Gas Is Now Over $4.00 A Gallon

I've posted numerous times since 2005 on the escalating gas prices, which I find obscene and completely unrelated to world scenarios, output, refineries, or any of the ridiculous excuses being made by oil companies and their cohorts. Gas is now at $4.01 for regular, per gallon, at the station across the street (it is higher is some areas of Los Angeles, but my tracking has always been based on the actual price of the gas station right in front of me)

My first post on the Myth Of The Decreasing Gas Prices pretty much gives one the state of affairs in October 2005. Back then, I noted prices were $2.47 a gallon in Los Angeles over the July 4th holiday weekend, and then rose over 60 cents by September 2005, to $3.07. By December 2005, after Hurrican Katrina, and after raking in billions in unbelievable profits, it dropped the 60 cents back to around $2.47 a gallon.

Unfortunately, that was short lived, as noted in my post Take A Bus, It's Cheaper, Or Holy Shit, Batman, Look At The Price Now, Continued where the price by April 2006 was again over $3 -- more precisely, $3.35 a gallon.

It dropped a dollar as the November 2006 elections were approaching, but as soon as November 7, 2006 passed, the rise was up again. By March 2007, it was back up to $3.21 a gallon. And it hasn't gone down since. In the two months between March 2007 and May 2007, the price increased 34 cents, to $3.55 a gallon. All the while, the oil companies were reaping record BILLION DOLLAR quarterly profits -- for no apparent reason other than they could.

By July 2007, nearly two years after I started tracking the price of gasoline here in Los Angeles, it went from $2.47 to $3.15, topping out at $3.55.

As we approach July 2008, clearly gas prices will be close to $4.47, an increas of approximately $2.00 per gallon over three years FOR ABSOLUTELY NO REASON.

And Preznut Bush wishes he had a magic wand ... I'd take that wand and stick it right up his ass, then I'd take the gas pump and pump his ass.

Sorry, but with crude oil selling at over $117 a barrel, I'm pretty pissed. Sure, I don't drive a car any more, but I still see the increase in my bus pass, the food at the stores that are shipped in by truck (that pay for gas) as well as other goods that have increased in price due to the cost of shipping said goods by truck.

And still no one squawks about it. Oil company execs are making buttloads of money, hand over foot, and the poor and middle class are paying through the nose. My body part, the butt, wants to fart all over these greedy little bastards.

THREE YEARS BLOGGING!

Today is my third year anniversary of my first blog post, which you can re-read here. Not only was it a featured post on MyDD, which I cross-blogged it at, MyDD nominated it for a Koufax award as best post of the year. Although I most certainly didn’t win, it was nonetheless, extremely gratifying to me.

I find it funny that three years later, my still Republican ex best friend is clueless. Here is an email he sent me on November 16, 2007, via a Yahoo email address that I give/gave out when I was using AOL as my blogosphere.

Mel,

I noticed you haven't updated your liberal propaganda website. Does that mean you are no longer a leftist? Does that mean you have admitted defeat? It must be so discouraging to see who your party is touting as presidential hopefuls in 2008. As far as I can see my side will have no trouble keeping the White House in 2008, and it looks like we may even take the House and Senate back. Anyway, I hope you and your family are in good health and your life is going well. You really need to learn that politics should not consume your life so much. Afterall, I couldn't stand Bill Clinton, but that didn't prevent me from having friends that for some reason liked him. Have a great Thanksgiving.

Tony

Yeah, I actually thought people on AOL had the ability to use their brains, but I have been proven wrong (with the exception of DJ Rix!)

My first year’s worth of posts have been fun for me to read over, as I was very much fired up. However, the second year that I started blogging was about the third year for Dkos., MyDD, Firedoglake, etc., and as we all know, these blogs became huge group blogs. As a result, I was not able to compete with their ability to break stories, as most worked on ads, fund raising, and pretty much became full time activities on their own. I still read them daily, but because I hold a full time job, it is patently impossible for me to be on the web scouring for stories to beat these guys, and as a result, my political posts were more redundant than original. I still like the blogging format, have a loyal following, and have enjoyed expanding my topics to music and other areas of interest to me.

