - those last two lines - what I knew deep inside, but could not quite articulate succinctly. 



....and who am I to argue with a man who has arms like that?



Song by: Nine Inch Nails

Sunday Papers

Colour me unimpressed by the New York Times' endorsement of Hillary Clinton.

It is well written for sure, if unsurprising. 

I don't believe anyone in the GOP was expecting the Old Grey Lady to give the thumbs up to Il Douche.....and they'll use that to their news cycle / advantage. 

The half-tards who will be voting for (t)Rump anyway don't put any stock in anything the Times has to say. I'm not sure the editorial holds much weight. I don't believe it will sway any votes to anyone. 

On the other hand, if you read the article, the NYT mentions a subsequent article on Donny and why he's the worst candidate of any party in modern history. 

Now that will be an interesting piece to read. 

It's really the Cincinnati Enquirer's editorial that might have a few people prick up their ears. 

For the first time in a century  - a century (!!!) - the paper is not endorsing a Republican presidential candidate.  They call (t)Rump 'clear and present danger to our country'. 

This would be great, except then I realized this followers don't....and can't....read. And logical reasoning isn't in there wheelhouse. 

All of this leads to a question:  has a newspaper endorsement / editorial swayed a person to vote one way or the other? 

Song by: Joe Jackson

Virtual Insanity

Virtual Reality is here.

Thanks to the Sunday New York Times. And assuming you subscribe and have home delivery.

In this last week's Sunday edition, came a cardboard box that allowed you to insert your iPhone and venture off into the world of virtual reality. As long as you downloaded the app, of course.

I don't know why it says it takes you halfway around the world. Depending which direction you go, I think you can go all the way. Kind of.

There are different programs from which to view. The big one is a VR film Displaced  about children uprooted due to war. I suppose it is the right thing to say that is what you're actually using the device for.

You can also travel to other cities. I'm likening this part to be somewhere between a GAF ViewFiner and Google Street View. Say you're in Venice, you get a 360 view of the one place whomever took the picture is standing. It's nice. It's clear. But there are quite a few more square miles of city you'll never see this way. However, unlike Street View, you can look up at the sky, or tops of buildings, or you can look down at the walkway or street.

Personally, I had a lot of trouble not being able to click on the New York setting. It would skip right past Venice to Rome, even though NYC was next in line. And I tried about two dozen times. It wasn't there for me. 710 must have seen it, because he commented on it.

There are also ways to see a 3-D kaleidoscope. And you can be at the Smithsonian to see dinosaurs and the Enola Gay and a Space Shuttle. All very cool. Some very close up.

You do have to recalibrate your equilibrium a bit. The device and some of the programs throw off your sense of balance a little bit. And it's not horrible easy to use while using glasses. That is something someone will have to work on - though Google and the NYT did a decent enough job on one size fits all for the 1.7 million folks who received one of these devices.

I tried without glasses, but I'm blind enough to not get clear images - even that close up.

Of course, I'm hoping someone will add to the app, or other apps, where you're flying, or having a speeding train come right at you or some such activity. Maybe there are other apps out there already. I haven't looked.

But at least we now have the device to play with our reality.



Song by: Jamiroquai

Tombstone

I suppose there are worse ways to make it onto the front page of the newspaper.

At lunch on Wednesday, I took Petey for a walk. Normally we do our 1.2 miles around the 'hood, but I like to mix it up for him when I can, so we went over to Lake View Cemetery.

I know what you're thinking - ewww, a graveyard, but it is (or can be) a really nice one. And it's huge (that's what she said!).

Years ago, I took Morty, Becca and Dith there for a Geocaching "adventure". Due to a glitch in my host back then, the pictures are gone. I suppose, I could try to dig them up and reinsert them.

But Lake View has a lot of Cleveland celeb bodies interred there: Jeptha Wade - the founder of Western Union. John D. Rockefeller (yes, that John D. Rockefeller). The Van Swerigen brothers - Cleveland railroad tycoons, who built Shaker Heights, never married, lived together all their lives and shared a bedroom in their 54 room mansion (ewwwww!).

But we also have this:

Kevin Costner Eliot Ness and his family are buried here. 

As is President James Garfield. 

It's a great monument, though somewhat overdone for someone who was president for only three months. For those unfamiliar with history, he was assassinated. 

