The Mundane Side of Marcus Arelius

we switched photos from a few hours ago. 

this one has more "gravitas".

I'm a little puzzled as to why, when these "austerity measures" don't work, as in England, people keep reelecting the same people to power, who instituted them.  The "liberal democrat" who spoke spoke of the grave losses that his party suffered a few days ago in the latest British elections.  I would only advise you that what qualified for "Conservative" over on that side of the Atlantic - is a far cry from what qualifies as conservative over here.  People in this country seem to be gluttons for punishment.  Wisconsin is in shambles and has had ample chances to throw Governor Scott Walker out- - and they keep reelecting him.  Ditto for Bobby Jindell in Louisiana.  So apparently there are no government workers or union people who vote.  Austerity mixed with a "generous" portion of sheer greed- is now the fashion.  The media tells you that "those people over there" are out to pick your wallet or somehow "deprive you of your liberties" and we believe them.  But just remember in too many cases it's the "liberty" to take someone ELSE's rights Away!

I was going to call this "Another Side of Marcus Arelius".   There is a Dylan album with a mystery brunette woman on it, and people have speculated that it was really Bob Dylan in drag.  In 2012 Mitt Romney chided us for "coming to accept the way things are as the new normal" and I confess I was one of these.  I was BETTER OFF in 2012 than I am today, because my economic situation has continued to deteriorate.  One thing I've noticed now about this place is that they don't have those "Day Care" excoursions like they used to have going to BP general or Bellflower or Green Harbor.  These little trips to fill up your day are a thing of the past.  Glenda was remarking about their being chincy on things like coffee now, and I told her it was worse two years ago - about only filling your cup up half way and of course no seconds.  Of course every time I bring up no Dr Levy to Paul and Judy they respond reminding me that Dr Levy hasn't gotten paid in the past year.  He was scheduled last summer to get a twenty thousand dollar endowment or expence account or something but that didn't come through.  Dr Levy's last appearence was mid December for the Christmas Party and it's a wonder that even happened.  They keep talking about the unemployment rate always improving and now it's 5.4%   It was still BETTER than that in 2007 or so under Bush, when all the democrats were complaining about the week economy.  But what is stranger is the "Real unemployment" rate seems to NOT have gone down.  They are still saying THAT figure is eleven percent.  So we've dropped over two percentage points in three years.  But the rank and file American is still gloomy.  Someone on KNX radio suggested to young people that "The stock market is about the safest investment you could do" and adds "And don't pick brand names but go for obscure companies".   My response like that of John Lennon to Paul once is "Are you completely Daft?"  The stock market has been in a trading range for over three months now- - and many "technical people" suggest that whichever way the market breaks out will be the way the market heads.  May I suggest - that direction will be downward.

There is something called "Rent Seeking" that I was made familiar with a couple of days ago.  The Wikipedia article is a little esoteric and obscure in its termanology.  Let me break it down.  It seems to be getting some sort of income that is NOT derived from productivity or efficiency.  It seems to be government intervening on behalf of BIG businesses at the expense of small businesses.  Small businesses don't have the capital to relocate overseas and have their workers work for a dollar ten an hour the way big companies do.  It's a selling point that small businesses have to pay the full 35% rate income taxes.  I'm puzzled because unless you are incorporated- - than your profit (income) is figured the same way as your normal income taxes, so that if you only derive fifty or sixty thousand from income, you pay very little Federal Income taxes.  Of course some of the big companies like GE alledgedly pay none- or get a rebate.  Patents are a way of deriving profit from "resting on your laurals" as are things like Government Regulations that favor BIG businesses.  There are things like licencing fees for taxi companies- - - or for that matter having your sales tax not charged against you if you're a Wall Mart or something because "Big cities want your business".  Adam Smith said that income was derived in three ways.  Either through profit- - or wages- - or rents.  But this is a different kind of "rent".  It's like in the Middle Ages someone who didn't own the land would rope it off anyhow- - to keep poor people from growing crops on it.  And there is also the "protection money" that the Mafia charges you- - as a price for not hasseling you, if you're a small business.  Judy made one of her absurd statements to me last Sunday saying "I'm tired of this criticism of the one percent because YOU are in the top one percent if measured against the peasants of the world".   I did not argue with her - -but it isn't true because in the Mideast they have cell phones all over the place.  Yet I don't have a cell phone but an old fashioned land line.  Other nations of the world are increasing their standard of living, whereas mine is staying the same- or going down.  Another big "Rent Seeking' activity is Lobbying, and we know that term limits are pointless, indeed term limits are counter productive, if the lobbyists still run everything.  This is 'Pay to Play" and drop your coin into the slot and the "music" of all that "Dark money" flows into your bank account, if you're a big business.  Nowadays you gain profit not from productivity or inovation or hard work- - but strictly through corruption - - bribery.  As such the pool table has been tilted in favor of the Rich, for the past thirty years or so.

