Alencon's Place

Your freedom ends where my freedom or safety begins

2012-02-13T13:07:00.001-05:00

Conservatives can’t seem to understand this little point.

They’re always talking about “freedom,” however they never seem to consider that what they call “freedom” often has a negative effect on someone else. You do not have the right to endanger someone else with your “freedom.”

Your right to throw punches ends where the other guy’s nose begins. I might point out that this is the strongest argument the so-called pro-life folks have. If you can establish that a fetus has rights, then an abortion clearly violates this principle.

Another obvious example of this is Christians constantly trying to enforce their superstitions or morality on those of us that think they’re laughable. Constructing crosses on government land, school prayer and posting of the Ten Commandments are examples of this. So, to my mind, are “In God we Trust” and “…under God” in the pledge.

But there are other situations as well.

Conservatives arguing that the government shouldn’t regulate business or environmental standards because it violates “freedom” is a crock. As long as that “freedom” has the potential to harm me or mine you better damn well know the government can regulate it.

I feel the same way about guns. I saw a TV documentary showing a room of gun supporters nodding in agreement with some fool talking about how gun education wasn’t necessary. According to this bozo, all you need to know is where the bullet comes out. The number of people accidentally killed by firearms every year gives the lie to this position.

Guns are dangerous. So dangerous that I’d prefer it if 95% of the people who have them didn’t. Ignorance or stupidity coupled with a firearm is a really bad combination. A bad combination that endangers other people.

Like I’ve said previously, you can have all the guns you want, I’ll just regulate the bullets. I’d have no problem if the only people the gun whackos can accidentally shoot are other gun whackos.

The bottom line is that Conservatives, and especially Evangelical Christians, need to get over themselves. Your freedom, your morality and your rights, end where the where the other guy’s begin and that includes being safe from your stupidity.

Gay Marriage in New Jersey

2012-02-13T10:57:00.004-05:00

The state legislature is expected to replace Civil Unions with Gay Marriage approval over the next two weeks. Governor Christie has said he will veto the bill and it’s unlikely the legislature has the two-thirds needed to override the veto.

On the same day that the New Jersey Senate is expected to vote, Governor Christine Gregorie is scheduled to make Washington the seventh state legalizing Gay Marriage by signing a bill already approved by the Washington legislature.

And the Zeitgeist moves on.

Christie believes the Gay Marriage question should be put on the ballot where it may very well win. If Christie vetoes the bill, that could be where it ends up changing New Jersey into a circus along with Maine for the next 9 months or so.

This year could well be a defining moment for Gay Marriage. The latest polls show that a majority of Americans now approve and the number of states lining up to legalize appear to be growing. In addition to Washington, Maine and New Jersey, there appear to be serious considerations in Maryland and Illinois.

I find it “ironic” that the same people that violently opposed Civil Unions in 2006 are now touting Civil Unions as the solution to the issue in 2012.

No they’re not the solution. Different is inherently unequal.

It should be interesting to see where this goes and whether Christie thinks better of his veto. I doubt he will so I’m hoping to be able to vote AYE for Gay marriage in New Jersey in November.

The Contraception Controversy

2012-02-13T10:10:00.001-05:00

It feels like the 1920s. It’s incredible that we’re arguing about contraception in the 21st Century, but we are.

The big issue is whether institutions associated with a religion, such as universities and hospitals, must provide access to contraception as part of their health plans. The administration says yes, the Catholic Church says no because it views contraception as immoral.

Let’s put aside the fact that the Church’s position, with the world's population now exceeding 7 billion people, is idiotic, it is what it is. Does the Federal Government have the right to dictate to an employer what health benefits it must provide?

Well, starting with work place safety, minimum wage, overtime rules, vacations and other work related issues, it already regulates just about everything else. So why not regulate health care coverage?

It’s the old First Amendment getting in the way again isn’t it?

Church’s themselves would be exempt. So if you worked directly for the Catholic Church you would have no access to contraception in your health care plan. However if you worked for Notre Dame University, then you would have access.

If you exempt institutions associated with the Church, then what about businesses owned by Catholics? Why not exempt them as well? You have to draw the line someplace and I think the administration is drawing it in precisely the right place.

The Catholic Church really needs to pull itself out of the 16th Century.

Minnesota, Colorado and Missouri

2012-02-08T12:57:00.000-05:00

It was a clean sweep for Rick Santorum which sort of makes you wonder what the people in those states are thinking.

Of course none of the votes are binding which sort of makes you wonder why they bothered.

The Romney camp is playing down the losses but, if nothing else, it extends the primary battle. Even if you include the non-binding votes from Colorado and Minnesota Romney, with 87, still has more delegates than the others combined. Santorum has 35, Gingrich 32 and Paul 13.

Of the four remaining candidates only Romney strikes me as even mildly rational. Strangely enough I find Santorum, even though I think he’s a moron, more acceptable than either Gingrich or Paul.

I still feel confident that Romney will get the nomination. It just appears that it’s going to take longer than previously expected.

Meanwhile, in Non-Super Bowl Related News.

2012-02-07T16:05:00.001-05:00

Karen Handel, the reported anti-abortion architect of the Susan G. Komen decision to stop funding Planned Parenthood, has resigned due to what she calls “gross mischaracterizations” of the Komen decision.

Riiight, and pigs can fly and creationists are honest. Do we look that damned stupid?

And, in California, the 9th Circuit in a 2-1 vote has decided that the lower court was correct in declaring Proposition 8 unconstitutional. Here’s the key quote:

"Proposition 8 serves no purpose, and has no effect, other than to lessen the status and human dignity of gays and lesbians in California, and to officially reclassify their relationships and families as inferior to those of opposite-sex couples."

The fights not over yet and you know this is going all the way to the Supreme Court but the precedents are piling up. All in all it’s been a bad day for the forces of darkness.

Move over Tebow

2012-02-07T15:44:00.003-05:00

The Rector of Historic Trinity Church, Rev. Dr. James H. Cooper sporting a Giants cap, blesses the Giants floats as they roll through Manhattan during the Super Bowl victory parade.

This has got to be a picture for the ages.

I also got a kick out of George Will saying he was rooting for the Giants because it would make the most liberals unhappy. He needs to check which political party the New York Football Giants contribute to.

The Super Bowl Tickets III

2012-02-07T15:35:00.007-05:00

Well, I’m back. I’m not exactly a conquering hero but I’ve lived a tale to carry back to the east coast from the heartland.

Let’s start with the game. I only read one article prior to the game by a sports writer that spoke about facts and myths surrounding it. I remember specifically his closing line predicting the game was “going to be epic.”

Well he got that one right didn’t he? Was it better than Super Bowl XLII? I wouldn’t go that far but it was a hell of a game. Talk about a roller coaster ride and heart palpitations. I’m really glad Belichick decided to let Bradshaw score because, if it had come down to Tynes having to kick even a chip shot field goal, I don’t think my heart could have taken the strain.

So the Giants win 21-17 and turn back the Patriots once again.

Now on to the experience.

The trip out went as well as trips out can go. There were a number of folks on the flight from Newark to Chicago that were headed for Indianapolis.

Chicago was Chicago. We caught some lunch in Chili’s since we had about a three hour layover and then found out our flight to Louisville was delayed due to “Operations” for 20 minutes. In other words it was raining like hell in parts of the Midwest.
When we finally arrived it was pouring. Nothing I could do about that so we grabbed our Hertz car and headed north on I-65. It was an easy drive to Seymour and I was entertained along the way by my daughter's various reactions to the Indiana countryside. She had never been west of eastern Pennsylvania before and if taking a farm girl to the city is a culture shock, then taking a suburban girl to farmlands is also a culture shock.

It took us about an hour to cover the 55 miles to Seymour and the Knights Inn was easy enough to locate about 300 yards from the highway. I was a little surprised that it consisted of single story room blocks. You know the kind where you park right in front of the room. I had two rooms but my daughter decided she didn’t want to stay alone. Finally she slept on the couch in my room and was quite content. I couldn’t cancel so I ended up paying for a empty room for two nights but that didn’t bother me one bit.

Right next door was a K gas station with a convenience store and an eatery called Ryan’s which was a buffet place. We ate breakfast at Ryan’s on Sunday but hit Applebee’s down the road for dinner Saturday night.