...or course thousands of Muggles are buried here too. 

Soooo......there's this. 

Oddly, the grave on the right is not new. It looks like it's from the Old West kind of burials, but unless they reburied the guy recently (and wouldn't they do a better job?), he's been dead since 2010. 

And then this person reallllllly likes Bette Midler....or something. 

But as Petey and I walked through, we came to Daffodil Hill. Yes, it's exactly as it sounds. A hill that once a year is covered in daffodils. 

As we went through it, I attempted to take Petey's pic amongst the flowers, but you know how cooperative he is with posing.  ....or any direction. 

While I tried, it seems someone else was taking our picture. 

It turns out he was taking pics of Daffodil Hill for the Plain Dealer and was lamenting that there was no human element in the picture.....and then a man and his dog came over the top of the hill. BTW...I'm the man. 

I love the first pic (if you enlarge). Something about the waves of the flower stems looks really great. The last pic makes me look like I'm in the closing credits of Little House on the Prairie. 

Anyhoo.....he asked to pet Petey, and got my 4-1-1. I assumed it would be only be on cleveland.com (and it is), but imagine my surprise when it made the front page of Thursday's paper....which now I will have to go purchase. 

The PD only gets delivered four days per week....and this is not one of them. 

The oddest thing about it all?  On a later Wednesday afternoon, I get a message from Mary, a former neighbor.  "You and Petey are on cleveland.com".  And we were.  I just can't figure out how she saw it. On that site, which is horrible to navigate through any day, we were buried in a subsection of a subsection. 

And then I get home, and my mother's former boss emails her saying that I am on cleveland.com. 

Wow....these people really have nothing better to do with their lives than troll this site? 

Petey is completely unaware of his celebrity. 

Song by:  Suzanne Vega

News

Print is dead.

While I haven't actually purchased an e-book on my iPad, many folks I know read on those, or Kindle and to a lesser extend, the Nook.  I'm not sure anyone has ever purchased a Sony e-reader.

When I travel, I am one of the few still reading an actual book.  I can't seems to break from the feeling of one in my hand, or turning the page.  I know I will eventually go electronic (probably), just like when I thought I'd still be purchasing CDs and .mp3s.

I haven't bought a physical CD since 2006.

But as for print, I'm really talking about the newspaper.  The actual, physical newspaper.

As of yesterday, the Cleveland Plain Dealer started down the road to obselesence. At least the public would have you believe.  I'm not sure the paper know what it is doing.

For months there has been the big hoo-ha about trimming the paper, going to three days per week, if they publish at all.  All the while they've had it on-line, on the shittiest of websites - cleveland.com.

But not, here is their wickedly ingenious idea of cutting costs: cutting delivery to three four days per week.

Oh - they will still print the paper seven days per week, just not deliver it to you.  You have to go to a Starbucks or 7-11 to get it, if you want it.

IF you want it.  I don't. And certainly not enough to go out of my way to pick up a copy.

You saw the strikethrough on "three" a few lines up, because, the PD has already back-tracked from three and increased it to four days per week.  Mind you, they still let 50 people go from the paper - not that I'm sure they'll be missed.

The paper has become a joke with non-articles, and badly written at that.  I can easily breeze through the entire paper in 15 minutes (tops), which includes reading the comics and obits.  I suppose I could increase that to 24 minutes if I read all the high-school standings of every single sport they publish, but I don't.

My favourite is the "Reader's Representative".  A number of big papers have these, I would say the most notable being in the New York Times. At least there they will take their own paper, writers and editors out to the woodshed, publicly, for things they should not have reported on or in ways in which it was done.

With the PD, the representative almost always tries to justify their stories - what, how and why.  He doesn't seem to get that his column should be called the "Paper's Representative".  His editor needs and editor.

But back to the delivery.  For the shut-ins who can't go out to get a paper and probably can't read it on-line due to lack of computer or iPad, let alone the ability to use such a device, they're fucked. However, on the days the paper is delivered, they'll include the comics from the days when it's not delivered.

Is paying the paperboy that much of a burden that the paper can't handle it?

As it is, I'm pretty sure we pay the paperboy.  Man.  In a car.  Not a kid on a bike. We get billed for his services - or in with our paper bill, so where is the cost savings - other than those 50 folks who got canned?

