Benghazi And The Faux Outrage

I am so fucking tired of the Republican party's beating the Benghazi horse to death.  This is a non story, and every time it starts to die, the Republicans beat it back to life.

Get over it.  Get a life.

This is not bigger than Watergate.  If you think that, you are stupid.  And if you are stupid, your are a Republican.  Anyone with an ounce of smarts, a decent education, and a thirst for truth knows Watergate trumps Benghazi. 

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!

Interesting World Globes

I bought this globe for $5 at a garage sale today.

Here is a picture of one with a different stand, but obviously in better condition. Another one to check out as well.


Here is a picture of another one, again in better quality, but more in line with the stand I have (except someone seems to have painted the stand on mine).

This is the label on the globe. It is obviously from the 1930's, and some of the countries on the globe do not even exist anymore.

I've always had an interest in globes and maps.

Bottom line, if this Hammond's globe was even close to being in mint condition, it'd be worth close to $2,000!!!! I'd have to check, but even in the condition mine is in, it should be worth a few hundred dollars. Not bad for a $5 investment!

I also got another globe, but I'll take pictures of it and post about it later.

A Little Bit Of Black, And A Little Bit Of White In All Of Us, So It Seems

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — For years, varied and sometimes wild claims have been made about the origins of a group of dark-skinned Appalachian residents once known derisively as the Melungeons. Some speculated they were descended from Portuguese explorers, or perhaps from Turkish slaves or Gypsies.

Now a new DNA study in the Journal of Genetic Genealogy attempts to separate truth from oral tradition and wishful thinking. The study found the truth to be somewhat less exotic: Genetic evidence shows that the families historically called Melungeons are the offspring of sub-Saharan African men and white women of northern or central European origin.

And that report, which was published in April in the peer-reviewed journal, doesn't sit comfortably with some people who claim Melungeon ancestry.

This story reminds me of the PBS series hosted by Harvard professor Henry Lewis Gates, Jr. that traces the ancestral history of black Americans. I think the most interesting thing that all of the people learned, as did I, was that the majority of the participants had no idea they had as much European white ancestry roots, primarily from a white woman. Of course, as my daughter likes to say, we all came from Africa, it's where life started on this planet!

Nuke 'Em Or Duke 'Em

Now why is this not news to me?

Dramatic increases in infant mortality, cancer and leukaemia in the Iraqi city of Fallujah, which was bombarded by US Marines in 2004, exceed those reported by survivors of the atomic bombs that were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, according to a new study.

Hmmm. No wonder there's a supp0sed ban on the use of white phosphorous. But the U.S. felt no compulsion not to use it.

Powerful new evidence emerged yesterday that the United States dropped massive quantities of white phosphorus on the Iraqi city of Fallujah during the attack on the city in November 2004, killing insurgents and civilians with the appalling burns that are the signature of this weapon.

August 6 is just around the corner, 65 years after first atomic bomb dropped in Japan. My piece, here.

And for what it looked like in Fallujah, here are some graphic pictures to remind one of what war is really like.

If You Can't Get Love In Hawai'i, What The Fuck?

Many of my readers know my affection for all things Hawai'ian. Hence, my displeasure at Hawai'ian Gov. Lingle's veto of the civil unions bill.

Time to "channel" bruddah Iz.

In This Life

"All Right, Prepare To Fire"

An update to my post on Kent State:

The Ohio National Guardsmen who fired on students and antiwar protesters at Kent State University on May 4, 1970 were given an order to prepare to shoot, according to a new analysis of a 40-year-old audio tape of the event.

"Guard!" says a male voice on the recording, which two forensic audio experts enhanced and evaluated at the request of The Plain Dealer. Several seconds pass. Then, "All right, prepare to fire!"

"Get down!" someone shouts urgently, presumably in the crowd. Finally, "Guard! . . . " followed two seconds later by a long, booming volley of gunshots. The entire spoken sequence lasts 17 seconds.

The previously undetected command could begin to explain the central mystery of the Kent State tragedy - why 28 Guardsmen pivoted in unison atop Blanket Hill, raised their rifles and pistols and fired 67 times, killing four students and wounding nine others in an act that galvanized sentiment against the Vietnam War.