When we got back we went over an e-mail with a traffic survival guide I had gotten from the parking garage where I had a reservation. We fired up Google Maps on my travel laptop and traced and memorized the route they gave for locating the garage with the least hassle. The e-mail was a life saver. If they hadn’t sent directions I might still be wandering around trying to get to the parking garage.

We headed for Indianapolis Sunday around 10 AM under overcast skies but along the way the clouds broke and the sun came out. By the time we covered the 62 miles on I-65 North to Indianapolis it was bright sunshine.

From I-65 from got on I-70 West and got off exit 79B as instructed. Instant gridlock. I couldn’t even turn onto McCarty Ave to follow the “Super Route.” I finally figured out that much of the issue was cars attempted to enter a parking area and skirted around in the right lane. Turning onto Delaware was exciting because cars going north on Delaware were literally ignoring the traffic light on the corner of McCarty and Delaware. An Indianapolis police officer showed and put a quick end to that though.

All in all it took no more than ten minutes to turn left onto Delaware. We took that to Michigan, then turned left on Capitol in search of Maryland Ave. The e-mail had warned about pedestrian congestion at Capitol and Maryland and it was right. But with a little careful navigation we managed the left and the garage was right on the corner. We presented our voucher and the girl asked if we planned to be out by 6 AM. I blinked. 6AM!! Yeah, I think you can count on that. Along the way we had seen parking offers for anywhere from $60 to $175. I was more than content with my $99 prepaid parking.

The location was perfect and put us right in the middle of the activities.

My only real complaint was the idiotic arrangement for getting into the stadium. Basically they had the entire area closed except for one small entry. I asked one of the volunteers whether they were actually going to let us into the stadium or were we just going to admire it from afar.

The security was tight. Not only did they pat us down but we had to do the airport take everything out of your pockets and go through a metal detector AND they did a wand search after the detector. In an exchange that could only occur in the naïve Midwest a security type asked about if I had measured the lens on my camera. I assured him I had done so after reading there was a six inch limit and the lens was only five inches long. I suppose since I knew there was a six inch limit, he decided to take my word for it (I really did measure it and it really was five inches).

We had arrived in Indianapolis around 11 AM and spent about 4 hours taking in the party atmosphere around the stadium. I got saved by Jesus at least four times and had my first personal experience with the Westboro Baptist Church morons but generally it was pretty calm. I got a kick out of St. John the Evangelist Catholic church which was right in the middle of the chaos providing free face painting and inviting everyone to come in and take a rest. Above us were people sky lining between two towers constructed for the event. There were tents with food and bars, an ice sculpture and various decorations all over. In general the crowd was quiet, polite and thoroughly enjoying itself.

There were stages set up from local and national media including a big glass booth with the ESPN crew from which Chris Carter playfully teased the crowd outside. On one radio stage someone was doing an interview with a pro-Patriots analyst and Giants fans couldn’t resist drowning out the whole affair with chants of “Let’s Go Giants.” The female interviewer looked pretty upset about the whole thing.

I even got to introduce my daughter to the joys of White Castle burgers although I’m not sure she completely appreciated the experience.

Lucas Oil Stadium is gorgeous and I couldn’t believe how good our seats were. The Terrace Level was basically the mezzanine with five rows of seats. There were two permanent rows and three folding chair rows in section 520 located at the corner of the end zone on the Giants side of the field. We had row 1, seats 1 and 2 which were the seats most toward the center of the field. Sitting in the first row was great. Being on the end wasn’t so great as you had to get up every time someone exited and entered. We also had lots of company as standing near the bottom of the steps was a favorite picture spot.

There were rest rooms and concession stands right in back of our section and, since it was so small, there were no crowds at all.

Since the Giants won we stuck around for the trophy award ceremony, collected some souvenir confetti and wandered out around 11 PM. It was easy enough to find our way back to the garage which, surprisingly, was still pretty empty and we were out onto Maryland Ave in about two minutes. From there it was a short run in little traffic to I-65 South and the hour or so drive back to Seymour.

On Monday we ate in a Waffle House, where the waffles are as good as I remember them, and rewound the trip. The only complaint was the 40 minutes it took to get the luggage to the carousel in Newark. My limo driver told that it’s an intentional slow down by employees unhappy with the Continental and United merger. I have no way of knowing how true that is however. We got home around 11 PM.

So now I can say I’ve been to a Super Bowl. It was fun but there is no way you could get me to do it again.

How much did it cost? Good question. Tickets: $1,800, Airfare: $1,143, Lodging: $489, Rental Car: $85, Airport Limo: $250, Gas: $22, Parking: $99, Program: $20, Lanyards: $30, Beads: $5 (don’t ask), Food and Drink: $120. Add it all up and we’re talking around $4,042 for the two of us.

That’s more than it costs me for my three season tickets including parking which I’m sure is going to go up next year. I’m figuring at least $25 a ticket plus an extra $5 for parking.

And I’m not anywhere near the 1%.

Am I embarrassed that I splurged on something that millions of people in this country couldn’t afford? A little, but then again, I earned every penny of that $4,042 so why the hell not?

In the meantime my daughter has decided she wants to volunteer for Super Bowl XLVIII in the Meadowlands. I wish her luck. I'm watching from my recliner.

Susan G. Komen

2012-02-03T13:29:00.000-05:00

The breast cancer charity started a small war by cutting funding for Planned Parenthood cancer screenings.

It has now, under enormous pressure, reversed course and says the funding will be restored.

So what was the deal here? Planned Parenthood is a favorite target of anti-abortion groups and they’ve managed to get House Republicans to start a “congressional investigation” of the agency.

This was the reason (excuse?) given by Komen for dropping the funding. The reality however may have more to do with a number of right wing anti-abortion folks at the higher levels of the Komen organization.

While the restoration of funding is welcome, I suspect that Komen has damaged its credibility irreparably with this little fiasco. I know they’re now off my list of organizations that I’m willing to support.

Alcohol Abuse

2012-02-03T11:12:00.000-05:00

Everyone knows someone who drinks more than he should. Alcohol abuse is a daily problem for a lot of people. It’s especially an issue for an athlete however.

Josh Hamilton of the Texas Rangers has a history of alcohol related problems. He’s been sober for so long it appeared he had finally won his fight. Unfortunately, a report today indicates that he may have relapsed into his old habit.

I feel sorry for Hamilton, especially given his utter dismay over the incident last summer where a father fell to his death trying to catch a ball tossed into the stands by Hamilton. That wasn’t Josh’s fault but I can’t help wondering how often he thinks “if only” about that incident. If only I hadn’t tossed the ball; If only I’d thrown it harder; If only I’d thrown it differently and over and over.

That kind of thing could drive you crazy.

On the negative side Hamilton has always claimed that his Christian faith is what helped him overcome alcohol. Oh well, so much for depending upon Jesus.

If Hamilton wants to lay the alcohol demon to rest once and for all, he has to realize that he has to accomplish it all by himself because that’s what he needs to happen. You can’t substitute the crutch of religion for the crutch of booze. Both are equally unreliable and, ultimately, equally destructive.

I hope Hamilton works it out. I also hope he realizes when he does that he did it all by himself without Jesus or God or whatever holding his hand.

The Gay Marriage Battle Grounds

2012-02-02T13:29:00.002-05:00

There is a Gay Right firestorm brewing. The Long March is over and the counter offensive is in full swing. In Washington, Maine, Maryland and New Jersey the battle has been joined.

Washington is on the brink of legalizing Gay Marriage with support in both houses of the legislature and the governor’s office. However the opposition is promising a referendum to overturn the legislative action.

In Maine, Equality Maine has put the issue back on the ballot after losing in 2009. If Maine votes for Gay Marriage it would represent an enormous victory. Unfortunately the measure lost by a large margin in 2009.

In Maryland the governor is pushing the legislation and it is working its way through the legislature. The Maryland Attorney General, also a supporter, has warned that if the bill passes, the final battle will most likely be a referendum in November.

In New Jersey the legislature is pressing forward on a bill even though Governor Chris Christie has vowed to veto it. Christie has proposed putting it on the ballot. The latest poll in New Jersey, January 2012 from Quinnipiac University, found support for Gay Marriage at an all time high of 52%-42% so Christie is being very coy and trying not to jeopardize either his approval rating or standing with the Republican Party.