Allegedly, the cleveland.com site has been upgraded to read more like a paper. The previous version was like trying to find a needle in a haystack.  So poorly done.

I think I'd be better having the paper just shut down.  I find nothing of value in it other than the obits.

By the time anything is published in there (or most things), I've read them on line hours or days beforehand.

710 has signed up for the on-line edition, but I have not.

Mind you, I heard the door open at 06:00, but before I could scream downstairs, he was out the door looking in the drive for the paper what was not to be delivered.  He was reading the morning news on his iPad when I finally made it to the kitchen.

Our paper subscription will get us access on three devices. ooooooh.

This is just slow, painful decay. You know how the story will end, just not when.

I'm all for the newspaper industry. I think it is important - or could be. But printing the important news isn't where the money is made. That is in the advertising.  Publishing the actual stories seem to be secondary anymore - and maybe tertiary for a mid to small town news organization.  The PD is not the Washington Post or the New York Times.

And if one thinks that PD is one of those few our there that are failing, I just need to point you to a story from the weekend where the NYT has sold the Boston Globe.  Of course at first look a $70MM price tag seems decent, until you realize that the NYT purchased the Globe for $1.1BB 20 years ago.

Ouch.

But everyone knows, as soon as you drive it off the lot, it starts to depreciate.


*Later breaking news - Jeff Bezos of amazon.com bought the Washington Post for $250MM.  Soon to be available only on Kindle.   (i kid?)   It still beats the Koch brothers from purchasing major papers.



Song by:  Dire Straits

Dead Man Walking

I know I've mentioned before that I read the local obituaries.  It was a habit I picked up 30 years ago when I worked on an Oncology floor in the hospital. 

The Columbus Disgrace Dispatch would put what the person died of and which hospital.  Cleveland papers don't do that.  But Cleveland puts in pictures, which Columbus never did (or at least used to). 

I have often joked, both to 710 and my mother, about the pictures in the Plain Dealer.  You think this young man or woman passed away only to see they're 87 or 71.  I've never understood the reasoning of putting in the picture you took at 24. 

I suppose that wasn't the joke.  

My thing was, that when I died, I'd put a picture of when I was 10 in the paper. 

Maybe it wasn't so funny that some 80 year old did just that only last week.  The bastard stole my bit. 

It took less than a week for that dude to be one-upped.  

The obit is sad enough that, if these aren't typos, the woman carried a dead baby for three days, but the need for the sonogram image?  Really???

There is only one way for me to top this now. Clearly when the time comes, I'll have to have a picture of a singular spermatozoa.  Or a Hershey bar in my father's back pocket. 

Song by: Mary Chapin Carpenter

Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now

How how I love the likes of Dear Abby, Ann Landers and Ask Amy.  At least I can say I've met Amy Dickinson, but before she had her column, when she was doing (and still occasionally does) an NPR commentary on All Things Considered.

Reading the letters published in those columns, one would think most the people who write in have zero common sense.  These people ask the most obvious and sometimes dumbest shit there is known to mankind.

Occum's Razor would suggest that is because they are dumb shits (is that supposed to be one word? It didn't look right when I typed it.).

The other theory (well, mine) is that these letters - or at least some of them - are made up by Abby and Amy's staff members.  Totally fabricated.  I'm told by Amy, via Becky, that they are indeed real.  I am not holding my breath on this.

On days they are not making up letters, at least Abby has readers writing in their responses.  It's what I call "coasting" so "she" doesn't have to be bothered dolling out questionable advice that Mary Worth could do in her sleep.

I do read Abby daily since it is right next to Speed Bump, Bizzaro and Doonesbury.  Notice I didn't say Sudoku, the NYT crossword puzzle or Jumble.

Normally, I read the questions, but not the answers because 90% of the time you're going to get "seek counseling or talk to your pastor".   It's like Dr. Ruth - everything is ok as long as you use a condom.  Pat answers.   Or as I call it, "bullshit".

Is that Andy Rooney job still open?