The order indicates that the gunshots were not spontaneous, or in response to sniper fire, as some have suggested over the years.

[emphasis added]

On Tuesday, I was reading lots of comments on YouTube versions of the shooting and other commemorations of the Kent State massacre. I was shocked at the level of disconnect with today's youth compared with those of us that lived the moment as teenagers, either in high school or in college.

It really is amazing how many of today's young people have no understanding of what it was like back then, and how deeply divided this country was over the war in Vietnam, not so much divided among the youth, but divided between us and our parents, who simply could not fathom why we did not want to fight in a war. The generation gap was huge back then, and it cannot in any fashion be compared to the division that is apparent in today's America. Today's division is purely political, stirred up by lies and supported by the greed of those who condone the lies in order to prop themselves and their companies up on the pedestal of financial gain.

The divide in the 60's and 70's was prompted by the draft, and the forcing of people (mostly young men), against their will, to fight in a war they didn't believe in, didn't want to die in, and more importantly, not for a president most of them (us) despised. In Iraq and Afghanistan, although our soldiers were lied to in order to get them to go to war, let it not be forgotten for one moment that these brave souls decided to enlist and protect and fight for America, even if it was based on lies and again, prompted by a president most of the world despised.

As crazy as Bush & Co. were, they simply stripped us of our rights and drained the hell out of the country's finances, all the while scared shitless of the people who protested against him, but he was nothing like the paranoid Nixon, who in his most egregious and arrogant days as president, sent in fucking armed National Guardsmen to shoot at (and kill) the protesters he so feared.

Just A Little Lesson On Racism

rac ism–noun

1. a belief or doctrine that inherent differences among the various human races determine cultural or individual achievement, usually involving the idea that one's own race is superior and has the right to rule others.
2. a policy, system of government, etc., based upon or fostering such a doctrine; discrimination.
3.hatred or intolerance of another race or other races.
Origin: 1865–70; (Dictionary.com UnabridgedBased on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009)


1. The belief that race accounts for differences in human character or ability and that a particular race is superior to others.
2. Discrimination or prejudice based on race. (The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth EditionCopyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company)

The belief that some races are inherently superior (physically, intellectually, or culturally) to others and therefore have a right to dominate them. In the United States, racism, particularly by whites against blacks, has created profound racial tension and conflict in virtually all aspects of American society. Until the breakthroughs achieved by the civil rights movement in the 1950s and 1960s, white domination over blacks was institutionalized and supported in all branches and levels of government, by denying blacks their civil rights and opportunities to participate in political, economic, and social communities. (The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third EditionCopyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company)

[emphasis added]

Trent Lott = racist. Trent Lott comment over which he was forced to resign (by the Bush Administration, I might add): "I want to say this about my state: when Strom Thurmond ran for President, we voted for him. We're proud of it. And if the rest of the country had followed our lead, we wouldn't have had all these problems over all these years, either."

Strom Thurmond was a staunch segregationist, something he never tried to hide. His beliefs clearly encompassed the definitions of racist and racism listed above.

Harry Reid? His comment that has the righties' panties all in a bunch? Racist? Don't make me laugh.

I find it funny that lately people just throw around the word "racist" or "racism" when they actually have no idea what the words really mean, or the fact that it doesn't always relate to the African-American population.

Gobble, Gobble, Gobble! Thanksgiving Day Is Here!

First off, Happy Thanksgiving to all that are with their families and cooking and eating -- and watch football!

Here's an interesting link to Thanksgiving and football. Give it a read.
Also, for those looking for the standard history of how and when this country started to celebrate this holiday, here's the Wikipedia link.

This year, the kid and grandkid are at my ex's for the holiday, so it's a bucket of KFC for me! My daughter just downsized from a one bedroom to a single, so she's put all of her extra stuff in my dining room until she can have her garage sale next week, and as such, I don't even have the dining table up. So, just football (why is the Detroit game on so damn early?)

Anyway, here's a funny video I caught from AMERICAblog.