A circuit court declared that the Patriot Bill the way it’s being implemented, especially section 215, is unconstitutional.  Congress passed some Iran bill and only Senator Cotton voted against it.  President Obama will sign it.  There was another LAPD police shooting, and apparently it’s a homeless man in Venice.  He was on the ground, in the process of being arrested when one officer began firing and killed him.  Police Chief Charlie Beck came right out and comdenmed the shooting.  What does Hannity think of that?    In Baltimore they say if they made a “good faith” error in thinking the knife was illegal, according to Shawn, this justifies everything that happened subsequent to that moment.  This is absurd.  Last night on the ABC network news ISIS threatened a massive killing of Americans as they frantically step up their recruitment efforts.  I don’t connect the ISIS “measure” with what happened in Texas.  ISIS knows there are people so "dumb" they'll believe anything ISIS claims about itself even if it's not true. Shawn Hannity is on this anti “First amendment but - - “ crusade where he believes there should be NO qualifications to either free speech or free “expression”.  He goes as far as to say if you let your daughter dress like a slut going out on a date this is a “protected right” of children.  I'm not some kind of a super prude or anything - - and I love girl watching as well as the next fellow.  But you don't use a blow torch around propane tanks.  You don't leave your home unprotected in a crime area, and even these "TV dads" don't let their daughter go out the door without the parents checking them over.  There is an adage that you don't "borrow trouble".  The truth is, that if you take a baseball bat to a hornet’s nest, you’re going to get stung.  Pure and simple.

I had “Ring of Fire” on this morning from the May 3^rd episode.  They talked about the Trans Pacific Trade agreement, and also the milenials and also how the younger generation fares with Rand Paul.  Because Mike says that basically Rand Paul is a poser and pretends to be for marijuana and for minority rights.  But Rand Paul likes to pander to groups.  But Rand Paul is a flash in the pan and will be among the first candidates to bomb out when they actually start counting the votes.  Thom interviewed this ex military guy about these “military exercises” they are holding in Texas, a simulated taking of military prisoners.   Just now I read some fairly brief Washington’s blog postings, and saw a couple videos.

This is Thursday May 7, 2015 and at three thirty I finally turned on Norman Goldman.  He played “the long version” of what Tommy Lasorda thought of this star Cub batter hitting three home runs and driving in a total of eight runs (RBI’s).   Tommy’s answer was really obscenity laden.  I watched “Millionaire”.  The first guy walked away early.  The next lady appeared invinceable, but eventually she burned through her three life lines.  The two easiest questions she missed, which were the only two I was absolutely sure of.  One was the thing about painting prison cells pink.  I’d heard that one before.  The other one was Malaysia and Malta, which I knew weren’t physically next to each others.  Most of the other questions were pretty hard and the answers were only an educated guess

We had our celebration.  This included going around to all the mothers with a wireless microphone and asking them about motherhood.  There was some analog FM type interference.  Marcia sang a couple of songs.  They were playing that album of soul songs starting with “Sexual Healing” by Marvyn Gaye.  That second track almost sounds like the drum riff were on a continuous tape loop because it’s so regular.  Loretta Hill was upset because her son had disowned her.  Sarah got emotional talking about her own experiences.  The meal was a good one.  We got one of those large bowls with salad with good dressing.  Then we got coffee, but no soup.  The main course was flavored chicken and other fixings such as refried beans and Spanish rice, and a big tortilla.  Owen also gave me his rice and then his tortilla.  We had a great dessert of a multi-layered cake with white cream icing, and cherry iced cream.  Loretta Hill gave me almost a whole second portion slicing only a little portion of cake for herself.

 On Days of our Lives, it was an easy thing to frame Jack Junior for the drugs.  He planted them and made his way out of the house and then called the cops and says that Jack was dealing drugs in the park.  That’s got to be really obvious considering Jack hasn’t been out of Page’s sight for hours, and would otherwise have no motive to start using again especially with his good news about attending college out of the state.  You know that Captain Roman Brady is going to "get to the bottom of this one really fast" and figure out pretty quickly who set Jack Junior up.  I have no blogging plans right now.  I am naming the file “motherhood” after the kittens, and also Teresa on Days of our Lives.  Someone is playing an album of moldy oldies from 1957 or something.  I guess it’s cigarette time again. 

Too Many Liberals Are Cowardly Slaves to Mediocraty

I had a dilemma at three o clock.  Do I continue to listen to Senator Inhofe lecture us on so called scientists debunking global warming or do I switch to Norman Goldman, knowing so much of what he does is either self promotion of upcoming stuff you won’t probably see, or else talk about this or that contest?   I was learning more in a perverse sense from Senator Inhofe because at least he made substantive statements that could be challenged one way or the other.  He said that there has been (for instance) no increase in the number of tornadoes or floods or droughts.  Tell that to us people living here in California.  By all measurement, what we are experiencing now is unprecedented in climatic history of this state.  Our lawmakers have faced situations they’ve never faced before.  Tornadoes are more likely now to be severe and way out of “season”.  You see reports of severe flooding on the network news all the time.  Senator Inhof did not come out and deny that 97% of scientists subscribe to global warming.  What he said was “well there are a lot of scientists who don’t”.  Define “lot”.  He will point to this or that scientist who makes a statement.  You hear constantly the theme that we are in a seventeen year “hiatus’ of global warming.  Sometimes it’s 15 or sometime it’s 18 but you get the picture.  These people loudly claim that these gigantic sheets if ice melting we’ve seem somehow aren’t happening.  And they say it’s all a part of a major conspiracy to “gain control and regulate the economy like it’s never been regulated before”.  People are programmed to fear change.