So I actually laughed at not only the question, but the response to a letter a few days ago:

DEAR ABBY: I am a middle-aged woman who is Baptist by faith. I believe that when I die I will go to heaven. My problem is, if going to heaven means being reunited with my parents and other family members, then I don't want to go! The idea of spending eternity with them is more than I can stand, but I don't want to go to hell, either. Any thoughts? -- ETERNALLY CONFUSED IN MISSISSIPPI

DEAR ETERNALLY CONFUSED: Yes. When you reach the pearly gates, talk this over with St. Peter. Perhaps he would be willing to place you in a different wing than the one your parents and other family members are staying in. And in the meantime, discuss this with your minister.


I'm not sure which item is the more stupider of the two.  The first part of Abby's response could have been tongue-in-cheek, but since she has her pat follow-up, I'm guessing it is not.  I'm surprised she just didn't say, "fly on over to another cloud and only see them at holidays but hold your tongue if they upset you.".  But the lady who axed the question, is a unquestionably a fucking moron.

I get that people here on this hell-on-earth need to believe in heaven, but I'm not sold on it.  Yes, I am ye of little faith.  I need to see it, and one book isn't going to sell me on that.   Hell, there is film, audio recordings, pictures and, according to amazon, 5,183 books on Kennedy's assassination, yet there are still questions on who may have been involved, how many shots fired or if he died at all.  Yet one book - possibly the biggest selling novel of all time - determines that there is a heaven?   Puh-leese.

I might be 100% wrong on that existence.  But me getting past - or not- those pearly gates most likely does not depend on me.  g-d is not just....or if he is, it's all relative on what one might consider "just".   Turning people into pillars of salt or having someone sacrifice their son on an altar, or whales, arks and cutting babies in two don't seem like a "good guy" mentality.   This behaviour is ok by the folks who support Fox, but........   So technically, our version of being good might not matter in the slightest.

People talk acting like Jesus, as if it is the way.  But if you act like g-d himself, and not his offspring, would one have to be a serial killer, pyromaniac and in general, just a prick, to get a harp and wings?

The only heaven, if it exists, is one where I am with certain folks and of course, my cats.  But according to the Sunday school teacher on the Simpsons, I'm not hopeful.

"For the last time, the ventriloquist goes to heaven, the dummy does not!".

Song by: the Smiths

Fan Mail

I wrote what I think is my first letter to the editor for the Cleveland Plain Dealer yesterday. I've written others to different publications, but this, if published, would be the largest circulation I've been in print - well, except for this blog.

And yes, it has to do with being a homo.

I am for the repeal of DADT and am kind of excited by the steps that have been taken in the last few weeks to move this along. Don't get me wrong - even if I were of age, the military life is not for me, but it should be open to those who do want to serve. I'm just not one of them.

So, while the letter I responded to has all been written and done before, it was early Sunday morning and it just kind of nagged at me to where I picked up the laptop and sent off a hastily written response - all of which the likes of who read this blog have seen and heard before.

But what the hell. I figured I would share.

Here is the original letter:

'Don't ask, don't tell': Maintain moral standards

It's disconcerting that Adm. Mike Mullen has taken the lead to sanction gays in the military. I seek guidance from a higher authority when determining right and wrong, not from another imposing his moral interpretations on me. I look to God and the Bible, the foundation for our greatness as a nation.

I have no animosity toward gays and lesbians. Their personal choices are between them and their creator. However, Scripture is very clear on our moral responsibility regarding homosexuality: It is wrong.

By condoning homosexuality in the military, we're institutionalizing a belief system that allows one to rationalize what is right and wrong based on the circumstances and moral relativism. For example, killing innocent civilians in a war zone may be acceptable if the situation dictates. Genocide may be OK.

We should demand high moral standards in our military. Don't lower them.

Paul Barlow, Brecksville

Barlow is a retired U.S. Coast Guard captain.


Here was my response:

Paul Barlow's letter regarding gays in the military is a contradiction in terms.

While claiming no animosity towards gays or lesbians, he singles them, and only them, out for military service exclusion based on the Bible.

If he sees the Bible as the benchmark for right and wrong there should be no cherry picking. All those hundreds of other things that the book says is wrong - should any offenders who violate these "moral responsibilities" be allowed to serve? And if not, why not? I'm extremely curious to see where the line in the sand is drawn.

And comparing repealing Don't Ask/Don't Tell as much of a slippery slope with "killing innocent civilians in a war zone may be acceptable"? Really?