Cross-posted at MyDD.

Memory, Please Tell Me How This Boy Wasn't Voted Off?

This piece of crap version of the song still kept him in the running? He should have been tossed on his ass.

Here's how the song is supposed to be sung, dude.



By the way, the song is for a "glamour puss" as Sir Webber stated.

Trust me (grins), this is the song that I have stated in my will that is to be played when I'm going ten feet under!

Police issue zero tickets during annual marijuana celebration

I think it's funny that being a pot-head for more than 30 years, I never gave much significance to 4:20. I won't bother to go into the "legend" of 4:20, but this weekend was, of course, 4/20, and apparently every year there are gatherings (some who even wait until 4:20 p.m. -- not a.m.) that light up in public and get high.

"Nine, eight, seven ..."

A crowd of about 10,000 people collectively began counting down on the University of Colorado's Norlin Quadrangle just before 4:20 p.m. Sunday.

Yet the massive puff of pot smoke that hovers over CU's Boulder campus every April 20 -- the date of an annual, internationally recognized celebration of marijuana -- began rising over the sea of heads earlier than normal this year.

Nepal authorizes use of deadly force to stop protests of Olympic torch on Everest

Nepalese soldiers and police guarding the slopes of Mount Everest are authorized to shoot to stop any protests during China's Olympic torch run to the summit, an official said Sunday.

Great way to start off the supposedly world solidifying sporting event -- shoot to kill if you protest against China. Guess you know what event(s) I won't be watching come this summer.

I don't really watch the Olympics anymore, anyway. It has become way too, commercialized and not as exciting now that it is every two years instead of every four years. But the way the Chinese government is handling the event, no wonder there's so much hoopla. I mean, shoot the protesters? Come on, people.

Unisex Bathrooms Rock!

My original post on this has the video "no longer available," but this was on YouTube for the time being! Thought I'd put it up, since it's one of my fave's. Yeah, I was an Ally fan.

Bush's Brain Tsk Tsks Media Re Siegelman

On April 7th, you again devoted a substantial part of your show to the claim of former Alabama Governor Don Siegelman that I was behind his prosecution. Your continued coverage of this issue raises questions about your journalistic standards and those of MSNBC and NBC. During your broadcast, Mr. Siegelman referred to Ms. Dana Jill Simpson as a “respected Republican political operative,” a reference it seems you accept because of the frequent attention you give her in your broadcasts.

A long diatribe, but the turdblossom has changed his tune with respect to testifying under oath. First he said "sure," but now he's planning on hiding under the skirt of this Administrations "national security" reasons for refusing to testify!

Gotta laugh. If you don't, it will kill ya!

Miami Stupid Six Terrorist Mistrial

MIAMI — A federal judge declared a mistrial on Wednesday in the case of six Miami men charged with plotting to blow up the Sears Tower in Chicago as part of an Islamic jihad.

Tell me, again, how many people has this administration convicted of terrorism?

UPDATE: Oh my goodness! The Bush Administration is going to try them A THIRD TIME!

MIAMI -- Despite two mistrials, federal prosecutors said Wednesday they will try a third time to convict six men accused of scheming with al-Qaida to bomb the Sears Tower in Chicago, the FBI office in Miami and other federal buildings in several cities.

Narseal Batiste, Patrick Abraham, Stanley Grant Phanor, Naudimar Herrera, Burson Agustin and Rotschild Augustine will stand trial for the third time in the so-called trial of the "Liberty City Seven." Luglenson Lemorin was acquitted in December, when the first trial ended in a mistrial.

"In referring to America, Mr. Batiste said on tape he wanted to kill all the American devils," assistant U.S. attorney Richard Gregorie said. "In light of this, we plan to proceed with another trial."