   But anyhow I switched to Norman Goldman, who speaks disparagingly of Senator Sanders as being “too marrow” in his political appeal.  I’ll tell you this.  Hillary Clinton is very broad- - in the number of people who can’t stand her and will never vote for her, period.  Clearly Hillary is the ultimate retread, from 23 years ago.  That’s a major chunk out of people’s lives.  Tell me when a candidate- - the LOSER in a primary eight years previous ever came back to win the nomination.  Did it, for instance, happen with Ed Musky in 1976.  No?  What about Ted Kennedy in 1984, or Gary Harte in 1988.  Still batting zero.  OK, we’ll keep going.  How about knowing that either George HW Bush or Michael Dukakis would be the nominees in May of 1987?   Nobody had heard of the Clintons in May of 1991.  In fact nobody was even running for President in 1991; we were too busy celebrating our great victory in Gulf War I with parades and such in May of 1991.  Was Jesse Jackson the nominee in 1992?   Jesse in the 1988 convention got more prominence than Hillary did in the 2008 convention.  Who would have guessed Bob Dole would be the nominee in May of 1995 or that an obscure Texas governor would be president in May of 1999?   People attack Bernie Sanders because he makes a fleeting reference or two to people being happier in Denmark or Sweden than people in this country are.  Is that so horrible?   The things Bernie Sanders stands for are things which time after time in polls, people state that they are for.  How come Norman Goldman is seemingly not aware of these polls?  He states “Would you rather have a flawed winner or a dedicated loser with personal integrity?”  Do you really want me to answer that?  We’ve gotten to a very pathetic state of affairs when the best a candidate can offer the public is “Well, at least I’m not Scott Walker or Ted Cruz”.  We as Americans can do better than that.  We are running this campaign as though election day were next month rather than a year from November.  Why is that?   But what I’m even sicker of hearing is how “Oh the tea party is a fringe group- - and appeals to a very small minority”.  FOX news along with a lot of others- - appeal to this same “narrow” minority of not young, not minority, not gay, way above median income, not infirm, not single women - - group of the population.  The fastest way to lose an election is to count the tea party out.  After the tea party is responsible for the convressional Republican landslides of 2010 and 2014.  And don’t get all high and mighty about Obama’s 2012 victory.  The victory wasn’t by that much and the President could have EASILY lost that race if two things had been different.  One was that kissy-kiss fest with Governor Christy during Hurricane Sandy.  The other was that secret recording about Romney and the 47%.  Take away those two factors and Romney wins the race.  If it has been a real democratic victory- - the democrats would have retaken the House, and they didn’t.  This argument of “Well yes I’m a total sell out ant betrayer of my political base, but hey- at least I’m not a tea bagger” just won’t fly with me.  We’ll have to do a lot better.

This past Saturday may have seen the end of a nearly year long jinx, both for me and perhaps for others.  Maybe we can get something good from the Stars.  Maybe we can get in touch with Joan Rivers and get her take on her own death.  Sometimes it's a good idea to go straight to the horse's mouth to get a unique take on a subject.  It is my contention that Islam in general will be under favorable astrological vibes a month from now.  We'll have to see what that means or just how that plays itself out.

Americans feel abused by "The System".  In terms of getting dinged by fees and such- - if you fly a lot or deal with the banks, and everybody does, you know about getting dinged for fees.  They’ll ding you if you want to stop payment on a check.  They’ll ding you if a friend’s check doesn’t clear- -even if there’s already a thousand in your account- - they’ll act as though you did something wrong.  The banks claim that “Well you can go after your friend for the loss you incurred from US - - in civil court”.  Yeah, and who is going to go to all the trouble to do that?  Nobody.  I think there are only about six banks left.  This may be a really dumb question but why can’t some upstart start up his OWN bank and begin offering customers a square deal?   But alas we are told that small businesses are failing left and right.  Judy told us she has decided to get out of the nutritional supplement business because it’s too much of a hassle working with government regulations.  There is only a distinct minority of businesses that even pull down fifty thousand dollar in income.  Many would consider that to minimally live comfortably.  There is a significant number of businesses that are so marginal they only garner ten thousand dollars or less in income for a whole year.  So it’s no wonder why big corporate interests feel so confident and secure that they can treat us all like crap.

THE MORAL CESSPOOL

 THAT IS OUR GOVERNMENT TODAY

• Senior SEC employees spent up to 8 hours a day surfing porn sites instead of cracking down on financial crimes

• Nuclear Regulatory Commission workers watch porn instead of cracking down on unsafe conditions at nuclear plants

• An EPA employee who downloaded 7,000 porn files, then spent 2-6 hours each workdaywatching porn. He’s been doing it for years … but the EPA never fired him. Another EPA employeeharassed 16 women co-workers … and then was promoted to a higher-paying job with more responsibility, where he harassed more women

• NSA spies pass around homemade sexual videos and pictures they’ve collected from spying on the American people

• NSA employees have also been caught using their mass surveillance powers to spy on love interests, such as girlfriends, obsessions or former wives … and to eavesdrop on American soldiers’ intimate conversations with their wives back home. And see this (“routinely shared salacious or tantalizing phone calls that had been intercepted” … “‘Hey, check this out … there’s good phone sex’”)

• An employee of the Transportation Security Administration admitted that TSA agents share – and laugh at – nude scans of passengers.  Another TSA employee says that screeners make excuses so they can grope and fondle travelers that they’re attracted to

• Investigators from the Treasury’s Office of the Inspector General found that some of the regulator’s employees surfed erotic websites, hired prostitutes and accepted gifts from bank executives … instead of actually working to help the economy