Where exactly does Mr. Barlow's "moral responsibility" lie.

I suppose I could have gone on (and on and on), but then I'd just be like all the old coots who write into the PD. But I guess, in email terms, I have started a "flame war" with Ret. Captain Barlow. So be it.

I do have to give credit where credit is due though. Of the half dozen or so letters that were in the Sunday paper, most (70%?) were pro dropping DADT and having gays serve openly.

...and there should be a distinction. There are a number of people who want DADT pulled and still not have 'mos in the military. They just never thought DADT should have ever been an option in the first place. Like Paul Barlow.


Song by: Blondie

Don't Let the Stars Get in Your Eyes

I am somewhat reticent to even post this, not because of the content, but because there is naming of names and that thought that there are enough weirdos out there who shouldn't have too much information.

My niece, whom I have written about here before a few times, has just gotten her first bit of non-blog press. She is off to college, as you read about here, but has made some kind of name for herself in the one (plus) month she has been away.

Parent's Weekend was scheduled these last few days, and apparently she knows everyone on campus and everyone knows her. According to her parents, anyways.

But it was fortuitous that the student paper happened to do an article on Katie, her music and her videos right before her parents arrived. I know my sister was cautious about Katie letting people know her name on YouTube, let alone where she lived or went to school. But to be fair, she also let her make that decision once she was of age and out of the house.

It is my understanding the student radio station is also playing some of her songs - which is kind of cool. It'd be more cool if she had them with a publishing company that was paying her royalties for that, but all in due time.

The article was ok, but it is a student paper and there is only so much talent there. The writing style could have been better.

I'm not longer reticent about this post, as I opted not to put the link to the paper in this entry.

I've already had to go after some "kid" on YouTube who wrote creeeeeepy comments to her songs and also had his own "response song" about her, and how he'd like to "take her away" and crap like that. I left a message for him directly (which, yes, was a harsh one) and then reported him to YouTube.

Katie might somewhat be ready to be in the spotlight, but I feel awfully protective of her.


Song by: k.d. lang

Spinning Wheel

Long time readers might remember me posting about my lack of wearing deodorant/antiperspirant. As weird as it was, only one person commented on it (RJ). Of course the funniest thing about the post was that a few days later, the Cleveland Plain Dealer on-line addition picked-up upon it. (From the media front, I can guarantee no more than 81 people ever saw that blurb.)

Of course, I was taken a little out of context. One of the reasons for not wearing aluminum under my pits was simple. I never really perspired before. Not really. You can go back and read the rationale for my lack of underarm protection if you feel the need.

With my work-out routine earlier in the year, I got to the point I'd break a sweat, but I was never one to stain, let alone soak, my shirt (or anything else).

Spinning has taken care of that. Completely.

If any of you drink (ha!), you'll probably know the term 'breaking the seal'. I can drink a half-dozen beers without peeing, but once I talk to that man about a horse, I'm back having that conversation much much much more often.

Sweating, I find, is like that.

In Spin, I broke the seal. Completely.

But it carries over from spin. Now I sweat completely at workouts and yoga too. I have the soaked shirts to prove it. ...shorts too. But I can sell those on fetish markets for a hefty price.

It has gotten to the point that if I do spin class and work out consecutively, and in that order, I have to bring a change of clothes. No one - and I do mean, no one - wants to follow you on a machine after you've put your sweaty back on the vinyl seats.

Yeah, I look all butch with my 94% wet shirt - and it shows that I have been putting forth the effort, but it's still a bit weird to walk around like that.

And do not suggest sweat wicking clothes. These ARE sweat wicking clothes I'm already wearing. "designed to transport sweat away from your skin" - MY ASS. I mean, they do, but then they trap them in the shirt, which rests against.....oh yeah.....your skin!

So with all of this you'd think I'd be more on-board with the deodorant thing. But so far I am not. So far, a good shower with soap in all the right places keeps me not smelling ripe. At least I'm pretty sure. I don't smell me.

I will keep an eye (and nose) on the situation. I do not want to be the guy I see three times a week rubbing an antiperspirant stick right above the crack of his ass after his shower.

What's that all about?


(above image is not me. I now sweat more than that)

Song by: Blood, SWEAT & Tears