And I will close out this post with another video, (yeah, got it from AMERICAblog, but it's a YouTube) of Johnny Carson, which will keep you laughing for a bit!

What Is Wrong With Obama? Still Using Blackwater Ops In The Middle East?????

You know, every day, every week, every month, something new comes out about Obama that makes me wonder if he really is a Democrat. Perhaps, like Bush, he thinks God ordained him to be president. I don't know exactly what to make of it, except that what the man said while running for president, and what he's actually done as president, has damaged the Democratic party in ways that will have serious consequences in the 2010 elections. And I, for one, would hate to see all the work we did as netroots in securing the majorities in the House, Senate, and of course, the White House, evaporate becase Obama has turned out to be spineless.

This piece is just disgusting.

The Obama administration is using mercenaries with the firm formerly known as Blackwater to kidnap and assassinate high value targets in Pakistan, according to a published report.

The program, operated out of the US Joint Special Operations Command, "is so 'compartmentalized' that senior figures within the Obama administration and the US military chain of command may not be aware of its existence," an unnamed source with direct knowledge of the program told The Nation reporter Jeremy Scahill.

War, war, war, war, war, war, war ....

Money down the drain, and lives (Americans and others) lost for absolutely no fucking good reason. I know historically, there have been the "good" wars and the "bad" wars, but honestly, since World War II, what fucking war has come up with any "good" attached to it? And I am speaking globally, not just for Americans.

The world economy is crumbling, despite what "media" tries to tell you. The small amount of the very rich in the world dominate, along with the corporations that control the vast majority of the world.

But, just here in America, it does not bode well that politicians are panning true health care reform (mostly because they are taking money from the insurance and big pharma groups -- not because they really and truly feel that Americans would fall into socialism based on reform). As for the financial industry, Obama has let the foxes run the hen house, and as a result, taxpayers have propped up the richest of the rich in that industry, and have shown absolutely no backbone in curbing the disgusting salaries and bonuses of a handful of people and corporations.

And then there are the wars. For one thing, doesn't anyone in the ruling government today have any knowledge of the ass kicking the middle east did to the British the last century when they tried to control and rule there? Ideologically, western modernism is not going to be implemented in the middle east, and the sooner our government gets this, the better off we will be. But knowing that the Obama Administration is still employing the rogue Blackwater group in Afghanistan and Pakistan is especially galling. Americans are not going to make any progress or difference in Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan, India or whatever. I guess the guys (and gals) on the Hill just like masturbating (well, who doesn't, except, of course, the religious right wing ... well, they do, they just won't admit it). WE started two wars without any idea why, and without any real plans for how to run it or finance it. Hell, we might as well just have our government play a game of Risk and let that run our foreign policy ... I'm serious!

At least this story proves the point that money and the fucking health insurance industry aren't the be all and end all in medicine.

Dr. Shetty, who entered the limelight in the early 1990s as Mother Teresa's cardiac surgeon, offers cutting-edge medical care in India at a fraction of what it costs elsewhere in the world. His flagship heart hospital charges $2,000, on average, for open-heart surgery, compared with hospitals in the U.S. that are paid between $20,000 and $100,000, depending on the complexity of the surgery.

The approach has transformed health care in India through a simple premise that works in other industries: economies of scale. By driving huge volumes, even of procedures as sophisticated, delicate and dangerous as heart surgery, Dr. Shetty has managed to drive down the cost of health care in his nation of one billion.

His model offers insights for countries worldwide that are struggling with soaring medical costs, including the U.S. as it debates major health-care overhaul.

"Japanese companies reinvented the process of making cars. That's what we're doing in health care," Dr. Shetty says. "What health care needs is process innovation, not product innovation."

At his flagship, 1,000-bed Narayana Hrudayalaya Hospital, surgeons operate at a capacity virtually unheard of in the U.S., where the average hospital has 160 beds, according to the American Hospital Association.

The future of health care in the United States will be leaving the United States for affordable treatment. The meme that millions come here for expert medical treatment has lost its luster and its truth, as the reality is clear that Americans are leaving the U.S. and seeking affordable medical treatment elsewhere.