• The Minerals Management Service – the regulator charged with overseeing BP and other oil companies to ensure that oil spills don’t occur – was riddled with “a culture of substance abuse and promiscuity”, which included “sex with industry contacts”

• Agents for the Drug Enforcement Agency had dozens of sex parties with prostitutes hired by the drug cartels they were supposed to stop (they also received money, gifts and weapons from drug cartel members)

• Pentagon employees used government credit cards to pay for adult “escorts” (i.e. prostitutes) and to gamble

• Federal agents with the Drug Enforcement Administration and Secret Service investigating Bitcoin money laundering extorted and stole over $1 million in Bitcoin

• The IRS gave promotions to employees who were themselves tax cheats

• The Commodity Futures Trading Commission has conspired with big banks to manipulate commodities prices for decades

• The government-sponsored rating agencies committed massive fraud (and see this)

• The Treasury department allowed banks to “cook their books”

• Regulators knew of and allowed the use of debt-hiding accounting tricks by the big banks

• The Secretary of Treasury (Tim Geithner) was complicit in Lehman’s accounting fraud, (and see this)

• The former chief accountant for the SEC says that Bernanke and Paulson broke the law and should be prosecuted

• The government knew about mortgage fraud a long time ago. For example, the FBI warned of an “epidemic” of mortgage fraud in 2004. However, the FBI, DOJ and other government agencies then stood down and did nothing. See this and this. For example, the Federal Reserve turned its cheek and allowed massive fraud, and the SEC has repeatedly ignored accounting fraud. Indeed, Alan Greenspan took the position that fraud could never happen

• Paulson and Bernanke falsely stated that the big banks receiving Tarp money were healthy, when they were not. The Treasury Secretary also falsely told Congress that the bailouts would be used to dispose of toxic assets … but then used the money for something else entirely

• A high-level Federal Reserve official says quantitative easing is “the greatest backdoor Wall Street bailout of all time”

• The SEC has been shredding Wall Street documents for decades to help the big banks cover up their fraud

• The non-partisan Government Accountability Office calls the Fed corrupt and riddled with conflicts of interest. Nobel prize-winning economist Joe Stiglitz says the World Bank would view any country which had a banking structure like the Fed as being corrupt and untrustworthy. The former vice president at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas said said he worried that the failure of the government to provide more information about its rescue spending could signal corruption. “Nontransparency in government programs is always associated with corruption in other countries, so I don’t see why it wouldn’t be here,” he said

• Arguably, both the Bush and Obama administrations broke the law by refusing to close insolvent banks

• Congress may have covered up illegal tax breaks for the big banks

• Police have been busted framing innocent people

• Warmongerers in the U.S. government knowingly and intentionally lied us into a war of aggression in Iraq. The former head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff – the highest ranking military officer in the United States – said that the Iraq war was “based on a series of lies”. The same is true in Libya and other wars

• The government lied when it said it doesn’t conduct mass surveillance on Americans, and then lied again when it said that spying was aimed at protecting America against terrorists

• The government also lied when it said American doesn’t torture (and see this), and then lied once again when it said torture was aimed at protecting America against terrorists

• The government made sure that false claims were made about the amount of oil spilled by BP in the Gulf

• The government has framed whistleblowers with false evidence

• The Pentagon falsely smeared USA Today reporters because they investigated illegal Pentagon propaganda

• When one of the most respected radiologists in America – the former head of the radiology department at Yale University – attempted to blow the whistle on the fact that the FDA had approved a medical device manufactured by General Electric because it put out massive amounts of radiation, the FDA installed spyware to record his private emails and surfing activities (including installing cameras to snap pictures of his screen), and then used the information to smear him and other whistleblowers

• In an effort to protect Bank of America from the threatened Wikileaks expose of wrongdoing – theDepartment of Justice told Bank of America to a hire a specific hardball-playing law firm to assemble a team to take down WikiLeaks (and see this)

• The Bush White House worked hard to smear CIA officers, bloggers and anyone else who criticized the Iraq war

• Corruption at the FBI lab led to the execution of scores of innocent people

• The FBI smeared top scientists who pointed out the numerous holes in its anthrax case. Indeed, the head of the FBI’s investigation agrees that corruption was rampant
• Terror attacks such as 9/11, the Boston Marathon bombing and the Texas shooting allhappened because of pervasive corruption in our intelligence agencies
• Fracking companies dumped 3 billion gallons of highly-toxic waste into California’s drinking water supply. Fracking is polluting water all over the country. A study published in the journal Ground Water predicts that the highly-toxic fluids used in fracking can migrate to aquifers within a few short years. In addition, it is now official that fracking can cause earthquakes
• Yet fracking companies are using military psychological operations techniques to discredit opponents(and see this)
• Monsanto has claimed for decades that Roundup is safe, but the World Health Organization just said that it probably causes cancer. Monsanto forbids independent scientists from testing its GMO crops for safety, and attacks the computers of people who oppose GMO foods, sue small farmers when Monsanto GMO crops drift onto their fields
• Big farmers are drenching their crops with Roundup right before harvest … to save a buck
• Big food companies work hand-in-glove with the government to dish up unhealthy food
• BP’s criminal negligence led to the giant Gulf oil spill

The Total Betrayal of the Most Basic Principles

UN Lawyer Calls TTP & TTIP ‘a dystopian future in which corporations and not democratically elected governments call the shots’  Read the latest Washington's Blog after you're done reading this one.  Neither Thomas Jefferson nor Thomas Paine believed in half assed measures.  They didn't try and "remember why they fell in love with Mother England to begin with" as a rationalization for not being Independent.