All of this means there could be as many as four Gay Marriage votes in November. Any one of which could become the first election approval of Gay Marriage. If I was a Gay Marriage opponent I would be afraid, I would be very afraid. A victory at the polls could very well break the dam of opposition. Imagine what four victories would do?

As I noted above, in the latest polls, New Jersey indicates in favor by 52%-42%; Maryland indicates in favor by 50%-42%; in Washington a poll indicates that the electorate would uphold the bill by 55%-38% and in Maine supporters claim that 54% are ready to reverse the decision of three years ago.

Still, we all know better than to be overly optimistic. A lot will depend upon how the presidential election goes and how successful the get out the vote campaigns are. The religiously based opposition has tended to have more success getting the faithful to the polls than the Gay Marriage supporters.

But can you imagine four election victories?

Rick Santorum is an Idiot

2012-02-01T10:49:00.002-05:00

According to Santorum colleges are centers of indoctrination. Allow me to quote the moron in chief.

"It's no wonder President Obama wants every kid to go college. The indoctrination that occurs in American universities is one of the keys to the left holding and maintaining power in America. And it is indoctrination."

The problem Rick is that much of what you hold to be true is in fact false and universities focus on reality and not wishful thinking. I might also point out there are more than a few right wing Christian centered universities.

“If they taught Judeo-Christian principles in those colleges and universities, they would be stripped of every dollar. If they teach radical secular ideology, they get all the government support that they can possibly give them.”

One wonders what Santorum thinks is “radical secular ideology.” Evolution perhaps?

“Because you know 62 percent of children who enter college with a faith conviction leave without it.”

Maybe that’s because once someone with at least half a brain and an ounce of courage learns to think critically and learns about the history of Christianity, he would be something of a fool if he didn’t drop his faith conviction.

Why is it that religions and conservatives fear education? Perhaps because reality has a liberal bias and it is clear from every study that the the more intelligent an individual is and the more education he has, the higher the probability is he will reject both religion and most social conservative positions.

An educated population is necessary to effectively compete in a global economy but a man who wants to be the presidential candidate for a major political party doesn’t understand that.

Rick Santorum is an idiot.

Anyone who votes for Rick Santorum is an idiot.

And, until the party manages to expunge idiots like Rick Santorum from positions of influence within the party, anyone who votes for the Republican party is an idiot.

Romney Wins Big in Florida

2012-02-01T10:46:00.000-05:00

Despite a temporary apparent surge by Gingrich, Mitt Romney has managed a big win in Florida with 46.4% of the vote. Gingrich was a distant second with 31.9% followed by Santorum with 13.4% and finally Paul with 7%.

So again the handwriting appear to be on the wall with Romney the clear frontrunner and most likely winner. Of course I’ve said that before.

The Super Bowl Tickets II

2012-01-30T12:47:00.002-05:00

Ok, I got the tickets. I stood on line for two hours with other mature gentlemen to spend $1,800 to watch grown men play a kids game.

There is something fundamentally wrong with my paying close to $4,000 to have two of us go see a football game. There is even something more fundamentally wrong with the fact that almost no one I know sees a problem with this.

While on line I learned that Lucas Oil Stadium’s location is more like Yankee Stadium than MetLife Stadium. It’s smack dab in the middle of an urban area with no parking. Waiting until I arrived at the stadium to find a place to put the car could have been a disaster.

Apparently you park in commercial garages and it’s a good idea to reserve a spot unless you want to walk a mile to the stadium.

I went on-line to check for parking and almost fell off my chair. The prices ranged from around $50 to $300 for a stinking parking space for the day.

I plunked down $99 for a reserved spot about a quarter of a mile from the stadium.

Why am I getting the feeling that, after this game, I’m going to really appreciate MetLife Stadium?

As for the tickets, they’re in section 520, row 1, seats 1 and 2. No, the 520 doesn’t mean I’ll need oxygen; they’re at the corner of the end zone in the Terrace Level just above the loge area. Row 1 may, or may not, be a good thing. It depends upon how much room there is between the seats and what appears to be a wall. Seat 1 may not be a good thing, with people exiting and walking up and down the stairs, but I'll survive. I'll probably put my daughter in seat 2 assuming there isn't some yahoo in seat 3.

So, I think I got everything I need including a car to and from Newark and printed driving directions from Louisville to Seymour to Indianapolis and back. Obviously I can’t control the weather or flight delays but I think I’ve done everything I can.

All that’s left is to pack and go.

Frog and Pig Fight Back

2012-01-30T12:46:00.000-05:00

Last December Eric Bolling of Fox “News” (I put “News” in quotes because we all know that, whatever Fox does, it isn’t news) criticized “The Muppets” as an example of how the “liberal media” tries to “brainwash our kids” against big business and, in particular, big oil.

At a London news conference promoting the film Kermit and Miss Piggy took Fox to task. Kermit asked pointedly if they were so much against big oil, then why did they spend the movie riding around in a Rolls Royce which isn’t exactly known for its fuel economy.

Miss Piggy was even more blunt and said the brainwashing charges were “…almost as laughable as accusing Fox News of being ... news."

Even the pig understands.

The Super Bowl Tickets

2012-01-27T14:08:00.001-05:00

What a freaking nightmare.

You know the plot about something of value causing nothing but misery? Well, I have now experienced it.

Let’s start at the beginning.

I was one of the few Giants season ticket holders to be offered Super Bowl tickets. My immediate reaction was to refuse the tickets and remain safely at home to watch the game.

There were two problems with this reaction. The first is that it is difficult to have something of value without trying to get some advantage out of it. I suspect that’s simple human nature. The second problem was that everyone else was of the opinion I should go.

I looked around at Super Bowl travel packages. They ran around $5,000 per person not including the $900 ticket price. That means, for two, we’re talking about $12,000. That was not going to happen.

So if you don’t go, everyone says sell them. The problem with this is, unless you know someone to sell them to, putting them up for sale involves a bit of a process. A process that can’t begin until you have the tickets in hand and I wouldn’t have them in hand for almost a week. That leaves a fairly short window in which the tickets can sell. The reality is you risk $1,800 to make about $2,000 which is clearly just not worth the grief.

That leaves one with refuse the tickets or go.

Then there is the question of who goes with you? There is no good way to resolve that question. My resolution was actually the result of a misunderstanding on my part. But, once it was in place, I stuck with it. That disappointed someone else that I didn’t mean to disappoint, but it is what it is. No matter what I did, someone would have been disappointed.

So now I’m apparently on my way to Indianapolis. Or at least I have an $1,800 cashier’s check that I’m shortly going to take to MetLife stadium in an attempt to retrieve the two tickets. I also have something of a Rube Goldberg set of travel reservations that are going to run me around $1,700 dollars.

It’s going to be, on Saturday, fly from Newark to Chicago to Louisville. In Louisville, pick up Hertz car and drive to Seymour Indiana. Stay overnight in Seymour and then, on Sunday, drive about an hour to Indianapolis. Find stadium, find place to park, go to stadium, watch game, find way back to car and drive back to Seymour. Finally, on Monday, reverse the flights going from Louisville to Chicago to Newark.

With my luck the Giants will completely lay an egg and Monday’s paper will read something like “Worst Super Bowl in the History of the Game.” Watch Brady throw seven touchdown passes so I can be thoroughly miserable the whole trip back wishing I had my $3,500 dollars back.

I was miserable all week because I couldn’t decide what to do and I’m still miserable because I disappointed someone and now, once I get the tickets, assuming that doesn’t go wrong somehow, I have to worry about the safety of the damn things until the game.

I now know how Frodo and Bilbo felt about that stupid ring.

I should have had the courage to stick with my initial reaction. More to follow on this I’m sure.

Fidel has it Right

2012-01-25T12:50:00.000-05:00

Now I don’t agree with Fidel Castro on a lot of things but I have to give the devil his due. Castro was absolutely correct when he said about the Republican primary contest:

"The selection of a Republican candidate for the presidency of this globalized and expansive empire is — and I mean this seriously — the greatest competition of idiocy and ignorance that has ever been."

And that’s after two of the biggest lunatics, Bachmann and Cain, have been ousted.