The last bastion ... the line drawn in the sand, as it were, has been and is the health care reform bill. As it stands, neither version (House or Senate) offers true reform, and since it appears that whatever actually gets passed will only benefit the insurance industry and big pharma at the expense of Americans, I simply don't see the Democrats keeping the majority they got. Their base will simply not donate any more money to a dying party with no principles, and will stay away from the voting booth. The unfortunate outcome of that will be an open door for the nutjobs to take over government.

God help us when that happens.

The Flinstones And Winston Ciggies -- Now There's A Memory

You know, you have to be my age or older to realize that when The Flinstones was initially aired on television, it's target audience was adults, not children. I personally remember it was on Friday NIGHTS, at 8:30, which was a night every other week that my mother went out with her married lover (laughs) and my sister and I were left home alone (I was only 8 when it first came on, but back in those days, people left siblings alone at home if someone was at least in elementary school). I remember it mostly because I would go to bed, with my mom not home, so I would put on the television in the living room and pretend she was home watching TV.

The series was initially aimed at adult audiences; the first two seasons were co-sponsored by Winston cigarettes and the characters appeared in several black and white television commercials for Winston (dictated by the custom, at that time, that the star{s} of a TV series often "pitched" their sponsor's product in an "integrated commercial" at the end of the episode).

Courtesy of Wikipedia.

And You Thought Michael Invented The Moon Walk!

(If music is automatically playing, just scroll down to the podcast and hit pause).





As many of us that were alive when this infamous walk took place, I remember where I was, and who I was with.

I was in between junior and senior high, and with my aunt and uncle and cousins in Burbank, CA, watching it on television (of course, in black and white), like everyone else.

And, for the record, I am not part of those conspiracy theorists that think this was all staged on a back lot in Hollywood!

Obama Administration Fears Becoming "Fodder" For Comics!

I have heard some idiotic excuses that came from the Bush Administration, but this one from the Obama Administration takes the cake.

Justice Department lawyers told the judge that future presidents and vice presidents may not cooperate with criminal investigations if they know what they say could become available to their political opponents and late-night comics who would ridicule them.

"If we become a fact-finder for political enemies, they aren't going to cooperate," Justice Department attorney Jeffrey Smith said during a 90-minute hearing. "I don't want a future vice president to say, `I'm not going to cooperate with you because I don't want to be fodder for 'The Daily Show.'"

Comics have been lambasting politicians since comics and politicians first existed!

I am afraid we have actually elected another asshole for president. We need to get out our Xanax and Valium and numb ourselves while America as we know it drives itself off the cliff and into extinction.

The Pictures Made Me Do It

In fact, Huckabee defended the utility of waterboarding within 30 seconds of agreeing with Hannity that Obama’s release of interrogation photos was “hurting our nation’s defenses.” Fox reporter Catherine Herridge said that “these pictures of humiliation” can be “a primary factor of suicide bombers.”

It’s not the pictures that recruits suicide bombers; it’s what the
pictures depict. Torture — ordered by Bush and Cheney — damaged America and increased the risk of another terrorist attack, and revealing the truth of what happened doesn’t change that fact.

I have so many things to say about politics over the past four months, but, quite frankly, the things that are of interest to me are already beaten to death between AMERICAblog, DailyKos, FireDogLake and Huffington Post, so why the fuck bother, eh?

In fact, most of those blogs now pay their posters, which I am not in any fashion in disagreement with, it's just that I cannot quit my day job, hence there is no possible way for me to post some political commentary that hasn't already been espoused by the left side of the room.

But, still, the above quote from Think Progress made me feel like at least reminding my readers of the legitimacy of the opinion piece: pictures of our country torturing people is not what has fanned the hate for Americans and their supporters among the Middle East -- it's been the fact that for the past eight years our entire governmental administration supported this option. It was the ideology of the government that was the recruiting tool, and not simply "the pictures."