Thom Hartman this morning elaborated on one of the stupidest "Hilary serving" analogies I've ever heard.  He described democratic voters as like a spouse, be it wife or husband, who is "unheard in their protest" and the solution is for the other person to say "I hear your complaints; don't file for divorce yet".  And then he goes into this long lecture about how when you fall in love with someone you see all their good points and how they are emotionally and psychologically on your wave length and you naturally relate to them.  But then the time comes when you begin noticing all their bad traits or things where the two of you don't see eye to eye.  And according to Hartman you "develop amnesia on what it was really like when you fell in love with them to begin with".   Here is where the analogy is flawed.  In at least two of Tom Cruise's marriages, the Church of Scientology got in the way and sabotaged these marriages.  In those two cases had the Church of Scientology not been in the picture, Tom might be married to either spouse today.  Sure there are cases where you just "chuck" a longstanding relationship.  Gene Scott's first wife is such a case.  Gene never once even referred to her by name so bent was he in destroying any good memories of her.  My brother's first wife is a similar case where they were together nearly three and a half years BEFORE they tied the knot and seemed inseperable.  They spent all their time together totally in love.  But suddenly in October of 1975 there was "the cry unheard" and she filed for divorce, and my brother never put up that much resistance.

Let's compare the previous examples to President Obama and lets go back to the beginning.  His candidicy was born first and foremost as super-hype from a speech Obama made at the Democratic convention that was entirely lacking in substance, and when you go back and hear it you're astounded at how vaccuous it was.  He's like that Prince Charming character they once had on Bewitched.  His words were full of flattering phrases to tickle the ears yet utterly devoid of substance.  It was entirely too much of that "hopey-changy" stuff Sarah Palin talks about.  But we see early signs of his lack of character.  He dumped a church he'd been a member of for twenty years because a few detractors in the other party did not like one particular portion of a sermon the pastor once gave.  That was enough for Obama.  This guy was GONE.  If Tom Hartman wants to talk about relationships, why not talk about this tossing of twenty years in the trash can?  The President's next shortfalling in character was when the prospective President announced that he would NOT be taking 'Matching funds" as part of a national election law, to encourage more publicly funded campaigns.  We all gave a wink and a nod rationalizing it as "Well you have to do ANYTHING to win".  Would Senator Sanders do it?  If Bernie Sanders and the President were really at the same place in the polls - - how come the media was all for Obama, yet the media trashes Bernie Sanders every chance they get.  Even people like Stephanie Miller damn Sanders with faint praise, and say things like "Well we all know it's going to be Hillary anyhow".  Let me ask Stephanie one question.  How often is it that the candidate who leads a full year and a half- - eighteen months prior to an election- - is the one who ends up winning?  I rest my case.  To say that Sanders can't win in a world where "six months is an eternity in politics" is just NOT OBJECTIVELY looking at the situation.  We're just getting started.  Then President Obama announces that his health plan differs from Hillary's in that HIS is VOLENTARY.  That is- - it can stand the test of people "voting with their feet" so to speak.  It's a case of "let the market place decide".  Let the government put out a plan, and if it's any good- - others will want to join it.  If it isn't- -then no harm done.  We'll continue with the way things are now (which a lot of Americans seemed to have liked)  Both HIllary and Barock Obama told an awful lot of lies in the 2008 campaign both about Healthcare and about their stances on NAFTA.  Finally we come to the actual election and at this time Barock Obama- - agrees with President Bush that the Big Banks need to be bailed out with litterally trillions of dollars.  The Federal Reserve has bailed out the big banks to the tune of three or four Trillion dollars (with a T) and if they so much as hint the gravy train won't continue forever the markets go into a panic.  We were told our economy could not withstand a crash that would have otherwise occurred.  I have to come to Doubt this pervasive notion believed by so many.  Then we come to the President's stance on Labor Unions and Teachers Unions and Pension Fund thefts carried out by Governors Scott Walker and Chris Christie.  Stephanie could put up her crickets tape- - when it comes to all the shit that Scott Walker pulled in his first few years as governor.  Then we have the Iraq War.  Now reason would seem to dictate that if you were against the Iraq war IN THE PAST and also are against it NOW and think it was a mistake- - then in the forthcoming months you ALSO will believe this was was an ongoing MISTAKE, and we CONTINUE this MISTAKE every DAY that our troops are involved in a war we lied our way into.  If you got married based on fraud you wouldn't drag your feet and take two and a half years to get OUT of this bad marriage.  And it would sound absurd to say "I'm dragging my feet because I'm just "being careful".  Meanwhile more troops are getting killed and maimed and dismembered, and in need of medical attention they apparently weren't getting from the VA.  And then in the 2012 campaign- - the Aurora Colorado shooting had happened and I felt for sure "Certainly NOW the President will come out in favor of gun control in the 2012 campaign".  The President didn't say a word.  Then there was making nice with Governor Christie that Randy Rhodes and I believe was part of a Political Deal, in exchange the democrats would not mount a real campaign against Christie's reelection in 2013.   This president believes in "Clean Coal" when those in the know say there IS no such thing as "clean coal".   The President has a hostility to Whistle Blowers.  Many of the President's actions are indistinguishable from President Bush, and Obama has accelerated Drone attacks, and SOP now is that we can kill American Citizens on a whim without any kind of trial.  This is the President that made Drones a household word.   This President would have been willing to CUT social security payments- - if he could have made it as a part of a deal with Republicans.  Protestors have objected to relaxing pollution regulations.  In fact the FCC was filled with so many corporate types were downright LUCKY to get the internet nutrality ruling.  There should not have been that much suspense. And when the Police Shootings occurred that we all know about- - and in the Trayvon Martin case - - rather than say "Oh, if I had a son he'd look like Trayvon".   Why not rather say that the VERDICT was WRONG in so many ways, and the Prosecution should be sued for legal mal practice.  NO.  The President wont do that.  The Feds didn't intervene in that case or in the Ferguson Missori case.  Then we come to the Syrian thing where the President draws a line in the sand- - and backs down giving the Republicans amunition of their own that's just too good to make up.  We come to the 2014 campaign for Congress.  I think it was John Kerry who stated "The President doesn't have a record he can run ON, but a record to run FROM."   The President did not believe in his own Affordable Care Act enough to campaign on what accomplishments there were with the thing.  I question the involvement of the US in this conflict between the Saudis and the Iranians in a proxy war that seems to be none of our business.  In fact there isn't a dimes worth of difference between the foreign policies of George Bush verses Barock Obama.  And now here it is 2015 and we have unleashed the Trans Pacific Trade agreement.  That's the thing Washington's Blog refers to as the Herald of a Dystopian Future.  And you sit there and wonder why I'm not a solid fan of the President or Hillary, who has even more skeletons in her closet than the President?  We can debate some issues.  I disagree with the idea that fracking for natural gas will save us.  I would really like the President to weigh in on this issue- - or is he just waiting for the polls to come out.  We can talk about gay marriage.  The President was against it before he was for it.  We can talk about immigration.  The time to take a stand, were he so inclined was BEFORE the 2014 elections and let the American People decide.  Put it out there as an issue.  The President, once again, was afraid to do that.  We can talk about whether the minimum wage should be nine dollars, ten, or twelve dollars.  These are issues upon which reasonable men can disagree.  But the issues raised in this blog post NO SANE PERSON can disagree.  Falling down on any one of them is a deal breaker right there, but particularly because of the Trans Pacific Partnership.   It's the ultimate betrayal of Party, which Thom Hartman speaks so fondly of, that the President looks to the Republicans for the support of his greatest attrocity of all, and will indeed "fundamentally change America" in the worst possible way.

