A Public Union Employee, A Tea Party Activist And A CEO Are Sitting At A Table . . .

A public union employee, a tea party activist and a CEO are sitting at a table with a plate of a dozen cookies in the middle of it. The CEO takes 11 of the cookies, turns to the tea partier and says, "Watch out for that union guy he wants a piece of your cookie."

Just spotted this on a friend's FaceBook page. Googled it and found it is out there on the InterTubes -- 457 results -- and since it pithily sums up a central dynamic of this political moment in America, I thought I'd post it here.

Pass it on.

Just passing it on.

Man, The Year Goes By Fast

Tuesday marks the third anniversary of my uncle Sid's death. This year, I will be putting up music (and Joan's dancing courtesy of YouTube) on his blog, including a new comer to the industry, Kelsey Bulkin. You go girl! I even paid for the song just to be able to play it (grins).

Made In Heights - All The Places

My Pictures And Video Of Ruby Summer At Hollywood Renaissance Hotel

Simon and Nick, from work, and Nicks wife, Georgiana.

Hana (from work) and Hani (from Good Neighbors)

Manly feeding frenzy - Jerry and some others I do not know.


Aria.

Chrissy (my friend who skated in the Swayze film "Skatetown U.S.A. with me), and Gia.


The groupies, already!


Summer.

Their performance of "Mermaids and Poets" - sorry for the cell phone quality, but you can scroll down a few posts and view a better video!



It was great to be surrounded by friends, family and even co-workers the night following "le tragic" event. The girls even have "groupies" if you can believe it, dressing up like them! I had a blast, my friends had a blast, my co-workers had a blast, and I enjoyed the love projected by my very talented family.

Say Good Bye While You Can To My Grandson

I know my readers have been wondering how things went at the "trial" regarding my grandson. I have a lot to say about that.

First off, at about 4:00 p.m. the day before trial, we get notice that the dead beat dad's, dead beat dad, (with the supposed connections to a famous person, why that would even matter) hired a law firm in Chicago as well as a law firm in Los Angeles. Basically, we got Johnny Cochran'd at trial. Bottom line, for now (because we have to return in 30 days), my grandson is forced to move to Chicago to live with the dead beat dad. What makes this decision even more egregious is that the dead beat dad's family live HERE! So, not only is he taking his child away from the child's mother and grandmother, he's also taking the child away from his own mother and the rest of his family. Nice work there, idiot.

Now, to correct the record, it wasn't dead beat dad reading my blog – it was the attorneys (which, by the way, I know cost a boatload, so way to go dead beat dad's dead beat dad). And as to why I call the father's father a dead beat, is because I know his ex is STILL trying to the get her back child support from him! This is a very dysfunctional family, and I will leave it at that.

As an aside to my readers, whom I believe know my politics since my blog has been up and running close to six years now, one of the attorneys for the "other side" actually told my set of attorneys that I was an anti-Semite, and that I was using my grandson and his image to promote pro PLO positions! Ok, stop laughing, he really did say that. And one of the other goons posing as an attorney actually did a little chest pumping and lunged at me when I told him "it's not over yet," with a "what did you say" as if he was going to jump over the counter and punch me. Fine specimens of what we in the legal profession call assholes.

So, here's the situation. Dead beat dad (who, by the way, works a graveyard shift job, so his hours are roughly 7 pm to 3 am) and who's never parented on any real level before, and is barely an adult himself (despite his age) is now going to have to be a father, and not just a once a year, one week gig father, but a 24/7 father, to what will probably end up being a very unhappy and angry eight year old. Plus, given his work hours, it's a pretty good assumption that my grandson will be "cared" for by babysitters most of the time. Again, this will not make dead beat dad's child love him ... in fact, it will only foster more resentment, first at being taken away from the only home he has known for eight years to go to that gawd awful place known as Chicago (sorry to my Chicago readers, but you already know it just does not match up to what's happening in sunny California), but he isn't even going to have real time interactions with his own father. Not when the guy is getting home at about 4 am (he has no car, so give him time to walk or use whatever transit is available at that hour to get home from work), and he won't be able to just go to sleep because he'll have to be up to get his child off and ready to go to school (which will be the third school the poor kid will be attending this year). I sure hope that he's not left back and will have to repeat third grade thanks to the vengeful actions of his dead beat dad. Then there's the getting the child home from school, dinner, homework, etc. But with his job hours, there's no way dead beat dad will be putting his kid to bed before he leaves for work (face it, an eight year old does not go to bed at 6 pm, right?), so the big elephant in the room is who IS going to be parenting my grandson? It most certainly will not be the kid's father – even dragging him to Chicago, he SIMPLY DOES NOT HAVE THE TIME TO BE A PARENT.

Just a note, though, I am stepping up the game a bit, but since all the lawyers seem to be interested in what I have to say, and have been quote reading unquote my blog (but obviously not able to comprehend the posts) I'll keep it close to my chest and won't reveal all my options.