Let's Just Keep Big Pharma Self-Regulating -- NOT

Two teams of researchers with access to thousands of documents gathered for lawsuits over the painkiller Vioxx allege that Merck waged a campaign of deception to promote its drug, moving slowly to warn of possible hazards while at the same time dressing up in-house studies as the work of independent academic researchers.

The reports in today's Journal of the American Medical Association in effect accuse one of the world's biggest pharmaceutical makers of various forms of scientific fraud.

One study alleges that Merck gave the Food and Drug Administration an incomplete accounting of deaths in a clinical trial of Vioxx in people with mild dementia. Federal regulators eventually received the data, which added to growing evidence that Vioxx increased the risk of heart attacks and strokes.

Simultaneously, Merck was using what the JAMA authors call "guest authorship and ghostwriting" to make it appear that research done by its employees or contractors was the work of scientists at medical schools and universities. That presumably gave the findings more credibility when they were published, in medical journals, boosting Vioxx's profile in the crowded painkiller market.

Vioxx, whose generic name is rofecoxib, went on the market in 1999. It became a "blockbuster," with $2.3 billion in sales in 2003, but Merck voluntarily withdrew it in September 2004 after several studies showed that it increased the risk of heart attacks and strokes.

Since then, Merck has been named in 26,500 lawsuits by people who say the drug harmed them. Last fall, the company created a $4.85 billion fund to settle the claims while not admitting that Vioxx caused heart attacks, strokes or deaths.

Yeah, more proof that self-monitoring the industry really, really works!

Who Needs A Paper Trail, Damn It!

TRENTON, N.J. - Legislation sponsored by a New Jersey congressman that would have reimbursed states wanting to adopt voting safeguards before the November presidential election failed to win approval Tuesday in the U.S. House of Representatives.

The bill, dubbed the Emergency Assistance for Secure Elections Act of 2008, fell short of the two-thirds majority it needed to pass, even after clearing a House committee unanimously. The vote was 239-178 in favor, with all but two Democrats supporting it and all but 16 Republicans opposed.

[snip]

Republicans opposed the bill because of the cost.

Yeah, right! Manipulating the electronic voting machines has been the linchpin of the Republican administration. Why in the world would they want "fair" elections? They don't believe they represent any constituents other than corporate donors (not that there aren't a few Democrats in this same group, Clinton -cough cough).

Domestic Spying Via Satellites - But Don't Worry, We Won't Actually Spy On You!

The Bush administration said yesterday that it plans to start using the nation's most advanced spy technology for domestic purposes soon, rebuffing challenges by House Democrats over the idea's legal authority.

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said his department will activate his department's new domestic satellite surveillance office in stages, starting as soon as possible with traditional scientific and homeland security activities -- such as tracking hurricane damage, monitoring climate change and creating terrain maps.

Sophisticated overhead sensor data will be used for law enforcement once privacy and civil rights concerns are resolved, he said. The department has previously said the program will not intercept communications.

"There is no basis to suggest that this process is in any way insufficient to protect the privacy and civil liberties of Americans," Chertoff wrote to Reps. Bennie G. Thompson (D-Miss.) and Jane Harman (D-Calif.), chairmen of the House Homeland Security Committee and its intelligence subcommittee, respectively, in letters released yesterday.

"I think we've fully addressed anybody's concerns," Chertoff added in remarks last week to bloggers. "I think the way is now clear to stand it up and go warm on it."

His statements marked a fresh determination to operate the department's new National Applications Office as part of its counterterrorism efforts. The administration in May 2007 gave DHS authority to coordinate requests for satellite imagery, radar, electronic-signal information, chemical detection and other monitoring capabilities that have been used for decades within U.S. borders for mapping and disaster response.

But Congress delayed launch of the new office last October. Critics cited its potential to expand the role of military assets in domestic law enforcement, to turn new or as-yet-undeveloped technologies against Americans without adequate public debate, and to divert the existing civilian and scientific focus of some satellite work to security uses.