Hope springs eternal.  Hope, Arkansas is where Mike Huckibee is announcing for President today.  These candidate entries are coming fast and furious right now.  He of course used to be a Baptist pastor.  In terms of quoting Jesus - - Jesus never said a word against liberalized immigration policies.  Jesus never said that wages should be kept DOWN.  The whole POINT of the Workers in the Vineyard story is that people should earn a livable wage- - even if they have trouble getting a full time job.  And in terms of Jesus not speaking out from the Cross giving a lecture about Capital Punishment- - the whole POINT of the Christian Gospel is that Jesus suffered UNJUSTLY for his ministry and to fulfill scripture Jesus did not speak out against his own condemnation.  Mike Huckibee shows an apalling lack of basic knowledge about Christianity to make the statements he's made. Ben Carson and Carley Fiorina are the latest two additions to the clown car, declaring for president yesterday.  Fiorina completely sucked as a manager. We have still to hear from Jeb Bush and Scott Walker.  Washington's Blog believes that Wall Street would be perfectly happy with either Jeb Bush or Hillary Clinton as President.  There wouldn't be any Wall Street prosecutions either way and these banksters would have free rein.  Glenda pronounces Yadera’s name as Ladera, like the area in southwest LA.  This caller on the Stephanie Miller show says “It’s not a case of loving kids so much, but rather the fact that kids just age you.  They wear you out before your time”.  That observation is worth thinking about.

Something is tacky about the architecture of Mom’s place.  The red brick looks good- - but these “sun room” things look like tacky add-ons.  And as I said on the last file- - some of the units are right there abutting parked cars.  I didn’t know just how many topics were off limits.  Mom hinted that maybe she’s slow to come to the door now because she’s used to knocks and people barging in.  I never mentioned my health at all, diaria or otherwise.  I didn’t ask about Mom’s computer.  She had the monitor and keyboard up but not the main unit.  The implication would be she’s planning to set it up sometime.  Nobody talked about Mom’s memory and I’m wondering if there was an agreement to talk about that.  At any rate it wasn’t an issue.  There was no talk on the “progress” in restoring her vitamins and other pills.  Of course there was no talk of politics with [censored name] around.  (apparently)  Now they are doing something with the meowing cats and a hoarse cat lady.  A severe climidia outbreak has struck a Texas high school.  Twenty cases of climidia have been confirmed.  I’m not sure what climidia is other than being an STD.  Librals I’m sure, make such news is propagated in this sex-o-phobic high school where they only teach abstenance.  Ted Cruz and Rand Paul believe President Obama plans to use FEMA powere to round up citizens in Texas and imprison them in abandoned Wall Mart stores.  

