NRA's New Concealed Gun Hoodie

I haven't blogged at all about the Trayvon Martin killing. There are so many senseless murders of people of color that go on daily, that not all of them rise to the level of media prominence that this particular murder has.

But the "hoodie" aspect of this is just bullshit. First off, disgraced, stupid, ignorant and basically a very bad reporter, Geraldo Rivera's comments about the "hoodie" being "responsible" for Trayvon's death just proves my theory about the stupid people.

But I finally had to weigh in on the NRA's adopting a "hoodie with a gun pouch" as shown above.

“We want concealed carry to fit around your lifestyle — not the other way around. That’s why we developed the NRAstore exclusive Concealed Carry Hooded Sweatshirt."

I am beginning to seriously think about buying a gun, but no bullets, just so I can confuse the shit out of many people. The "open carry" laws just piss me off enough that if I could pull it off, I'd plop my gun at my local bar just for the sheer shock value. I'll probably get killed, but hey, what a way to go, eh?

It's "Magic" For Dodgers

More on this later, but THIS JUST IN ...

Dodgers bought by Magic Johnson and his "associates" for around 2 FUCKING BILLION DOLLARS!

Happy Naw Ruz (New Year)

For all my Baha'i friends and family, happy New Year.

(Naw-Rúz, March 21, is the first day of the Bahá'í year.)

Praised be Thou, O my God, that Thou hast ordained Naw-Rúz as a festival unto those who have observed the Fast for love of Thee and abstained from all that is abhorrent unto thee. Grant, O my Lord, that the fire of Thy love and the heat produced by the Fast enjoined by Thee may inflame them in Thy Cause, and make them to be occupied with Thy praise and with remembrance of Thee.

Since thou hast adorned them, O my Lord, with the ornament of the Fast prescribed by Thee, do Thou adorn them also with the ornament of Thine acceptance, through Thy grace and bountiful favor. For the doings of men are all dependent upon Thy good-pleasure, and are conditioned by Thy behest. Shouldst Thou regard him who hath broken the Fast as one who hath observed it, such a man would be reckoned among them who from eternity had been keeping the Fast. And shouldst Thou decree that he who hath observed the Fast hath broken it, that person would be numbered with such as have caused the Robe of Thy Revelation to be stained with dust, and been far removed from the crystal waters of this living Fountain.

Thou art He through Whom the ensign “Praiseworthy art Thou in Thy works” hath been lifted up, and the standard “Obeyed art Thou in Thy behest” hath been unfurled. Make known this Thy station, O my God, unto Thy servants, that they may be made aware that the excellence of all things is dependent upon Thy bidding and Thy word, and the virtue of every act is conditioned by Thy leave and the good pleasure of Thy will, and may recognize that the reins of men's doings are within the grasp of Thine acceptance and Thy commandment. Make this known unto them, that nothing whatsoever may shut them out from Thy Beauty, in these days whereon the Christ exclaimeth: “All dominion is Thine, O Thou the Begetter of the Spirit (Jesus)”; and Thy Friend (Muhammad) crieth out: “Glory be to Thee, O Thou the Best-Beloved, for that Thou hast uncovered Thy Beauty, and written down for Thy chosen ones what will cause them to attain unto the seat of the revelation of Thy Most Great Name, through which all the peoples have lamented except such as have detached themselves from all else except Thee, and set themselves towards Him Who is the Revealer of Thyself and the Manifestation of Thine attributes.”

He Who is Thy Branch and all Thy company, O my Lord, have broken this day their fast, after having observed it within the precincts of Thy court, and in their eagerness to please Thee. Do Thou ordain for Him, and for them, and for all such as have entered Thy presence in those days all the good Thou didst destine in Thy Book. Supply them, then, with that which will profit them, in both this life and in the life beyond.

Thou, in truth, art the All-Knowing, the All-Wise.

Bahá’u’lláh

Naw-Ruz (`New Day') is the Bahá'í and Iranian new year, which occurs on the date of the vernal equinox, about 21 March. It is one of the nine Bahá'í holy days on which work is suspended.

Hmmm, Who Really Is The "Murderer," Pfc. Manning Or Staff Sgt. Robert Bales?

As always, Glenn Greenwald puts things eloquently into perspective:

Think about that: if you expose to the world previously unknown evidence of widespread wanton killing of civilians (as Manning allegedly did), then you will end up in the same place as someone who actually engages in the mass wanton killing of civilians (as Bales allegedly did), except that the one who committed atrocities will receive better treatment than the one who exposed them. That’s a nice reflection of our government’s value system (similar to the way that high government officials who commit egregious crimes are immunized, while those who expose them are aggressively prosecuted). If the chat logs are to be believed, Manning decided to leak those documents because they revealed heinous war crimes that he could no longer in good conscience allow to be concealed, and he will now find himself next to a soldier who is accused of committing heinous war crimes.