South Carolina

2012-01-24T12:17:00.001-05:00

Newt Gingrich’s win in South Carolina throws things up in the air again doesn’t it?

It wasn’t just a win either. It was a big win. Gingrich finished with 40.4% of the vote, followed by Romney a distant second with 27.8%, then Santorum with 17% and, bringing up the rear, Paul with 13%.

The win almost instantly impacted Florida where, in the latest round of polls, Gingrich has taken a 7.4 point lead over Romney with Paul and Santorum way back.

Hey, fight it out guys. The longer this goes on the better things get for Obama.

A Gingrich nomination might be the best thing for the nation and the Republican Party. There’s nothing like a crushing defeat to help you straighten your act out and the Republicans seriously need to straighten their act out.

The NFL Championship Games

2012-01-23T10:34:00.002-05:00

Sometimes football games are won, and sometimes they’re lost. Sunday we saw two games lost.

That’s not to take anything away from the winning teams. You have to be in the game to take advantage of the breaks when they come.

First it was the Ravens, trailing the Patriots by 23-20, driving in the final seconds of the AFC Championship game. Joe Flacco put the ball into the hands of wide receiver Lee Evans in the end zone for what could have been the winning touchdown only to see the ball stripped by Patriots defender Sterling Moore. Two plays later kicker Billy Cundiff missed a 32 yard field that could have sent the game into overtime.

The missed field goal was actually on coach John Harbaugh. Rather than calling time out in order to give the field goal team time to set up, the whole play was rushed. It was obvious watching that Cundiff wasn’t ready to kick the ball and the result was he missed. End of game, the Ravens go home and the Patriots go to Indianapolis.

A rain drenched, old fashioned, smash mouth defensive battle in San Francisco followed. In a game that made it feel like the 1980s, the 49er’s and Giant renewed a rivalry from two decades ago. The 49er’s defense dominated the second half. Eli Manning spent more time on the ground than standing up as the Niners sacked him six times and seemed to knock him down on every play.

But Eli and the Giants soldiered on.

Finally, with the 49er’s leading 14-10, a punt bounced off of punt returner Kyle Williams knee and was picked up by Devin Thomas. The bounce was missed by the refs and Tom Coughlin had to challenge. Amazingly they got it right after review and a few plays later Manning hit Mario Manningham to give the Giants a 17-14 lead. The Niners tied it at 17-17 and then began the punting duel.

Neither team could score and the game went into overtime.

The punting duel continued until Jacquian Williams managed to strip the ball from punt returner Kyle Williams and Devin Thomas was Johnny on the spot again to set up the Giants at the 49er’s 29 yard line. A couple of snaps later Lawrence Tynes kicked the Giants into the Super Bowl for the second time in OT with a 31 yard field goal.

You have to feel sorry for Kyle Williams. He wasn’t even the 49er’s regular punt returner and to have to return punts in the cold, windy and rainy Candlestick Park was a tough assignment. I was really impressed with the 49er’s defense. They should come into next season with a chip on their shoulders about a mile wide. I’m betting on them now to be in Super Bowl XLVII.

So the Giants leave behind another stadium full of broken dreams and head for a rematch with the Patriots in Eli’s brother Payton’s home field in Indianapolis. The Patriots can get revenge for Super Bowl XLII or the Giants can frustrate the Patriots again. I’m not even going to try and analyze this one since I clearly suck at it finishing a dismal 4-6 for the Play-offs. Besides, the NFL has clearly succeeded in making the games about as unpredictable as possible. You might as well flip a coin.

As a Giant’s season ticket holder, and by winning a lottery, I have the opportunity to buy two tickers to Super Bowl XLVI at $900 each. I almost choked when I saw the price. And that doesn’t include getting to and staying in Indianapolis.

With the understanding that this will mostly likely be my last chance to attend a Super Bowl, I’m thinking about it. Maybe if the game was in a warm venue I might be tempted. But Indianapolis?

Practicality will probably win and I’ll pass. I may try to sell the tickets but I’m wondering if it’s worth the effort. More to follow on this I’m sure.

Perry Quits

2012-01-19T13:17:00.001-05:00

So after much initial fan fare, another of the GOP lunatic fringe throws in the towel.

Perry ended his presidential bid and endorsed Newt Gingrich. That leaves three little ducks left, Romney, Santorum and Newt and one space cadet, Paul.

In the meantime, the final count in Iowa actually has Santorum winning by 34 votes which makes an interesting historical footnote, but probably isn’t going to help him much now.

Huntsman Calls it Quits

2012-01-16T14:10:00.006-05:00

Jon Huntsman has apparently decided to drop out of the GOP race and has thrown his support to Mitt Romney.

That leaves only Santorum, Gingrich, Paul and Perry in the lists opposing Romney. Perry is rapidly working his way toward buffoon of the decade everytime he opens his mouth and Gingrich appears to be pissing everyone off so that sort of means that, realistically, only Santorum stands between Mitt Romney and the GOP nomination. As for Paul, it's only a matter of time before even the dense U.S. electorate figures out that he's orbiting Alpha Centauri.

Having Santorum in your way is sort of like a paper curtain trying to slow down a runaway freight train.

I don't see this seriously going beyond Florida. There may be some die hardism but Romney, barring some catastrophe, appears to have it wrapped up.

Then we can move on to the main event.

Romney can beat Obama. He and Huntsman were the only Republicans that realistically could. I have two problems with Romney. First, has has Robert Bork as an advisor on judicial appointments and I don't want anything to do with anyone that Robert Bork thinks should be on any judicial bench in the country.

Bork is no friend of the First Amendment and would cheerfully scuttle not only the accepted meaning of the Establishment Clause but also Freedom of Speech. In December 2005, Bork wrote an article in the National Review calling for government censorship of popular culture, including television, film and music. In a wonderful application of the principle of “newspeak” Bork declared that "liberty in America can be enhanced by reinstating, legislatively, restraints upon the direction of our culture and morality.”

My second problem with Romney is his supposed embrace of Mormonism. To my mind Mormonism is demonstrably false. Archeology and Genetics both strongly indicate this with literally no compelling counter argument that I am aware of. To call it a cult is to give it more than its due. It was, and continues to be, a con job thought up by a third rate con man.

The 1st Amendment guarantees freedom of religion. Romney can believe anything he wants. But I'm also free to think what he believes indicates a lack of adequate skeptical thinking. We don't need another Bush who knows what's right regardless of what the evidence says.

The Championship Games

2012-01-16T14:09:00.000-05:00

Ok, I only got one out of three of the Divisional Games right. I was right about defense but I should have figured the Giants rather than the Broncos.

The only game I got right was the Ravens over the Texans. The one that surprised me the most was the 49ers taking down the Saints. Drew Brees looked unstoppable in the previous two games. As for the Giants and Packers, clearly the Packers were rustier than I thought.

So now what? The only way I can make things worse is to go 0-2 which I figure I have a pretty good shot at.

Let’s make it short and sweet. I like the 49ers and the Patriots.

New Hampshire

2012-01-11T14:07:00.000-05:00

Romney wins handily amassing 39.3% of the vote and matching the combined total of Ron Paul, in second with 22.9%, and Jon Huntsman in third with 16.9%.

Gingrich and Santorum ended up basically tied for 4th with 9.4% of the vote. Perry didn’t even show up, preferring to concentrate on South Carolina, and had only 0.7% of the votes.

If he wasn’t there before, Romney is now in position to end this fiasco early. The latest poll showed Romney with a 10 point lead over Santorum and Gingrich and 20 points over Paul. I doubt Romney’s win yesterday is going to cause an erosion in those numbers.

I expect Romney to win South Carolina with Santorum second. I also expect Perry’s campaign to end after another dismal showing. As for Gingrich, who knows?

On to the Division Games

2012-01-09T13:25:00.001-05:00

Ok, so my pet goat Frankie is as good as I am at picking NFL games. Shows that the NFL marketing strategy is working.

My 2-2 in the Wild Card games is about what you’d expect picking the winners randomly such as letting a pet goat (enter Frankie, stage left) select them with his hooves.

Bengals-Texans was a bit of a toss-up but I thought the QB inexperience would doom the Texans. Oh well, wrong again. As for the Giants, where the hell has that team been all year? I just hope they, and not the guys that played the Redskins, go to Green Bay.