William and Kate Have a Baby Girl

Let's talk about this pathetic John Boehner interview with Chuck Todd of Meet the Press.  Boehner makes these dubious generalization and tracking down all the misstatements squeezed into this short stint on TV would be a project.  Chuck Todd was as uncritical as a Barbra Wah-wah interview, where there were almost no challenging questions.  However Boehner said that the economy would fall apart and that Obama Care would take jobs.  The ironic thing is if Romney were President right now- - he'd be celebrating all the "good' economic news and FOX news would be trumpeting a 5.5% unemployment rate.  Also Boehner had stated that "more people would be knocked off insurance than would be picked up" where in fact there are more people insured now.  I think the uninsured rate has gone from 17% to 10% or something.  I think that Thom Hartman has every right to be more than a little upset with the course of this interview.

Prince William and Kate have had their baby and it’s a girl, just as rumored.  She is eight pounds three ounces, which is pretty big for a girl.  The four names being considered for the Royal Princess are Dianna, Alice, Charlotte, and Elizabeth.  Mal Evans pointed out that Princess Dianna has not ever been reincarnated and this baby is not an incarnation of Princess Dianna, and it would take away from her uniqueness to use her name here. I’m sensing an Alice vibe myself; we’ll see.  Mal Evans was somehow able to get an edict that no one would use the designation 'Pretty in Pink" to describe the new Princess, because this is the code phrase reserved for Amanda, Kathy's daughter that she had in mid September of 1990.  They said that Ben E King left the Drifters on this date in 1960 which I find not credible because “Save the Last Dance for Me” was popular in September of 1960.  I think the final Ben E King hit was "Na, Na, Na, Na - - Late at Night" that I don't remember at the time but came out very late 1960.   And today in 1957 Elvis Presley recorded the song ‘Jail House Rock”, following the pattern of the Beatles to record the songs for a movie and then filming the movie.  One "engram" that sticks out in my mind- - was Elvis wanted to sing gospel songs- - but after lunch the Colonel made the others refuse to go along with Elvis- - and Elvis was pissed about that.  Elvis told his Mom "I don't like the Colonel" and Gladys said "Elvis, just do whatever the Colonel tells you to do" and Elvis felt a bit betrayed by this remark.  Coffee break was just after ten and then I joined Melinda Lee.  She talked about cinnamon rolls, and tamales wrapped in banana leaves rather than corn husks.  Today is May 2, 2015.  We had mushroom soup for lunch followed by chicken nuggets and catsup and potato salad followed by cantaloupe.  Owen gave me all five of his chicken nuggets so I had ten.  Then I listened to Leo Le Port.  But as usual I grew drowsy.  The Johnny Jett guy was aboard another river vessel with 75 state rooms so it holds only about 150 passengers.   He was showing videos of it live, if I had the visual transmission up.  We learned from Jeopardy that Amsterdam was on the Amstell River- - which the beer is named after. There was that line in "Beer Nuts" where a guy says "Amstell Here!"

 I turned “Hardball” on computer.  There was an awful lot of stuff about the Baltimore PD on.  But there were also the indictments of three key figures in the Christie Bridge-gate scandal.   That Wildstein guy pled guilty but the other two fought the charges.  Brigette Kelly claimed she had a lot more stuff to reveal.  So it’s very much an open question whether Governor Christie is still on the hook for his deeds.  And I also watched a lot of stuff about Droning, and there were discussions on the ethics of droning.  But my blogger numbers are headed down.  I am not encouraged, and so even if I did have enough material to generate a half way meaty posting, it’s questionable I’d do it today.   It was at some breakfast that John Kasec, the governor of Ohio spoke and I listened to some of that.  Right now on C-Span I have Governor Jeb Bush on tap.  Hopefully it’s not as hot today.

 I would just remark about Bones because it’s the one episode where both parties got the inkling they were attracted to each other, that is Temperance Brennen and Sealy Booth.   Bones would say “With my old boyfriend the sex was perfect and he was the ideal man who invited me to sail around the world with him”.   If the dialog at times between the two of them seems a little dumb, just remember it’s only what the writers wrote.  Last night I had a dream that a bunch of Rolling Stones albums from 1965, 1966 and 1967 had been remastered, but somehow Tim recorded them all on tape.  It was some jazz artist from the sixties who engineered all the remastering.  But the thing is none of the song or album titles were familiar- - it was all this - - other stuff.  There seemed to be an inordinate number of songs about looking for a job, or not wanting a job but your friends bug you to look for a job or something.    It was a couple of weeks ago that I had a dream I was in a state room - - I think - - it was either that or a hotel right by a harbor but I think it was a ship- - and we were in one location but then had to move to another location- - and a lot of this dream was just spent wandering around- - looking at all the food and sights there to see.

 The favorite, American Pharaoh won the Kentucky Derby.  Firing Line came in second and Dorcman was third.  “Frosty” came in out of the money at fourth.  For one horse they were worried about the horse getting a number two inside position.  The horses for the first time numbered up to 21.  I thought their limit was twenty.  Three horses dropped out.  Dorcman was undefeated.  The three horses were almost tied near the end of the race, and the finish was fairly close with the outside horse, American Pharaoh - - getting a lead at the very end. 

