Officially Unemployed!

Staff at my office.

Flowers on my last day.

I did get a job the day after I quit, but it was not a good fit, and after six days, I said "bye bye" to that new job. So, now I am on my own, once again, after 12 years.

The funny thing, though, is that there are still attorneys out there that want to work with me. I could do work on the side, ghost write, etc. and make what it takes to pay my bills and such, and still not actually have to go to an office anymore.

Sigh ... Let's hope this new venture pans out. Wish me luck. If not, there may be a "PayPal" icon on my blog! LOL!!!!

One Family's Wealth Equivalent To 42% Of All Americans - Can You Guess Who They Are?

Staggering thought for the day.

"Sam and James "Bud" Walton now possess total wealth equivalent to 49 million American families, 42 percent of the total."

Hey, Jack Gilchrist, Show Us YOUR Tax Returns!!

Interesting post up over at Think Progress. It seems that after President Obama made his now infamous speech about business and the distorted version of the speech has been used by the right wing nut jobs, including the nuttiest of them all, Mittens, it appears that the latest video ad created by the Mittens campaign is, as usual, full of shit.



Except, the truth is:

And, as it turns out, Jack Gilchrist is no different. The New Hampshire Union Leader reports today that Gilchrist benefited from millions of dollars of government loans and contracts to get his business on its feet:

In 1999, Gilchrist Metal received $800,000 in tax-exempt revenue bonds issued by the New Hampshire Business Finance Authority “to set up a second manufacturing plant and purchase equipment to produce high definition television broadcasting equipment,” according to a New Hampshire Union Leader report at the time…

Last year, Gilchrist Metal also received two U.S. Navy sub-contracts totaling about $83,000 and a smaller $5,600 Coast Guard contract in 2008, according to a government web site that tracks spending.

Gilchrist wisely took advantage of these funds, which help small businesses like his survive in their early years. He also took a U.S. Small Business Administration loan in the late 1980s totaling “somewhere south of” $500,000, plus matching funds from the federally-funded New England Trade Adjustment Assistance Center.

In a lesson on basic government spending that Romney himself could learn from, Gilchrist succinctly explained: “I’m not going to turn a blind eye because the money came from the government. As far as I’m concerned, I’m getting some of my tax money back. I’m not stupid, I’m not going to say ‘no.’ Shame on me if I didn’t use what’s available.”

"...getting some of my tax money back ..." Huh? From the above, it looks like you GOT TAXPAYER dollars before you got TAXED. And, by the way, how about showing US YOUR TAX RETURNS? Yeah, I'm pretty sure that's a no go.

How stupid do you think we are? Well, obviously there are quite a lot of stupid people in this country. This piece of shit makes this absurd video ad for Mittens and he knows the entire time he's lying through his teeth. And, obviously, he doesn't give a shit. He thinks he represents the repressed small business owners, which really are a myth in the stupid Republicans (and some Democrats) lying minds because, you know, keeping all the money for themselves IS THE POINT.

I almost want Mittens to become president just so the stupid people can really bring down this country and the even stupider (but poorer) people can finally take out all their machine guns and other cache of weapons and finally start America's second revolutionary war (not considering the Civil War a "revolution" as it was just a bunch of ignorant individuals intent on preventing those, you know, dark skinned people they plucked off the land in Africa and forced to come to this country to be their slaves, from having any rights whatsoever).

Let's See ... Caterpillar's CEO Made $17 Million Last Year, But The $25 Per Hour Worker Is Being Asked To Agree To A Six Year Wage And Pension Freeze?

I've been reading of late about the union vs. Caterpillar strike. According to Think Progress, Caterpillar made a $4.9 BILLION dollar profit last year, and paid its CEO a 60% increase in salary, etc. ($17 million), yet it is asking its workers to agree to a six year SALARY FREEZE, AND PENSION FREEZE, among other things!

Their rationalization for this is that they already pay their workers "above market rates" (that translates to paying about $25 per hour). According to Think Progress, the "above market rate" workers would have to work 244 YEARS to make what Caterpillar's CEO made last year.

How about some trickle down economics here, Caterpillar?