UPDATE: I found this additional piece funny, from Think Progress:

VENTURA: It’s drowning. It gives you the complete sensation that you are drowning. It is no good, because you — I’ll put it to you this way, you give me a water board, Dick Cheney and one hour, and I’ll have him confess to the Sharon Tate murders.

Honoring No. 42 Today

April 15 -- tax day for most. But, in this baseball house, it's the date that Jackie Robinson debuted in the major league as a Brooklyn Dodger.

It was cool that today, every player wore the number 42.

From coast to coast, from early till late Wednesday and across the backs of every single player, coach and manager on a Major League field, this day was all about Jackie Robinson.

Shame on you for thinking it was in honor of Clinton, the No. 42 prez!

Pearl Harbor, Remembered

Today is the day the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, Hawai'i.

I figure if this date has never been made a national holiday, 9/11 will also never be made a day we do not work.

Funny, when I used to live on Oahu and took the bus to work (yes, even back in the 1970's I was still using mass transit, on the island, no less!), when I'd get into Honolulu, at practically every stop an old couple (usually with a New Jersey accent) would ask the bus driver if this was "the bus that went to Pearl Harbor?" After all these years in Los Angeles, and seeing the temperment of the L.A. bus drivers (most are asses) I was always impressed by the patience of the Hawai'ian bus drivers. Me? I would have shot the 100th couple that asked me that question, damn it!

List of those killed.

Moulin Rouge Las Vegas

I found the CSI backstory tonight interesting. It focused on a club named the Chateau Rouge, known as the first integrated casino in old school Vegas.

As many of you know, I was born in Vegas in 1952. My dad played at the Desert Inn, and my aunt (who was not my aunt at the time) danced at the Desert Inn. Then, the Moulin Rouge opened, owned by Sammy Davis Jr. and others, which was the first integrated casino in Vegas.

I thought it was interesting watching fiction weave around reality, espically a reality I know about personally.

It burned down all but the facade in 2003. It's now a declared historical building in Vegas, and there are plans to redevelop it.

UPDATE: I cannot believe how many hits I have been getting over this post! I forgot to mention that my aunt (the dancer) left the Desert Inn to be one of the dancers at the Moulin Rouge. And NO, the Chateau Rouge is a made up casino, NOT REAL. The storyline of the CSI episode related to the Moulin Rouge.

Joan and Sid ... then.



Leslie and Kelly - Moulin Rouge

Another Court Order This Administration Will Simply Ignore

Today, U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly dealt a “setback for the Bush administration in its effort to promote a narrow definition of materials that must be safeguarded under by the Presidential Records Act” by ruling that Vice President Cheney must preserve his records. Kollar-Kotelly said that the Bush administration’s legal position “heightens the court’s concern” that some records may not be preserved. The lawsuit, brought by CREW and several historian organizations, was prompted in part by Cheney’s claim that he is not part of the executive branch.

Well, I'm not holding my breath on this. The "black hole" administration will be the Bush legacy. You know, the only administration to officially "lose" e-mails and to declare that the vice president is neither part of the legislative nor the executive branch of the United States government. I'm wondering when American citizens will be lining up for their tattoo of "L" on their foreheads, courtesy of the Bush Administration.

Rememberance Of The Innocent Who Died Today

Please check out this CNN site that has been dedicated to the memories of all who died that day.

P.S. Word to the still uninformed - Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11. Here's a list from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection of the Saudis that were flown out of America right after 9/11, despite the grounding of air traffic -- and with the complete support of the Bush Administration.

It was the Saudis that hit us, it was the Saudis that hate us, and it was the Saudis that started the jihad against this country.

Get real, get educated, and vote responsibly this year.

This Is What You Get When "Barbie" Is Your Running Mate

Q: Are you offended by the phrase "Under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance? Why or why not?

PALIN: Not on your life. If it was good enough for the founding fathers, its good enough for me and I’ll fight in defense of our Pledge of Allegiance.

Note to new Republican Vice Presidential candidate: The U.S. Congress officially recognized the Pledge as the official national pledge on June 22, 1942. Eisenhower signed the bill that added the words "under God" into law, on Flag Day June 14, 1954.

Let the dumbing down of America continue.