I used mouthwash and we were off to Mom’s and went to her room and I was carrying the vase and the flowers were fragrant.  We entered church about a minute late.  Reverand Rick Warren will be preaching at this place Wednesday night.  Mom had said she'd be going to church but bailed at the last minute. This one young lady played the dolsimer twice, for two selections- - and now I know what one is.  Paul says they are usually played flat.  The message was on John 5 of “He who has the son has Eternal Life and he who does not have the son is judged already”.  The guy gave his “testimony” and says he got saved at age seven in 1946, so we know how old he is.  He says he’s had such a satisfying life even if there were no eternal life, it would be worth it.  They give the benediction half way down the aisle and are both there to greet you and shake hands.  I felt a little “tired” with the pastor who delivered the sermon, but appeared more alive and responsive with the regular guy.  Paul had six National Geographic magazines he wanted me to have, and I’ve been reading the latest one from March on science deniers.  Judy and Paul and I had a fairly friendly talk about politics and they’d never heard of the Trans Pacific trade agreement.  Judy responded with taxes the way they are businesses can raise prices, cut quality, find a way to make do with fewer employees, or they can go out of business, OR they can relocate off shore.   In terms of those five things on the front cover of the “Science” magazine- - the only thing Judy will agree is false is-  she will stipulate the moon landing was not faked.   We sharply disagree on Global Warming and it’s all a gigantic conspiracy to tax carbon.  I’m not sure where [two names censored here] were all this time- - - I know that it was not yet 11:15 but somehow before we knew it- - we were late in getting to Marie Calendar.  Actually we were parked in front of Paul and Judy’s house for some time and went out of the way to drive there to pick up “Wendy Anne’s” birthday card for Mom.  In the sermon we are told the pastor drove out from Cathedral City and the 91 was free flowing.

 We went to Marie Calendar at Brookhurst and the GG Freeway and were escorted to our table for six.  Mom sat at the head of the table and Marie sat next to me at the other end of the table.  Service was excellent all around- - definitely an A grade.  They all sang “Happy Birthday” to Mom as they gave her her piece of pumpkin pie- - and slowing out the one candle seemed a challenge to Mom.  A lot of people went for the “soup and salad bar” but I wasn’t up to that.  I had a turkey sandwich on a crescent roll- - with chunky turkey, tomato, bacon, avocado, and the like and it was called a “club sandwich”.  I got French fries and catsup- - and I gave Marie a very few of them.  Wendy thought it was important to tell “happy stories” but the stories we told took on a rather dark quality. [extensive material redacted here] * 
[name withheld] remembers going to some ‘driving range’ walking through the bean fields to get to.  Wouldn’t you have to cross Centanila Blvd to get to that?   We went back to Mom’s place.   OK you people from the Federations can turn your cameras back on now.  We wandered all around the parking lot looking for a place.  A lot of units back right up to parked cars.  We went in the west enterence of “Building C”, and I didn’t know there was one.  We took a different elevator.  But at one point we walked into Mom’s small dining room that she usually eats at and she pointed out exactly where she usually sits.  Paul asked the staff what they served for lunch that day and the waiter said “Prime rib”.  Was that a joke?   I just had a stroke or “low blood pressure” incident where a haze descended on just my left eye- - but my right eye was unaffected.  That’s the second time that happened to me.  The other was a couple of months ago out on the back bench in the early afternoon.  I’m going to have to ask a doctor about it.   Stu and Dennis Wilson put in an appearance.  Dennis did most of the talking.  He calls the architecture of the place “dumpy” and says the place reminds him of a sleazy roadside Motel “that you get rich- -so you don’t have to live in a place like that”.   Dennis remarked the ventelation in the place was non existant.  Paul noted “The one thing I don’t like about this building is air circulation problems”.   I don’t see how that “new carpet smell” could last and be so strong in over a month.  Where her place is you can open every window and have zero breeze.  With the Air Conditioning wall unit (like a Motel) going full blast the thermometer read 78 degrees on a day when the maximum temperature barely reached 78 degrees.  There was a major argument about whether to do some major furniture moving.  Me and Judy and Mom were against it and Paul and [names withheld] were for it.  We left Marie Calendar about a quarter after one- but somehow by now it was approaching three o clock.  Judy reminded Paul that he was expecting a call from a friend living in Sparks, Nevada sometime after three and we’d better get going.  [names withheld] decided to leave at the same time.  Dennis Wilson noted that “You seem more at east and are a much more lively conversationalist with just Paul and Judy in the car on the ride home”.   I don’t know why that would be.  I know there are often a lot of topics we need to avoid when we all get together.  I remarked about “OK coming out this enterence this looks like the scene out front and across the street that I saw on Google street view”.   I grabbed the six magazines and returned - - and Dennis Wilson remarked “The air is even fresher in here than it was in your Mom’s place” but perhaps that was due to the fact that the staff has been working overtime cleaning lately.   I don’t know who they’re sprucing up the place for but I’ve seen a lot more action lately.

footnotes:  If you add back material that had previously been redacted, if that called a "de-redaction"?

also:  The last report of Keith Relf of the Yardbirds is that Bones offered him a guitar part on "The God Who Failed" in February of 1995.   This is the famous song re-done a bit where "Nobody played bass" and John Bonnum was still on drums doing kind of a "When the Levy Breaks" beat.  Could it be that Keith Relf being "unavailable" went back into Amanda's body? 
 also:  If karmicly you were trading torque for speed in your karmic quest or "up shifting" would it make sense to call you a karmic bicyclist- - since a bicyclist trades torque for speed (plus harnessing physics also in ease of travel)