Democrats say Chertoff has not spelled out what federal laws govern the NAO, whose funding and size are classified. Congress barred Homeland Security from funding the office until its investigators could review the office's operating procedures and safeguards. The department submitted answers on Thursday, but some lawmakers promptly said the response was inadequate.

"I have had a firsthand experience with the trust-me theory of law from this administration," said Harman, citing the 2005 disclosure of the National Security Agency's domestic spying program, which included warrantless eavesdropping on calls and e-mails between people in the United States and overseas. "I won't make the same mistake. . . . I want to see the legal underpinnings for the whole program."

Thompson called DHS's release Thursday of the office's procedures and a civil liberties impact assessment "a good start." But, he said, "We still don't know whether the NAO will pass constitutional muster since no legal framework has been provided."

DHS officials said the demands are unwarranted. "The legal framework that governs the National Applications Office . . . is reflected in the Constitution, the U.S. Code and all other U.S. laws," said DHS spokeswoman Laura Keehner. She said its operations will be subject to "robust," structured legal scrutiny by multiple agencies.

Yeah, I've heard that before. Retroactive immunity for telecoms that spied on Americans -- satellites now to be used to spy on Americans. Tell me again where our country's democracy went?

Vista Sucks -- Long Live XP!

Windows XP refuses to die. When Vista was released last year, some users disliked it so much they loaded XP onto their new, Vista-loaded PCs. Microsoft had planned to stop selling XP to manufacturers this year, but now it appears the OS will live on in low-cost computers.

I hate Vista. I've put XP on all the newly purchased computers at my office.

ABC Newsman Told By Coal Mining Company Chairman He'll Be Shot

"If you're going to start taking pictures of me, you're liable to get shot," the chairman of one of the country's biggest coal mining companies, Don Blankenship of Massey Energy, told an ABC News reporter before grabbing the reporter's camera.

The incident this week, in the parking lot of a Massey Energy office in Belfry, Ky., is just the latest chapter in the saga of Blankenship's controversial relationship with the West Virginia Supreme Court, which is hearing appeals that could cost his company hundreds of millions of dollars.

Photographs recently emerged showing Blankenship vacationing on the French Riviera with the state Supreme Court Chief Justice Elliott "Spike" Maynard.

[snip]

Blankenship declined to answer questions in person about his relationship with the Supreme Court chief justice but in a statement issued later, he said, "The notion that I have taken any action to improperly influence the Supreme Court of West Virginia is baseless and absurd."

Blankenship and Justice Maynard have acknowledged they spent several days together on vacation in Europe at a time when the court was considering appeals involving Blankenship's coal company, the country's fourth largest.

Yeah, and pigs fly out of my butt, too.

"Touch"

One of my most favorite jazz fusion pieces of the 70's. I have most of Klemmer's stuff. I used to like to play his Touch album while lying on the floor, in the dark, with my then top of the line surround speakers (not to mention I wired speakers into every room of my house) blasting. I was a complete audiophile back then, living on the beach in northern San Diego, and this was my favoriate jazz artist at the time.

The Race Is Over -- RIP Danny Federici

Saw Springsteen in the 1980's at L.A. Coliseum. Those guys always gave 150%.

RIP, Danny.

Fergie and Heart -- Baracuda

Lights out!




By far, the best of the evening.

UPDATE 2/23/09: They keep deleting it and I keep finding another one!

She Finally Jumped Ship -- Good For Her (Randi Rhodes Quits Air America)

"Regrettably, Randi Rhodes has left Air America. Apparently, she decided she’d rather quit than apologize to Hillary Clinton and Geraldine Ferraro." The Carpetbagger Report


Air America's Randi Rhodes said suspended for calling Clinton, Ferraro 'whores' - Raw Story

A joint statement from AAR Chairman Charlie Kireker and President Mark Green said, "Last week Air America suspended Randi Rhodes for abusive, obscene language at a recent public appearance in San Francisco which was sponsored by an Air American affililate station. Air America Media was informed last night by Ms. Rhodes that she has chosen to terminate her employment with the company. We wish her well and thank her for past services to Air America." -- Radio Ink

Randi Rhodes Resigns From Air America After Anti-Clinton Rant -- Fox News

And this "routine" was what all the hoopla was about?