What is sickening about these corporations today is they aren't even afraid to put this shit out there! Yeah, the guy making $25 an hour can really compete and afford to live the lifestyle of the CEO! Freeze that $25 per hour, and freeze the pension payments for the next six years so the CEO can make more $17 million in compensation over that same period of time (and probably more).

All I can hope is that the union hangs in there.

Ah, The Insanity Coming From The Gun People - Now It's "Why Didn't Anyone In The Theater Have A Gun" And "Why Didn't Someone Storm The Shooter," Etc.

It is a sad state of affairs if our "elected" congressmen (including those that previously served but are not currently in office) feel that the best way to handle mass murderers is for everyone to be armed and for everyone to shoot to kill the perpetrator.

All I can say is that these people, these gun advocates, are the STUPIDEST FUCKING PEOPLE on this earth. Blame the victims for not shooting back. What fucking country are we living in and what era? The wild, wild west, where everyone had a rifle and six shooter? But even back then, you would most likely have had to leave your guns at the door for entry into a facility that had entertainment or showed some type of cinematic feature.

These are the assholes that if they actually were in the same situation would be the first one stepping over children, women and old ladies to get their white old fucking asses out the door and not be shot. I guarantee that none of these people would put their lives on the line for any of the little people. NONE of them would fire at the shooter, as suggested above. They are lily livered chicken shit cowards.

This is truly disgusting. And people want to know why I am "checking out" of politics as it is being played out these days? Just read the above quote from MR. PEARCE. The garbage I have read since the shooting has got to be of the lowest caliber of stupidity and asinine ideas it makes Monday quarterbacking of a Sunday NFL game look like genius activities.

Lose the guns, stupid people. When are you going to learn? Guns very much do kill people. End of story.

From Think Progress:

While Cinemark does have a no firearms policy, it is highly unlikely that someone would have been able to take down the alleged gunman. He was heavily armed, in full protective gear, threw tear gas before he opened fire, and was in a dark, crowded theater. Armed law enforcement officers responded within 90 seconds, and in that time he injured or killed 70 people.

Star Wars Lego Cartoons

One of the fun things I discovered when my grandson came to visit (he's here for one month this summer, and I get him on the weekends, plus a few days during the last week), was that there was a Star Wars Lego cartoon series. It is actually pretty funny, and the episode I am watching this evening (yeah, my grandson is NOT here, and I AM watching Cartoon Network) has a Lego George Lucas character that pops in and out giving directions to the characters (mostly to Darth Vadar).

I have been laughing through the whole show!

SYTYCD Dizzy Feet Gala

Zaire and I will be attending the free portion of the day long festivities, with thousands of other Angelenos. This is the second year of this dance festival, and last year appeared to be so much fun, based on the news reports and stuff I read about, such that since it will happen on a Saturday that I will have Zaire, we WILL be going!

Zumba, hip hop and other forms of dance! Expect shitty photos from my cell phone, but at least I'll have some to share!!!!

Made In America -- Ooops, Made In China!

So, it appears there is a bit of a brouha over the UNITED STATES Olympic teams' uniforms, which were designed by the very epitome of haute couture, Ralph Lauren. On the "right winger" side, they are PISSED that berets are the head piece of choice, while the "left winger" side is PISSED that the uniforms were made in fucking China!

Go figure. Rah rah America ... or not.

Is Chalk Really A Weapon Requiring Riot Police?

(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times / July 13, 2012)

So, apparently chalk drawing on the street is now a matter of terrorist security such that the LAPD had to come out in full riot gear during the monthly L.A. Artwalk.

Occupy L.A. activists and their supporters accused Los Angeles police of overreacting Thursday to chalk protesters during downtown's monthly ArtWalk, which set the stage for the violent run-in that resulted in 17 arrests.

Cheryl Aichele, 34, an informal leader of Occupy L.A., said police were aggressive early and made their first arrest shortly after 7 p.m. "within 10 minutes of getting where we wanted to be."

"Police were pushing us -- I got pushed into a garbage can -- then we were being pushed into the street," Aichele said. "They would do all these intimidation tactics -- all before 9. They would come in and snatch somebody and pull them away. Or they'd push us. Or yell at us."

One of the guys she saw got arrested "was just walking by, took some chalk and drew a heart and wrote 'police' in it."