What I do find quite interesting are the parallels between my custody situation with my daughter and her father (we shared her equally, two years with one parent with liberal visitation and two years with the other parent with liberal visitation) is that when she turned a certain age, she simply said she was no longer going back to live with her father. I don't give my grandson half as long as my daughter took to decide she didn't want to live with her father, for him to make the same decision. I am pretty sure dead beat dad has so few social skills and even fewer parenting skills, that I wouldn't be surprised to hear that my grandson tells someone at his school that his father got mad at him because he couldn't get his homework right, and hit him. Payback can be dirty.

I feel bad for my grandson. The ill will in that family generated toward me is intense, so much so that when I brought the computer for him to play with while in court, the dead beat dad had to come and tower over this little boy and make a scene, such that my grandson lowered his eyes and told me, "I'm sorry grandma, but I can't play with the computer." What a douchebag to manipulate a little child like that. But I know my grandson, and he can be a pain in the ass in his own right, so let him be the dead beat dad's worst parental nightmare.

For my daughter, she's got a year and a half to go to finish her college, so she's going to be able to study full time and be single and not have to be bothered with the parenting for the time being. She'll be putting her son's stuff in storage for now so as not to get caught up in sadness from time to time, and will focus on her education. For me, I will box up my grandson's belongings and store them as well (except I have plenty of closets in my house so I don't need to store them somewhere else). I'll concentrate on my Santa's Elves non-profit project, and I am now throwing myself head on into Assemblyman Feuer's bill to try to fix the travesty that is known as the dependency court here in California. Turn shit into shinola, as they say. Plus, I will probably be running a campaign for a friend of mine that is planning a run for a city council seat here in Los Angeles.

On a good note, the day after the trial, my cousin's daughters, Ruby and Summer, performed at the Hollywood Renaissance Hotel, and there was just so much family and so much love and so much show business that it brightened up what was a lousy day prior. I will post what few photos and the one video I had the time to take with my new droid phone (a little better than my prior phone, but actually, nothing really beats a real camera!)

I plan to write my grandson every day. Maybe a card one day, a letter another day, a package with a goodie another day, etc. But each and every day he is away, I will be sending him something, so I will know he will always be wanting to check the mailbox because grandma sent him mail. I don't know what I will do with his blog. It will be up, but it will stay dark until he tells me he has something to say, or writes me and tells me to put this or that on his blog.

I want to thank all of you that have followed this story and have sent me so many wonderful and uplifting comments and notes.

Note to attorneys: Keep up the reading of my blog, and be sure to charge Joe a lot of money for having to read everything. It makes me happy to know you're learning about ME, which of course, has nothing to do with your client, the child, or my daughter! I am not the one charged with anything, and I was not on trial, so if Joe wants to pay for you to sit all day and read my blog, have at it. You might actually get an education on how the real world operates, and maybe even learn a thing or two about politics (and music, and dance, oh and sports too -- none of you looked like you could shoot a round of hoops, or hit the rink and slap a puck around, HA HA!)

Just a little video taken in 2008 with my grandson singing to Sugarland's "All I Want To Do" YouTube video from the ACMA awards. It's cute, but then again, he was only six and still couldn't sing!

Swan Lake

The traditional.



The unusual.

Blog Reads

Wow, 157 hits today, all linking to my post about Wisconsin.

What a trip. 157, shit how do I really research the links?

Tomorrow is trial. Expect serious shockers!

Ruby Summer To Perform At Renaissance Hollywood's Lobby Bar 2/24/11

Come see the girls performing live this Thursday, February 24, 2011, no cover! Hope to see you all there.

Ruby Summer EPK from Ruby Summer on Vimeo.

• 1755 NORTH HIGHLAND AVENUE
• HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA 9002

Do You Really Think I Don't Know You Are Reading My Blog, Jay?

Really, is this a crash course on all things Carrie? LOL! 48 minutes in one sitting, 85 pages viewed? Are you kidding me? I hope at least your pablum brain learned something, um, like politics, music, art, oh, and politics!

For my regular readers, Jay is the father of Zaire. Didn't think I'd actually know you were reading my blog, did ya! Eight visits, over 100 pages read, and more than a few hours trolling. If you were never interested in this blog in the, oh say, six years it has been up and running, my mind sort of wonders why in the past two days, you've been scouring my blog. This is a benign blog, albeit, I can get pretty heated over political crap. But if you're trolling for dirt on Mercedes, ya ain't gonna find it on my blog. I think you should simply stick with what you already know, and make sure you keep your wading pants on while trolling!

P.S. I see you at Zaire's blog as well. How come you NEVER looked at his blog until like, what, two days ago? Great dad. Wish I had one just like you ... NOT.

P.S.S. Using an IPad still does not mean I don't SEE YOU! LOL!