Sheesh! I wouldn't apologize either. It was a comic routine for god's sake!

It's My Birthday Too!

I couldn't find a version of the Beatles doing the song live, but there were plenty of wav files available. I like this one because it has Linda playing with Paul, back in the day.

Happy Birthday to Me!

"I Have Been To The Mountain Top"

Delivered 3 April 1968, Mason Temple (Church of God in Christ Headquarters), Memphis, Tennessee




I remember watching either a PBS or History Channel special on Dr. King, several hours worth. What struck me the most was the fact that many of his associates did not want him to go out that night and give this speech, and Dr. King himself was torn. In the videos that were provided for the show, you can see the torn and pained look on his face and in his eyes. Personally, I felt that Dr. King knew it would be his last speech and he knew he was going to be killed.

When I listen to this speech, (full text here) and he says he has seen the promised land, and he tells his audience he might not get there with them, my eyes well up with tears and I break down sometimes and cry so hard I'm embarrassed. Knowing the history behind the speech, and knowing that he was assassinated the next day, and that he knew it was going to happen, but put himself out there anyway, for the cause (as they say), just blows me away.

It saddens me that 1968 saw two of our most ardent civil rights leaders shot down in cold blood --- Dr. King, and Robert Kennedy (June 1968).

Forty years later, and are we better off? On the one hand, we do have a black presidential candidate, which in my lifetime I never thought I would see, let alone be a reality ever for this country. But how ironic is it that we are once again mired in an unnecessary war, that the country is divided, only this time not by the generation gap but by the right and left ideological gap.

Even though we celebrate Dr. King's birthday as a national holiday, his assassination was far more embedded in my psyche and I never forget this day. Never will.

Last Call!

Ok, thought that was the last post of the night, but hey, I'm on a roll!


Don't even get me started on my days as a stripper in the early 70's.

"I'll be some next man's other women soon."

Closing out the night.





My second favorite Amy song. Enjoy the video before someone working for her pulls it off YouTube.


"I'll be some next man's other women soon."

Dolphin Rescues Whales

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) -- A dolphin swam up to two distressed whales that appeared headed for death in a beach stranding in New Zealand and guided them to safety, witnesses said Wednesday.

The actions of the bottlenose dolphin -- named Moko by residents who said it spends much of its time swimming playfully with humans at the beach -- amazed would-be rescuers and an expert who said they were evidence of the species' friendly nature.

The two pygmy sperm whales, a mother and her calf, were found stranded on Mahia Beach, about 500 kilometers (300 miles) northeast of the capital of Wellington, on Monday morning, said Conservation Department worker Malcolm Smith.

Rescuers worked for more than one hour to get the whales back into the water, only to see them strand themselves four times on a sandbar slightly out to sea. It looked likely the whales would have to be euthanized to prevent them suffering a prolonged death, Smith said.

"They kept getting disorientated and stranding again," said Smith, who was among the rescuers. "They obviously couldn't find their way back past (the sandbar) to the sea."

Along came Moko, who approached the whales and led them 200 meters (yards) along the beach and through a channel out to the open sea.

Simply amazing. It shows you that nature, not just human nature, can be compassionate.

Happy 50th Peace Symbol

Fifty years ago on a cold, grim Easter holiday, a protest was meant to be a watershed: a global call to ban the bomb.

People marched from London to a factory in the countryside where Britain built its atomic bombs. Pat Arrowsmith was among those early campaigners for nuclear disarmament.

"It was quite clear that we were not just against the tests, and we were not just against the British bomb," Arrowsmith said. "We were against the Soviet bomb and against the U.S. bomb."

The nuclear weapons industry at Aldermaston is still very much alive. But so is the spirit of that protest fifty years ago. It lives on in a symbol born here that became an icon.