As for Tim Terrific, I’m going to resist saying “I TOLD YOU SO,” although I really shouldn’t. I saw the Steelers 4th quarter comeback and Tim’s one play OT bomb shell at home after watching a good part of the 3rd Quarter at Appleby’s. It was watch Giants mangle Falcons, leave Giants game, go home, get wife, go to Appleby’s, go home, watch Tim confuse all the so-called experts again. In other words, a pretty good Sunday.

As for the Saints, that was a no brainer. An interesting side note, is that all the Wild Card Teams lost. I don’t remember that ever happening previously.

So, on to the Divisional Games where the big boys take on the Wild Card weekend survivors.

Let’s start with the Giants at Green Bay. This could be interesting but I find it hard to believe the Packers are going to stumble against the Giants. They’re rested, but not rusty, and they scored almost at will against the Giants in the Meadowlands. The Giants defense is healthier, but not that much healthier. I’m going with Green Bay.

I also think Drew Brees and company will send the 49ers home for the winter. The Saints offense is scary and don’t see how San Francisco is going to slow them down.

As for the Texans and Ravens, the QB situation catches up to the Texans and the Ravens defense ends the first post season entry for Houston.

Now you knew I was going to leave New England and the Broncos for last right? Again we have the plot elements for a continuation of Tim Tebow’s march to the Super Bowl. The Patriot’s defense has been awful. So we have a offense that thinks it can do miracles versus a defense that could use some miracles and a great offense against a tough, stingy defense. Call me old fashioned, but defense wins championships. I’m going with Denver to upset New England.

Bachmann Quits

2012-01-06T12:50:00.003-05:00

Apparently Michelle Bachmann has "suspended" her presidential campaign.

I saw something to this effect yesterday and was expecting some sort of headline somewhere but, at least for the moment, none of the major news outlets I check appears to care much about it.

So much for the vaunted Iowa straw poll winner.

I suppose it's too much to hope that she's never heard from again?

The NFL Play-offs

2012-01-06T12:49:00.000-05:00

Ah yes, the early winter when a young man’s fancy turns to thoughts of the NFL Play-offs. I’m already sick of all the analysis and predictions by people who should know by now that the entire marketing strategy of the NFL is to make the games as unpredictable as possible.

I’m sort of upset because I’ll be at the Falcons-Giants game at 1 PM on Sunday and the only other game I’m really interested in is the Steelers-Broncos game and that’s also Sunday at 4:30 so it’s not likely I’ll get to see much of that.

I should however make it home in time to watch Tim pull off another late game miracle. So there’s my first prediction, screw logic, Tebow and the Broncos upset a banged up Steelers team.

As for the game I’ll be at, I don’t see the suspect Giants defense holding the Falcons in check and I can’t rely on Victor Cruz to break another 80 or 90 yard touchdown run after catch so I’m afraid the Falcons win that one.

As for the Saturday games, I’m thinking the Bengals over the Texans and the Saints over the Lions.

The Iowa Results

2012-01-05T15:38:00.003-05:00

Well, the results are in and Mitt Romney appears to have a “victory” by a stunning 8 votes. Yes, you heard me, 8 votes over Rick Santorum 30,015 to 30,007. That comes out to 25% each and 11 delegates each.

Ron Paul finished 3rd with 21% and the final 3 delegates. After that it was Newt Gingrich with 13%, Rick Perry with 10%, Michelle Bachmann with 5% and Jon Huntsman with 1%.

So what does it mean? Not much yet. Let’s remember that Mike Huckabee won Iowa in 2008 with 34% of the vote. Romney was second with 25% and, the eventual nominee, John McCain was 4th with 13%. If you believe in numerology that would put Gingrich in good shape but he doesn’t have the kind of New Hampshire support that McCain had.

New Hampshire is a week away followed by South Carolina 11 days later and then Florida on the 31st. In 2008 McCain won all three and established himself as the GOP heir apparent.

Evangelical Christians (also known as the Village Idiots) fueled Huckabee in 2008 and appear to have fueled Santorum in 2012. They’re not a big factor in New Hampshire but might be in South Carolina. Huckabee managed a paltry 11% in New Hampshire in 2008 but surged back to almost 30% in South Carolina so I suspect that Santorum, unfortunately, will be around for a while.

As for those finishing near the bottom of the pack, both Bachmann and Gingrich say they’re staying in the race; Perry is “reassessing” and I haven’t heard anything about Huntsman. Personally, with the possible exception of Gingrich, they’re all kidding themselves. Huntsman’s potential constituency has apparently picked Romney and Bachmann’s Santorum. Perry has just made a mess of things and, since integrity means something even to Republicans, I don’t see Gingrich staging that much of a comeback.

I expect Romney to win in New Hampshire with Paul second and Santorum a distant 3rd if he’s lucky. He could easily be eclipsed by Gingrich. That would set the stage for South Carolina where people still long for the antebellum days so who the hell knows what’s going to happen there.

The latest poll had Gingrich ahead by 12 points but that was in mid December and a lot has happened since then so we shall see.

So what’s the best case scenario? Well, that depends upon what you mean by “best case scenario?”

If you think Obama needs to be gotten out of office, then Mitt Romney has the best chance of accomplishing that and the sooner he becomes the obvious winner the better his chance will be. So you would be looking for Romney to steamroll New Hampshire, South Carolina and Florida.

If you think Romney is the inevitable candidate in any event but believe an Obama re-election would be best, then you want to see the GOP primary, as scary as the thought of a Santorum or Paul presidency might be, drag on and get increasingly bloody.

If you’re a really greedy Liberal, you’ll hope that somehow Santorum, Paul or Gingrich manage to win which could well lead to the greatest national electoral disaster in GOP history. To my mind even the small chance of a Santorum, Paul or Gingrich victory in the general election makes this far too terrifying a scenario.

I would like to see a Romney candidacy following by a frank and honest discussion of the issues facing the country. I figure I have two chances, slim and none.

Then there’s Vice President. A victorious Romney could still well choose a Santorum or Bachmann type as his running mate to shore up conservative support which would be almost as scary, and maybe even more scary, than a Santorum or Paul candidacy.

I guess I’m hoping for a long bloody Republican process that would leave most of the country fed up with Republican nonsense. I’m willing to give Obama four more years.

Iowa Ready

2012-01-02T13:54:00.002-05:00

With the Iowa caucuses tomorrow I thought I’d put down a few thoughts.

Now that Herman Cain is history, I have to say that the only two GOP candidates that don’t scare the hell out of me are Jon Huntsman and Mitt Romney. And, to be honest, I’m not that sure about Romney.

It’s hard to decide which of the other four lunatics, Paul, Bachmann, Santorum or Gingrich, would make the worst candidate and, heaven forbid, even worse president.

I’m going to go with Rick Santorum at the bottom of the list followed by Michelle Bachmann. I find it almost unbelievable that I think someone would make a worse president than Bachmann but I do. Then I’ll go with Paul and, at the best of the worst position, I’ll put Newt Gingrich.

Don’t ask me again next week because I could easily reverse Santorum and Bachmann or Paul and Gingrich.

I just realized I forgot all about Rick Perry. Perhaps that's because he proved so effective at pulling defeat from the jaws of victory. I don't know what to do with Perry. Perhaps I'll add him to the top of the lunatic pile because I suspect he's more of a crook than a lunatic.

The Bill Maher Tweet

2011-12-28T11:48:00.004-05:00

Bill Maher, famous for his anti-religious outlook, got into the Tebow mania by tweeting a less than complimentary comment about the Broncos blowout loss to the Bills. Allow me to quote Bill:

"Wow, Jesus just f***ed Tim Tebow bad! And on Xmas Eve! Somewhere ... Satan is tebowing, saying to Hitler 'Hey, Buffalo's killing them.'"

I think it precisely captures the stupidity that some Christians have been throwing around that Jesus is helping Tim Terrific win football games.

No one but Tim, backed up by strong defensive efforts, helped the Broncos win. But sooner or later an unbalanced team gets nailed. You need both defence and offence playing a full 60 minutes to be a championship football team. You can't rely on the defense to always hold while the offense fritters away three quarters. Or worse, like Saturday, hands the other team four picks.