I'm With Assemblyman Feuer In Pressing For Open Hearings In Dependency Court

Opening the state's dependency courts is an idea that has been gaining momentum in recent years. Michael Nash, the presiding judge of Los Angeles County Juvenile Court, is a stalwart supporter, and the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services, which once opposed it, now favors it as well. Public employee unions, whose members might be subjected to greater scrutiny, remain wary, but they should come to see that public proceedings will help instill public confidence. Witness the case of police officers who once flinched at putting cameras in patrol cars: Today, those cameras are widely regarded as protecting good officers from false accusations. So too would open proceedings protect those social workers who deserve it.

Feuer has devoted himself to finding solutions to problems that can be addressed without new spending; the state's finances make that imperative. He's succeeded with this bill, which involves no cost to taxpayers. "Opening these proceedings to public scrutiny," he said this week, "will promote needed reforms and help safeguard children by making everyone in the system more accountable." That is true and overdue.

He gets my vote on this issue. As someone who has recently been subjected to the "dependency courts" and how they operate, it is a conundrum when compared to other aspects of the legal profession. Everything is out in the open, except in dependency courts, where shrouding everything in secrecy prohibits even cursory reviews of the propriety of DCFS' actions! My case alone has so many mistakes it makes my head spin. And as for accountability, there is none, unless (as many have urged me to do) I file suit against the agency for the poor management of the case.

From my own experience, Los Angeles County DCFS workers are not held accountable in any fashion, rightly or wrongly. The autonomy afforded these workers makes many of the ones I came into contact with act like lords over a kingdom, and we are their serfs. They even go so far as to prod you to just lie and admit to an abuse that did not occur, they try to force you to take their appointed attorney (kind of like a public defender in a criminal action), and in my case I was actually told by one social worker that it would go a long way in my daughter's case if I just simply convinced her to accept the charges. When we said no, and told them we had our own lawyers, their prejudice against me was obvious. I was denied, without proper cause, the ability to take my grandson home, even though the eventual family (after they placed the kid into a non-English speaking foster home for a week) that was appointed as the temporary home pending trial, was in a weaker position than I with regard to the requirements for such placement. Even with regard to visitation, I have been thwarted at every angle from being allowed to have visits. It is as if my grandson dropped off the face of the earth because the host family has refused to allow me to even call my grandson to talk with him. And here, I'm not even the accused! I've not been charged with anything! On the other hand, the presumptive father who has had very little to do with the child in question, was given "temporary custody" in order to make decisions on behalf of the child, and this despite the fact that HE is also an accused in this action. It boggles the mind how these people can get away with such atrocities, and I applaud assemblyman Feuer in his quest to open up dependency court hearings to the public.

Read the article in full. It's short, but to the point.

I See You ...

do YOU see me?





Someone has taken an interest in my blog since DCFS got involved with my family. Hmmmmmmm.

Note to new reader: The internet is very transparent. I can track an awful lot about you just by your reading my blog.

Hey, Anderson Cooper, What About The Lies WE'VE BEEN TOLD BY OUR LEADERS?

I find it extremely interesting that CNN through Anderson Cooper's 360 program, is aggressively calling out Egypt's hypocrisy, the dictatorship's lies, the government's thugs, etc. Interesting, because, I do not see this same aggressiveness toward Bush, the neocons and the Republican party in general, for the totalitarianism of its eight year rule that brought us two unfunded wars which have driven this country into financial ruin. Why isn't Mr. Cooper as angry over the lies and overtly and well debunked statements (Iraq had WMD, Iraq and Al-Qaida were in bed, spying on Americans is for our safety, just to name a small fraction of the bullshit) thrown at us as a people of this country)?

What makes this even more interesting is just how much America has been in bed with Mubarak. Even who or what takes over, if Mubarak can be dethroned and his vice president also banished, is this country still going to use thuggery and continue its ease in taking anyone the U.S. wants to disappear, and do the dirty work for this country?

In a way, I wish the people of America really were concerned with this, because lessons in a peaceful overthrowing of dictatorship is something Americans need to learn and understand. Our own government acts with repression of rights, with controlling market prices, enriching the rich at the expense of the shrinking middle class and the poor. The uber rich and those that surround them in America are no better than Mubarak and his regime.

AOL IS FREE, STOP PAYING FOR IT!

Now that AOL is buying up Huffington Post, I found this tidbit about people who are STILL paying to use AOL! IT'S FREE, DIPSHITS!

Part of the problem is AOL subscribers joined because they did not understand the Internet. They still don’t. E-mail is free. So are the famed AOL chat rooms and forums. Just go to AOL.com and enjoy. Free.

That about sums it up. The primary base of AOL users are internet idiots that don't have a clue about the internet or how to use it. AOL has always been Internet For Dummies. I remember how hard it was to cancel my subscription, too, once I found out it was free. I had to jump through hoops just to get it canceled. And, on top of it, I still get a reminder to pay my AOL bill each month! Ha ha ha.

Gung Hay Fat Choy

Yes, That Was A Camel, In Tahrir Square

I was watching this video on CNN earlier. Very weird, indeed. It's dawn in Egypt now. What's next? And, yes, that was a camel in the video. [courtesy CNN]