"We were being peaceful," she said. "In our meeting beforehand, we said our goals were: Have fun. Stay safe. Speak out. Stand up. Reach out. Make friends. Chalk."

Peter White of the Los Angeles Community Action Network said he was present at 5th and Spring streets as a legal observer and believed the heavy police presence played a role in the conflict.

"I firmly believe it was an over-saturation of the police earlier in the evening, the sort of aggressive behavior earlier, that bled into things that happened later in the night," White said. On Thursday night, people began amassing and drawing and writing with chalk at 6th and Spring streets.

Good-bye America

I am ambivalent about politics of late. Somewhere between 2005, when I had started up my blog, and was very passionate about the slow take-over of our democracy by the “right wingers,” and today, where seven years of outright lying, a lackadaisical news media, and a misdirected and ill-informed public, I’ve given up. Literally. With the promises made by a presidential candidate in 2008, who won (in my mind) with overwhelming support, and the follow-up of consistent failure to keep those campaign promises, coupled with a very real embrace by said president of certain ideologies that are antiethcal to the very nature of our democracy (i.e., renditions, killing American citizens abroad without warrants, trials, and the like, deporting more people out of this country than Bush ever did, failure to properly and timely embrace the GLBT issues that he ran on, etc., and not to mention the very same reliance on the banking industry that his opponents also embrace) have molded me into a non-believer in today’s version of our democracy.

This is a fully corrupt nation, with zero regard for the 99% of those that make up this country, work hard, and have tried to believe in the greatness of America. Instead, we have countries disparaging America based on the hypocrisy of its ideology vs. the practice. We prop up dictators, deal with our enemies, and wage wars on innocent people and nations. We are trillions in debt and yet not a single legislator on any level of government is taking up the mantle and running with the torch for the American people.

I had a guy tell me yesterday at my local watering hole that it is the corporations like GE, the oil companies, and others, that “pay the majority of taxes” in this country. I literally almost fell off my bar stool. I told him he really must stop watching Fox news, stop reading the Wall Street Journal, and for goodness sake, turn off talk radio. You will not get the truth from such areas, and that is why you, my friend, are ill informed.

It is hard to stand for truth and justice when there are so many politicians that have jumped on the bandwagon of corrupt methods of gaining and maintaining their free ride in government. “Can I please have some more” is the cry of the populace with the answer from the politicians being “hell fucking no” even as they cash their social security checks, get their federally funded (or state mandated) insurance coverage that is denied to anyone not in politics, and tell the average worker to go fuck themselves. Hell, the thought that the 1% think it’s okay (for example, Scranton, PA) to cut police and firefighter’s pay to minimum wage ($7.25), even after a court ordered the mayor NOT to do that, is just to mind boggling for me. The 1% are clearly not aware that to live in today’s America, minimum wage just does not cut it. And to believe that the majority of Americans want to suck off the teat of the government (the only people the suck off the teat of government ARE the politicians) is preposterous. A decent wage, the ability to put a roof over you and your family’s head, and raise your children with a decent education, has now gone the way of a “dream” and is actually, according to many politicians, no longer a “right” for Americans. The only “rights” that these politicians believe in is their right to pillage and destroy the America I grew up in, and turn our government into a corporate owned subsidiary. One person, one vote? Got rid of that. Power to the people? Got rid of that. A decent working wage? Got rid of that. Home ownership for the average American? Got rid of that. Where a corporate executive can work one day, retire, and take home $44 million in severance, bonuses, etc. (think Duke Energy’s CEO Bill Johnson), while there are millions and millions of people (including many Iraq war veterans) who are literally homeless, on the streets, with no real income in sight, as well as the rampant starvation of our children, I get sick to my stomach. And to top it off, a great deal of this rhetoric is pumped up by the false assertion that these politicians and their supporters are merely following Christian (read “bible”) themes, which totally distort the reality of what “Jesus” actually preached (according to some relevant history that seems to be methodically erased from the propaganda of what current Christianity means to this country).

Many of our elected officials are boneheads and seriously stupid. Deranged and empowered by corporate fueled laws and rights that come hand-in-hand with corporate money, it is time for me to check out. The power of the people, or the lack of it at this point, will be demonstrable in the 2012 elections, when it becomes obvious that millions of people will be disenfranchised as voters, where gerrymandering has resulted in lopsided and illegal power grabs, and where many more millions like me will simply fail to show up to cast our worthless vote.