Still, I think Tebow has demonstrated that he deserves a chance to play in the NFL.

In the meantime, no one seems to be paying a lot of attention to what Cam Newton has been doing. Put a few more quality players around him and shore up the Jaguars defense and they're going to be unstoppable.

Proof, Evidence and Christianity

2011-12-13T18:07:00.001-05:00

People throw the words "proof" and "prove" around somewhat carelessly. The fact of the matter is that technically, outside the realm of mathematics, it is pretty much impossible to prove anything.

For example, can you "prove" that the sun rises in the east? No, technically you can't. The most you can do is demonstrate that throughout all of recorded history it has risen in the east and the odds are pretty good it will rise there tomorrow. As a matter of fact, the odds are so good that not to accept the conclusion "the sun rises in the east" would be somewhat irrational. But, still, technically, it cannot be proven to 100% certainty.

So much for technicalities. Let's talk about practical day to day existence. Most people would consider something "proven" if not to accept it as true would be irrational like not accepting the conclusion that "the sun rises in the east" is irrational.

But we're still really talking about probabilities. You can't "prove" to 100% certainty but you can get pretty darn close.

Now let's consider evidence. Evidence is anything that you believe increases or decreases the probability of something being true. When you present evidence to someone, the critical issue is how credible is that evidence.

This is where most Christians miss the point. They always claim they have lots of evidence for God, Jesus and Christianity. The problem is that none of it is terribly credible.

The most credible evidence is physical evidence. It's hard to argue with finger prints, DNA, blood, burn marks etc. The reason for this is physical evidence doesn't change and it is very difficult to forge or modify.

Next in credibility is documentary evidence because again, it doesn't change over time but it's much easier to forge or modify.

The least credible evidence is human eye witness testimony and the further away you get from the original source, the more it degrades. As a matter of fact most courts will not accept evidence which it even only once removed. It's called "hearsay" and is usually inadmissable."Hearsay" is still evidence, but very, very weak evidence. In addition, if the witness has a known agenda then the evidence is virtually worthless.

Here's the problem with all of the Christian's evidence. They have no physical evidence. They do have some documentary evidence in the Bible but (1) the authorship of the bible is unknown and anonymous testimony must always be viewed with suspicion and (2) with the possible exception of the Gospel of John, all of the testimony is at best "hearsay" and all of the gospels, including John, have an agenda. Paul I dismiss as so far removed from the events as to be completely worthless and the epistles attributed to Peter are considered by most reputable scholars to be forgeries.

The problem with John is even if it was written by the Apostle John, it was written so long after the events, and is so different from the Synoptic Gospels, it can't be considered credible. It is a known fact that human memory changes over time.

That leaves us with, at best, second and third removed hearsay which is basically useless.

So what about the "prophecies?"

I have to be honest that I just don't find the so-called prophecy passages terribly compelling. Most aren't even prophecies. Just passages that happen to be similar to some gospel event. The others are either clearly backfits after the fact or cases of heroic exegesis, reading into the passages something that simply is not there.

What about the "would the apostles be willing to die for a lie" argument?

Well, the word "lie" implies knowing something is untrue while claiming it's true anyway. It's not hard for humans to delude themselves into thinking something is true and then be willing to do ridiculous things to support or demonstrate their faith in that delusion. The apostles were ignorant peasants. That they deluded themselves into believing something doesn't surprise me. It is telling that no educated intellectuals accepted Christianity in it's earliest stages. That only came later when Christianity had managed to acquire some power.

So when Christians say they have lots of evidence, they do, None of it is very good though and none of it, in my opinion, justifies accepting Christianity as true.

The Religious are Ridiculous

2011-12-13T17:02:00.002-05:00

Saudi Arabia is a Theocracy. If you want to see what Fundamentalist Christians would like to see here if they have a chance, just look at Saudi Arabia.

In it's latest idiocy, a 60 year old woman was executed for practicing Sorcery!

From the description it sounds like she was either daffy or a bit of a con artist. She would convince the ignorant that, for a fee, she could cure illness. Sort of the same way Christian faith healers convince the flock here.

If she really believed it, she was mentally ill; if she didn't, then she was a crook. Either way I'd say that execution by beheading for something NO ONE can do is barbaric.

Bears Dismiss Tebow

2011-12-13T16:59:00.001-05:00

Apparently the Bears weren't impressed with Tim Terrific's 13-10 come from behind miracle victory. Maybe not, but he did manage, with a lot of help from his friends, to whip your butts when it counted didn't he?

Actually, more credit needs to be given to the Bronco's defense. This is football and if your offense stinks up the field for three quarters, then your defense kept you in the game. It's not likely Tebow would be working miracles if instead of 10 points or so down, the Broncos were 30 points down.

Still, you have to acknowledge that he continues to manage the near impossible week after week even if last Sunday it was more a case of the Bears losing it and one hell of a field goal kicker putting through 59 and 51 yarders in the clutch.

But here's the point, a player like Tebow makes EVERYONE play better. If you believe in the guy then the defense just keeps saying to itself "all we have to do is keep it close" and once Tim's gets started, everyone gets pumped up.

Morale and determination win lots of victories even when the edge in talent is on the other side. I can't explain it, but I damn well know it's true.

Now That's Ridiculous

2011-12-11T21:37:00.001-05:00

I hadn't actually witnessed any of the Tebow magic. I'd just read about. Now I've seen it with my own eyes and I think I need to get them checked.

Through three quarters, nada. Only 3 completions in 16 tries and trailing the Bears 10-0. Then the 4th quarter begins and look out! It's super Tebow.

First Tim Terrific leads the Broncos on a touchdown drive and scores with 2:08 remaining to make it 10-7. That 8 seconds is significant because the Broncos get a free clock stop at 2 minutes.

The onside kick doesn't work. That takes the clock to the 2 minute warning and then I assume the Broncos called their last timeout on the 1st down play because I joined the game with 1:55 left, it was second down and the Broncos were out of timeouts.

Let's translate that 1:55 into football time. That's 115 seconds and you get 40 seconds on the clock after each play. That means before 3rd and 4th downs you can eat away 80 seconds and it's not unusually for a running play to take 7 or 8 second so this game is just about over.

Assuming the runner stays in bounds that is.

Marion Barber is an experienced and a good running back. On second down he got the call to stretch out a run wide and chew up clock. All he needed to do was stay in bounds. Incredibly, that's what he didn't do.

By going out of bounds, the clock stopped. The Bears failed to convert on 3rd down and were forced to punt back to the Broncos with 35 seconds left.

That's were things got a little spooky. Denver's field goal kicker had a career long of 59 yards. Guess how far the Broncos manged to get? Just enough for a 59 yard attempt which was of course good to tie the game at 10-10.

The Bears won the toss to start overtime (nothing like a little drama) and marched down the field to a 3rd down on the Bronco's 38. That's a long 55 yard field goal but the Bears still had one play left. They gave the ball to the same Marion Barber who popped through the left side and looked like he was heading for a big gain when a Bronco defender managed to jar the ball loose.

Needless to say the Broncos recovered. They moved into field goal range thanks to a circus catch or two and put the game away with another 50 yard plus field goal.

If I was a Bears fan I'd be pulling my hair out. You can't make this stuff up. No one would believe you. I never saw anything like it. There are certain truths one learns to take for granted in football. Games just don't end like this. Or at least they didn't before.

I feel sorry for Barber. Talk about a double set of goat horns. This is really starting to be a lot more than interesting. This is simply incredible. I can't wait to see what happens next.

Bachmann is an Idiot

2011-12-02T14:20:00.003-05:00

I know that’s not a big surprise to anyone but she’s dumber than I thought.

I was watching a town meeting video with her discussing both Gay Marriage and prayer in school. Let’s start with Gay Marriage.

Her position was that the law allows marriage between a man and a woman and therefore allowing marriage between individuals of the same sex would be a “special privilege.” After all, gays are free to marry individuals of the opposite sex just like heterosexuals. The problem with this argument is you can use it to justify any law that is unfair. No one is questioning what the law says; the point is that the law is wrong. You could justify laws that prohibit interracial marriage with the same argument.

Marriage includes the right to marry someone to whom you are sexually attracted. If your sexual orientation is to the same sex, then you are prohibited from doing that if Gay Marriage is not legal. So it's not a "special privilege," it's a comparable right to heterosexual marriage.