Gerald Holtom was the artist and textile designer who created it.

A conscientious objector during World War II, he was driven to the nuclear disarmament campaign, he said, by a feeling of despair.

Many of us baby-boomers think it was born out of the Viet Nam war protests. Live and learn.

A Little Late, But Better Than Never

MONTGOMERY -- A federal appellate court today ordered former Gov. Don Siegelman released from prison while he appeals his 2006 conviction, but denied co-defendant Richard Scrushy's request to be released.

As someone that has followed this atrocity, I am heartened that he is not only out on appeal, but that he can finally speak up.

Lawsuits Over Ownership Of Virtual Property?

The filing of a complaint by a Pennsylvania lawyer against the operators of an online virtual world, and last year's decision by a Pennsylvania federal district court in that case, Bragg v. Linden Research Inc., has generated a great deal of interest in the media and among lawyers, as well as in the virtual world community.

The attention has gone well beyond that which the decision would have garnered if it had not involved a virtual world and virtual property, given that it simply found an arbitration clause in a terms of service agreement to be unconscionable and therefore unenforceable.

It is clear, however, that the case reflects the growth of real-life litigation over virtual-world property. Undoubtedly, as participation in virtual worlds increases, real-life lawsuits will be growing in number, too.

So-called "massively multiplayer online role-playing games" are online games with names like "World of Warcraft," where players interact and compete with other players by creating images (known as avatars) to represent themselves and by acquiring, selling or building property and even dating and having children.

As a World of Warcraft player, this cracks me up!

Who Let The Dogs Out?

Rut Roh!

Sony BMG is no stranger to piracy. As one of the most vocal supporters of the RIAA and IFPI antipiracy efforts, the company has some experience hunting down and punishing consumers who don't pay for its products. The company is getting some experience on the other side of the table, however, now that it's being sued for software piracy.

PointDev, a French software company that makes Windows administration tools, received a call from a Sony BMG IT employee for support. After Sony BMG supplied a pirated license code for Ideal Migration, one of PointDev's products, the software maker was able to mandate a seizure of Sony BMG's assets. The subsequent raid revealed that software was illegally installed on four of Sony BMG's servers. The Business Software Alliance, however, believes that up to 47 percent of the software installed on Sony BMG's computers could be pirated.

These are some pretty serious—not to mention ironic—allegations against a company that's gone so far as to install malware on consumers' computers in the name of preventing piracy.

Which is why I haven't bought a Sony BMG's artists' CD in years. Can you say "kettle meet pot?"

Ballet In Baghdad

Alexandra Zavis / Los Angeles Times

Being a dancer myself, I found this little nugget in the Los Angeles Times to be heartwarming.

In a city full of bloodshed, the Baghdad School of Music and Ballet is an oasis, instilling in its young charges a love of music and dance in the midst of war.

"I feel happy when I come here," 11-year-old Lisam says as she catches her breath between leaps and twirls in another of the school's studios.

Wal-Mart Changes Tune

BENTONVILLE, Ark. (AP)--Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) is dropping a controversial effort to collect more than $400,000 in health-care reimbursement from a former employee who suffered brain damage in a traffic accident.

The world's largest retailer said in a letter to the family of Deborah Shank it will not seek to collect money the Shanks won in an injury lawsuit against a trucking company for the accident.

Wal-Mart's top executive for human resources, Pat Curran, wrote that Shank's extraordinary situation had made the company re-examine the situation.

Deborah's husband Jim Shank welcomed the news. His lawyer said Wal-Mart deserves credit for doing the right thing.

Wal-Mart has been roundly criticized in newspaper editorials, on cable news shows and by union foes for its claim to the funds, which it made in a lawsuit upheld by a federal appeals court.

Finally, a decent move, but I'm sure it was not spurned on by altruistic motives. More than likely, it was due to the beating down by Keith Olbermann on his show, and the massive blogging about it, along with the really, really nasty publicity.