Good-bye America. I will dream of your resurgence in the future. I only hope I live long enough to see the second Revolution and the fight to regain the rights that constitutionally belong to the American people.

Site Meter Went Down

I am not sure what the problem is, but Site Meter is not counting my hits all of a sudden. When I put in my account name and password, it says there is no such account (like I've had it since day one of this blog over seven years ago). Then when it asks you to put in your email address to retrieve and/or change the account name, it says no such email address exists. It's too early in the morning for me to try to corr3ct and/or change all of this and reset my meter, or even be able now to retrieve whatever data was lost. Of course, that is why I have to counters, Stat Counter and Site Meter. At least Stat Counter is up and working, and yes, I had many hits yesterday and even a few this morning. I'll deal with it tomorrow! Gotta go to work, ya know?

Having Fun With My Grandson

Zaire painted these two plastic shot glasses for me. He is quite the artist.

Here we are waiting for the DASH to go to the Grove and then visit the "Big K" to buy toys (and some PJ's)

Zaire on his Sponge Bob bed playing with Power Rangers and watching some TV before he goes to sleep.

I have had such a fun time with him last night and today. We ate out at IHOP, bought toys, set up a large Hot Wheel extravaganza and we'll be hanging out some more tonight. I'm having a blast with him, and he's having a blast with me!

Zaire's Hot Wheels!

My Grandson Is Here!!!!

You know, the first thing he said to me was "I miss you so much, Grandma." I melted!

Where Are The Fireworks?

I miss the ability to set off fireworks as I remember as a child, even growing up in SoCal. Yes, we used to be able to have sparklers as children, and the grown ups would set off the bigger fire crackers. Now, at least insofar as Los Angeles County is concerned, fireworks of any type by personal use is illegal.

Pooh pooh to that idea.

I do find it interesting that at this time every year for quite a few years, I watch the history channel on television and re-acquaint myself with how this "united states" of America was formed.

Anyway, hope you all had a fun day off. We had hot dogs here (with chili and onions and the works!). And, of course, it is Eli's birthday so I know my grandson was spending the day with him at his house having a wonderful party!

Zaire Screaming For Joy At Being Home!!!

UPDATE: July 4, 2012

It seems the video is not "available" to all people, even though I thought I put it on my "wall" and my "wall" is supposed to be "public." I really don't like these social media sites, and you'd think that I'd be an expert at Twitter and Facebook, but in all actuality, I hate them both. I only keep Facebook because that is how I can get quick photos posted by my daughter (and anything that she shares from the "father's" account), so at least I get to see precious pictures of my grandson.

Anyway, when my daughter sends me the videos, I can then upload them personally and put them on the site. For those of you that are already "friends" with my daughter on Facebook, then you can see these two cute videos.

PS I ... WILL have more to blog about regarding my grandson and the status of the custody battle. I find it a tad funny that the majority of the father's family have focused on "me" and not on the issues that relate to who should have custody, the father or the mother. Somehow, that side seems to think that calling me names (like "racist" and "anti-semite") will bolster the father's attempts to continue to maintain custody, when all it really does is make them look petty. I am not a party to this lawsuit. What I think and do is actually irrelevant to the Court, yet the father's lawyers, family and friends scour my blog to find anything they can to attempt to somehow discredit my daughter. I laugh at that because again, as I said, I am not a party ... it is not me seeking custody, and I am not relevant to this case. I thought it funny (ok, I am digressing a bit, but whatever) that at one of the evaluation sessions the father was all over the "your mother called me a dead beat dad," etc. I was proud that my daughter responded (in front of the evaluator) with a "well, you ARE a dead beat dad." Seems that phrase resonates with the father ... and he better get used to it, because a better definition of a dead bead dad could not be found outside of my post about him.
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Just watch this video over on my Facebook page, and you will understand how MUCH Zaire is glad to be home!

Check here to see how much fun the boys are having, and how much love is unspoken between them. Sigh ... It's hard when you know he doesn't want to live in Chicago.