Greenwald has been on a one-man crusade to try to educate Americans as to just how far this country has gone over the hill with respect to banana republic rulers, i.e. not only Bush, and his predecessors (ah, Iran/Contra comes to mind), but Obama as well. Whomever has the misplaced idea that Obama is a peace loving American has not been paying attention. Under Obama, the "Patriot Act" has been given a new meaning, and more (worse) powers than ever thought believable unless you lived in the Soviet Union during the cold war era. And the above quote from Mr. Greenwald is especially telling.

To top it off, the Afghans that actually witnessed the massacre still claim more than one shooter is involved, but our wonderful country whisks away the "lone" perpetrator, and then gives this mass murderer better treatment in "jail" than Pfc. Manning, whose only alleged crime was to "leak" to the press the very atrocities Robert Bales actually committed.

If you believe you live in the "land of the free and the home of the brave" you might need to see a doctor.

Wear Orange In Florida, Get Fired!

Wow. Getting fired in Florida for wearing an orange shirt to work. The Sunshine State, home of the orange! Isn't that like getting fired in Hawai'i on a Friday for wearing an aloha shirt?

They weren't wearing sagging pants or revealing clothing. But dressing in an orange shirt is apparently enough to get fired at one Florida law firm, where 14 workers were unceremoniously let go last Friday.

In an interview with the Ft. Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel, several of the fired workers say they wore the matching colors so they would be identified as a group when heading out for a happy hour event after work. They say the executive who fired them initially accused them of wearing the matching color as a form of protest against management.

[snip]

The law offices of Elizabeth R. Wellborn, P.A. offered "no comment" to Sun-Sentinel reporter Doreen Hemlock, but four ex-employees tell the paper they were simply wearing their orange shirts to celebrate "pay day" and the upcoming Friday group happy hour.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

I was very busy yesterday, plus it was raining, hard, so I did not venture out in any fashion. I also was not drunk before noon, LOL!

Kiss My Irish Ass - Dropkick Murphys

L.A. Marathon And Grandson

Today marks the 27th annual Los Angeles Marathon. I was here when the very first one was run. It zig-zagged through Hollywood, where I lived, so it was easy to just gout a few blocks, brink along some coffee, and watch.

Years later, the route changed, as did my address, but the run route was right down my main street such that I would simply go outside in the morning, sometimes still in my pajamas, and open up a lawn chair, have my coffee, and watch the runners.

When my grandson was about two years old, he was skittish and wanted to run all the time. It was usually hard for me to take him for walks and stuff because at that age, he did not understand "STOP" when I would yell, and I was always afraid he'd run into the big street and get hit by a car. But one thing was for certain, we could not stop him from running in the marathon!

Zaire, at age 2:



Zaire at age 3:



A snippet of Zaire at age 4:



At age 5, with me running behind him (at age 56) - it was just a mile, but I was close to death at the end of that mile. Again, only a snippet:

Interview By Sam Seder Of Professor Richard Wolf

This is only about half an hour, but it is absolutely worth listening to. H/T to AMERICAblog's Gaius Publius for providing the link.

The above podcast is from an interview by Sam Seder of Prof. Richard Wolf which basically walks the average person through the financial crisis in Europe, the austerity programs such as what is going on in Greece, why they don't and won't work, and comparisons with the United States and its proposed austerity solutions to the economic crisis here.

Basically, the point being made is that the problem in Europe and America lie within the rich that have the money, and the manner in which they have "lent" their money to the not rich, and how when the not rich find themselves in the position of not being able to pay back the rich, concoct methods and ways to continue to "loan" or "bail out" countries (or individuals here in the United States, such as the loan modification programs, which by the way, don't work either). Austerity will not work because it takes the responsibility for the mess and for the resolution of the mess, off of the very people that created the mess, the banks, corporations and rich people, and try to put the resolving of the miss onto the backs of the very people who cannot afford to help solve the mess, because of the very fact they are the poor as a result of the mess!

Some interesting comments also were made about Roosevelt and how he handled the situation in the 1930's and 1940's, and a comparison was made of him to those today like the Warren Buffets of the "rich." A trickle down society will not solve the problem, it has to be a trickle up situation that will stimulate growth and a way to get back to the middle class that we pretend still exists but in reality, we only have the very uber rich, and then those that fall close to or below the poverty line. The so called pretend middle class has been fooling itself for way too long now that they belong with the rich, or can achieve what the rich have in some fashion, and many are also trying to cling to what little they have, not realizing that in comparison to the rich, what the "middle class" have that they are holding onto is a pipe dream, and not based in financial reality.

Until the rich start paying their fair share, and that includes banks, corporations, governments and people, this financial meltdown will continue, and the riots in Greece and elsewhere in Europe over austerity programs will follow to here in the United States when we make the least capable and most vulnerable class of people have to shoulder the debt and financial crisis while at the same time the rich do nothing but continue to get richer!