In the second half of the video Bachmann addresses school prayer. She states that she would eliminate the Department of Education (DOE) which she claims would somehow then let local school boards decide whether or not school prayer should be allowed.

Where the hell did she get her law degree?

Here’s the deal. The Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) was passed in 1965 as a part of the War on Poverty and was amended and reauthorized in 2002 as part of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) initiative of the Bush Administration. NCLB has an almost unbelievable 621 sections. Sec. 9524 relates to school prayer and states “The Secretary shall provide and revise guidance … to State educational agencies, local educational agencies, and the public on constitutionally protected prayer in public elementary schools and secondary schools, including making the guidance available on the Internet.”

Now the secretary and the DOE aren’t making the rules, they are just providing a summary of the current state of the law. Sec. 9524 goes on to state “The guidance shall be reviewed, prior to distribution, by the Office of Legal Counsel of the Department of Justice for verification that the guidance represents the current state of the law concerning constitutionally protected prayer in public elementary schools and secondary schools.”

Get it? The DOE is simply providing, in layman’s term, guidance on the current state of Constitutional Law. The executive department is not making up the rules, the judiciary is, and eliminating the DOE isn’t going to change things one bit.

The last guidance was issued in February of 2003 and provides the bottom line on school prayer as follows, “The Supreme Court has repeatedly held that the First Amendment requires public school officials to be neutral in their treatment of religion, showing neither favoritism toward nor hostility against religious expression such as prayer… the First Amendment forbids religious activity that is sponsored by the government but protects religious activity that is initiated by private individuals.”

“Students may pray when not engaged in school activities or instruction, subject to the same rules designed to prevent material disruption of the educational program that are applied to other privately initiated expressive activities. Among other things, students may read their Bibles or other scriptures, say grace before meals, and pray or study religious materials with fellow students during recess, the lunch hour, or other noninstructional time to the same extent that they may engage in nonreligious activities.”

Again, it needs to be noted that the DOE is not making up the rules. Rather it is enforcing laws (the ESEA and NCLB) passed by congress and legal directives established by the Supreme Court of the United States.

The only school prayer related activities that are proscribed are school or teacher promoted prayer. The school and the teacher are extensions of the state and as such are restricted by the Constitution in the same way any other government agency is restricted. They must be neutral. They cannot encourage nor discouage prayer. They certainly cannot prevent a student from praying on his or her own time.

If Bachmann doesn’t know this then she’s a bigger idiot than I thought. If she does know, but is simply saying what the under 80 IQ Republican base wants to hear, then she’s dishonest. Either way, having her as even a second tier candidate for the Presidential nomination of a major political party is an embarrassment.

Text Book Calls Creationism a Biblical Myth

2011-12-01T10:12:00.001-05:00

Now here’s the shoe on the other foot.

A text book approved for use by the Knoxville Tennessee school board describes Creationism as a “Biblical Myth.”

This has at least one parent up in arms and the man has demanded that the book be banned. So far at least the school board has pretty much ignored him. Fox News, on the other hand, provided him a soapbox to stand on. You’d think there might be a few more important things for Fox to focus on wouldn’t you?

So what’s the deal here? Now a “myth” need not be false but I think most people would interpret the text as stating that the bible account is untrue. The domino effect is once you declare Genesis wrong, then the bible is not inerrant and therefore the bible is not the word of god.

This implication directly contradicts conservative fundamentalist Christian teaching. The fact that it happens to be accurate, and Christians have their heads up their asses, is irrelevant.

It’s irrelevant because the Constitution requires the state to be NEUTRAL with respect to religion. Not only can’t the state promote religion it can’t be hostile to it either. One can imply that Genesis is allegorical by stating the facts and conclusions of science about the age of the universe or evolution but the state is prohibited from deciding which religious tenets are true and which are false.

As crazy as it sounds, the text book has stepped over the line and the “Biblical Myth” claim should be removed in the next revision. Banning the book is a bit much. Christians are always ready to ban books they don’t like which is why they cannot be trusted to uphold democracy.

Interracial Couple Banned

2011-12-01T10:10:00.000-05:00

A Baptist Church in Kentucky has voted to ban interracial couples from becoming members of the church.

The issue came to a head when a long time member showed up with her black fiancée. The church claims it will promote “greater unity among the church body.”

As I’ve said for a long time, scratch a fundamentalist Christian and you’ll find a Jim Crow, KKK adherent underneath the outer skin of respectability.

The people who are today denying gays equal rights are the psychological twins of those that supported segregation in the 1960s and before that slavery in the 1860s. If you give them a chance, they’ll be quite happy to roll back all of the progress made in the last 100 years.

In other words they’re complete assholes that you don’t come to an accommodation with, rather you do everything possible to eradicate them from the face of the earth.

Is College Worth it?

2011-11-30T15:26:00.002-05:00

I see a lot of mumbling these days about how college isn’t worth the expense. Basically, that's a lot of crap. Aside from the value of education and knowledge for its own sake, there is still a significant financial benefit.

All numbers here are taken from the U.S. Census Bureau income table H-13.

In 2010, the median income for a high school graduate was $38,976. If you managed a 2 year Associate Degree, the median was $56,811. That’s a difference of about $18,000. If you got a 4 year Bachelor’s degree the median increases to $75,568, almost double a high school graduate. That’s a $36,000 difference.

Now let’s consider costs. I’m using New Jersey college costs simply because I’m familiar with the schools.

Let’s start with the Community College route. An Associate Degree at Bergen Community College will run you about $6,500 a year if you go full time. This doesn’t include living expenses because Community Colleges don’t have dorms. That’s a total of $13,000 which you can expect to make back in a couple of years.

If you go the four year college route there are really two basic paths. You can go the private school path which is going to run you between $40,000 and $50,000 a year assuming no grants, scholarships or other financial aid that you don’t need to pay back. So that’s somewhere between $160,000 and $200,000. Those are big numbers but you can expect to recoup that amount, plus any interest paid on loans, in 5 to 10 years. Considering you’ll probably be working al least 40 years, it’s still a good deal.

If you manage to get into a state college the costs drop to $25,000 a year for a total of $100,000 which you can expect to recover, including the interest on loans, in 4 to 5 years or less. That’s pretty much a bargain.

Keep in mind that we’re talking medians here. If we look at mean salary then for a high school graduate it’s $50,561, an Associate Degree $67,790 and a Bachelor’s $94,207. These numbers make a Bachelor’s degree, with a $43,000 difference, even more valuable but an Associate Degree a little less so.

Can you make a lot of money without a college education? Sure, but the odds are against you so ignore the morons that say college isn’t worth it. The numbers say they’re wrong.

What kind of tree is it?

2011-11-30T12:44:00.001-05:00

The answer sort of depends upon who’s tree it is?

A tree in front of a church is most definitely a Christmas Tree. The trees decorated every year in Westwood, River Vale and other towns around the country are whatever people choose to call them. Personally I don’t think I’ve ever used the term “Holiday Tree.” At my house it’s just known as “the tree” and we put it up on Christmas Eve.

You don’t have to be a Christian to recognize that most of the things we do around this time of year are Christmas traditions. Let’s face it, Christmas is the big kahuna of the season and, personally, I’m not threatened by that.

The Nativity Story is a myth. It’s no more real than Santa Claus and his reindeer. But since when have we allowed reality to ruin a good story? Why can’t we just enjoy things for what they are?

If you want to take the story as true, that’s your prerogative. Just try and remember that many of us don’t.

The Wide Weird World

2011-11-29T10:25:00.000-05:00

Sometimes, when considering the ups and downs of life, I feel like someone watching vaudeville skits at a rundown theater in some hick town.

American Airlines has filed for bankruptcy protection so it can restructure and get its costs and debt under control. Translated that means people are about to lose their jobs so “investors” can make money.

Let’s face it, everything is ultimately related to the redistribution of wealth. The Republicans won’t be happy until the top 1% of the population control 99% of the wealth and the rest of us are forced to live on debt and the forbearance of those with the cash.

On the other hand, a man who stole $20 from a cash register at Sears in the 1940s left $100 in repayment at a Sears store in Seattle. Sears says they have the man on video but don’t know who he is and they refuse to release an image for identification. They’ll use his $100 atonement money to help the needy.