Seriously, listen to the whole interview - you will come away so much more informed about the financial problems we are facing, not just as a country, but as a world.

There's A Disco Inferno In Heaven, RIP, Jimmy Ellis

Jimmy Ellis, who belted out the dance anthem "Disco Inferno" in the 1970s for the Trammps, died Thursday in South Carolina, the funeral home handling arrangements said.

He was 74.

First off, disco WAS my thing. Regardless of my dance training and background, I came of age, dance wise, during the disco era. I have probably been to every famous disco with the exception of Studio 54 in New York, during my disco days. I entered disco dance contests, won quite a few and even won one stupid small contest that my younger cousin, Gary, danced with me. I was living in North County, San Diego, and drove to Los Angeles to pick Gary up, then drove back to North County where the small contest was (which we won), then drove him back to Los Angeles, and then came back home!

Actually, during the years in the early to mid-70's that I lived in the North County San Diego area, I was constantly driving up to L.A. for dance classes three or more times a week. I did not find any dance studios in the San Diego area that cut the mustard compared to who I was studying under in L.A.

But, far and away, one of THE most popular disco songs to dance to (and which was one of the songs that I have had in my walk work out, whether on the treadmill or actually walking) was "Disco Inferno" by the Trammps.

RIP, Jimmy Ellis.

Could Talk Radio Be Seeing Their Lights Turned Off Soon?

Premiere Networks, which distributes Limbaugh as well as a host of other right-wing talkers, sent an email out to its affiliates early Friday listing 98 large corporations that have requested their ads appear only on “programs free of content that you know are deemed to be offensive or controversial (for example, Mark Levin, Rush Limbaugh, Tom Leykis, Michael Savage, Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity).”

H/T to The Daily Beast.

Well, it is about time, if you ask me.

You know, I was having a "friendly" discussion with one of my bar mates the other day, and I was taken aback by the level of misunderstanding of current events this person had that I literally told him to stop watching Fox or listening to his radio talk shows for a week, and read only Crooks and Liars. He, in turn, gave me a 9 hour list of different talk shows that he wanted me to listen to, which included all of the above except Limbaugh. Since I work during the day, it was not possible to actually think about my work and think about the talk shows, so I ended up only listening in the morning and some in the evening. What I discovered was that about 50% of these shows are ads, pure and simple. Then there is a brief two to three minute news recap, followed by maybe a three minute segment on a "topic" and then back to the advertising. The little I did listen to (was right after Breitbart died) was filled with platitudes and heaped praise on "da bastard" raising him up to saint like idolatry. Suffice it to say, I could not take much of it, and I lamented the reality that those people who listen to this crap day in and day out, followed with Fox News programs, were sufficiently lulled into these false (ok, lies) stories, claims, and news items. It made me feel that there is really nothing a sane and intelligent person can do or say to someone that is insistent on getting their "information" from shows like these.

And, I was surprised that my friend had no clue of the Limbaugh/Oxycontin connection, or Mr. Limbaugh's penchant for little boys. Shit, I thought that was common knowledge!

Pigeon Point Lighthouse

An awesome picture! Courtesy of Pics and Random Stuff.

Breitbart Dead At 43

I know one is not supposed to speak ill of the dead, but I only have this to say: Good riddance. And at 43, it looks like God had just about enough of his nastiness and it was, as they say, his time to GO.

UPDATE 3/2/12:

For those that have tried to assail me for speaking ill of Mr. Breitbart, I bring you the following:



And some famous quotes by Mr. Breitbart, even as to Ted Kennedy after he died (courtesy of Take My Country Back):

Two weeks following Ted Kennedy’s death:

“Rest in Chappaquiddick”

“he was a f@#$er. a big ass motherf@#$er. this aint a 24-hour zone, baby. he was a bad, bad dude. & if mary jo were your kin youd be dancin’.”

“Kennedy was a special pile of human excrement.”

On Shirley Sherrod’s “racism”:

“I think the video speaks for itself…The way she’s talking about white people…is conveying a present tense racism in my opinion”

Other random acts of “journalistic” eloquence:

“This Idea Of Taking Off Ethnic Profiling Or Profiling Of Any Way Is Taking Common Sense Out Of The Equation”

On Janeane Garofalo: “Hollywood’s Sympathy F***”

“If You Want To Talk About Looks And Appeal,” The View ”Was Crafted … To Make Sure That Men Won’t Watch”

Code Pink: “[I]t’s no longer fun to watch them and they’re not even good looking anymore. It used to be that they were like, kinda slutty lefties…they’re getting long in the tooth.”

“Go After The Teachers”

ACORN “Helped…Set Up An Underage Sex Slave Operation”