And of course we have the woman of the week accusing Herman Cain of another round of sexual misconduct. This time it’s an affair that extended over 13 years. Given the really ugly condition of this lady’s finances, I have to take the story with a grain or two of salt.

Cain appears to have been well cooked by all of this and the new challenger entering the lists is Newt Gingrich. My question here is how can anyone take a man who abandoned two seriously ill wives seriously? We still do value integrity in this country don’t we?

On a more personal note rumors abound where I work of impending significant lay-offs. Do I care? Sort of, I would be forced to retire if my number comes up. Can you imagine me being turned loose on an unsuspecting world?

Tebow, Tebow!

2011-11-18T15:24:00.004-05:00

After whipping the Jets last night with a touchdown run with 58 seconds left, I BELIEVE!

Maybe there is a God?

Tim Terrific is now 4-1 and has the Broncos at .500. Now where did I put that Denver Bronco's jersey catalog?

This is unbelievable. How far can Tim go?

How Credible are Cain’s Accusers?

2011-11-09T15:37:00.003-05:00

I’m honestly not sure.

The first rule is to look for independent confirmation of alleged facts. In this case, that doesn’t appear to be feasible.

Since we can’t independently confirm the alleged facts let’s fall back on logic and common sense.

Four women have accused Cain of sexual misconduct and two women, Sharon Bialek and Karen Kraushaar, have gone public with their accusations. But only Bialek has provided any details.

It’s those details I’ve finding hard to accept. She’s not describing harassment but outright assault. Bialek’s claims moves things from the civil arena into the criminal arena and I can’t believe Cain would act that stupidly. We’re not even talking about someone that Cain had a long association with but someone that was practically a stranger. It makes absolutely no sense. That plus the fact that Bialek never filed any charges leads me to doubt her story.

Kraushaar is a little different. She did file a complaint and received what sounds like a “here’s some money now go away” payment of $45,000 from the National Restaurant Association. What concerns me about Kraushaar is she filed a complaint about “unfair treatment” in her next job. Either this lady has really lousy luck or she’s hyper sensitive. She also hasn’t provided any details so I think I’ll wait before coming to a conclusion.

As for the two unidentified accusers, the 6th Amendment to the Constitution says the accused has the right “to be confronted with the witnesses against him.” I support the Constitution so until that happens, I’m going to have to pretty much ignore them. I have nothing to base their veracity on.

Basically Cain is being asked to prove a negative, to prove something didn’t happen without even being provided with an adequate definition of what that something was. Whatever happened to “innocent until proven guilty?”

I’m going to reserve judgment for the moment but Occam's Razor is sort of pointing toward Cain being something of an insensitive boor on occasion.

Maybe they’re not so dumb

2011-11-09T10:04:00.000-05:00

Since the 1960s I’ve been convinced that the people of Mississippi were the biggest idiots in the world. Phil Ochs’ song “Here’s to the State of Mississippi” and the movie “Mississippi Burning” will give you a pretty good idea why I say that.

But yesterday, Mississippi surprised just about everyone by rejecting the “Personhood Law” on the ballot that would have declared a fetus a “person” under the law from the moment an egg was fertilized.

The law had been proposed by an extreme anti-abortion group and would quite possibly have caused all sorts of legal chaos given that some birth control methods limit the ability of a fertilized egg to nest in the uterus.

Over 55% of Mississippi voters declared the proposed law as going too far and, quite possibly for the first time in my life, I find myself agreeing with the Mississippi majority.

Elsewhere, the voters of Ohio told the Republicans to take their union busting laws and stick them where the sun doesn’t shine. They also told Obama to stop trying to control their lives by approving a measure that said no federal, state or local law could force an employer or individual to participate in a health care system.

Just in case anyone wasn’t aware of it, the good people of Ohio just put all the politicians on notice not to tell them what to do anyhow under any circumstance as they’re quite capable of making their own decisions thank you very much.

In Arizona the architect of Arizona’s controversial immigration law got booted by a moderate Republican (are there still such things?) in a recall election.

And so the pendulum swings yet again.

This is all evidence that most Americans are still moderates with a strong streak of independence. At least for the moment, the Republic seems in good hands once again.

The Dishonesty of Politicians

2011-11-07T15:06:00.000-05:00

Michelle Bachmann has accused her Republican rivals of beings “frugal socialists.”

Now clearly Michelle Bachmann knows what a socialist is and just as clearly knows that none of her opponents can be characterized as one by any stretch of the imagination. But she also knows that the under 80 IQ trailer park Republican base doesn’t know anything about socialism other than “they’re agin it!”

The irony of it all is how many of those red blooded, true American, socialist haters are probably accepting all sorts of government assistance without even knowing that’s Socialism.

Now the other Shoe

2011-11-07T15:04:00.000-05:00

A fourth woman has come forth with allegations against Herman Cain and this time it’s a lot more than vague accusations.

The latest sexual harassment accuser is far more explicit in her charges and has come out publically with her claims. I don’t know whether to believe her or not, but it’s sure starting to get ugly.

Cain, of course, is denying everything in sight and let’s not forget that accusations aren’t convictions. The big problem here is all of this has taken focus off of his idiotic 9-9-9 plan. I would have preferred Cain going down in flames over his silly economic ideas.

And now here’s Timmy

2011-11-07T12:47:00.000-05:00

I don’t hear anyone dissing Tim Tebow this week after he led the Broncos to a 38-24 win over the Oakland Raiders.

Tim Terrific ran for 117 yards in addition to going 10-21 for 124 yards. But the biggest difference, the really big difference, was he was only sacked once after being sacked 13 times in the previous two games.

Ok, let’s not reserve a place in Canton just yet but once the Broncos came up with a game plan that seemed to fit Tebow’s style, he did pretty darn well.

Of course things get really ugly now. Next week the Broncos go to Kansas City, who just laid an enormous egg losing to the previously winless Dolphins 31-3 and should be itching for redemption, then the Jets come to town. Should be interesting.

The Penn State Scandal

2011-11-07T12:46:00.001-05:00

On the one hand my reaction is WTF? On the other I’m disappointed that media is splashing around innuendo unfairly.

That the Athletic Director and a school senior V.P. failed to report the predatory acts of a defensive coordinator at Penn State is bad, really bad, and smacks of a cover-up. But I don’t see that Joe Paterno should be criticized for not doing more than he did.

He reported an incident reported to him by a teaching assistant to his boss the A.D. That was the proper action to take. Anything beyond that would have been meddling where it should not have been necessary. Paterno can’t be blamed for not realizing the A.D. didn’t follow through as he was required to do.

The Herman Cain Accusations

2011-11-07T12:44:00.000-05:00

Dwight Eisenhower, Nelson Rockefeller and Barry Goldwater must be spinning in their graves. The Republican party has become a club for buffoons. Of the current presidential candidates only Mitt Romney and Jon Huntsman have any semblance of decorum.

Now we’ve hit the bottom of the barrel with multiple accusations of sexual harassment against Herman Cain. I don’t know if or what this fool may have done but I wouldn’t put anything past someone who came up with that 9-9-9 scheme.

I really wish the Keystone Cops group of Cain, Perry, Paul, Santorum and Bachmann would go away and take Newt Gingrich with them. That would leave Romney and Huntsman and then maybe we could have an intelligent conversation.

Right now the Republicans are lying to the American people. They’re promising quick fixes to complex problems that won’t work. Perhaps if we got things down to two reasonably intelligent individuals the need to woo the under 80 IQ trailer park set would subside a little and reality might rear its head.

The Trip from Hell

2011-11-01T13:25:00.006-04:00

I’m ambivalent about traveling. I like to see new places, but I’m not fond of the hassles usually involved in getting there and back.

However this last trip is one I’d prefer not to repeat too often.

Leg 1 from Home to Dallas
No issues here. I try to travel as early in the morning as possible in order to avoid woes and delays at the security check in and it worked here. I dragged myself out of bed around 6 AM and hopped on a Limo to Newark Airport around 6:45 AM. No problems on the road and the American Airlines (AA) flight boarded and left on schedule. I spent my lay-over watching the Jets and Chargers. Foolishly I decided to forego eating anything until I got to the hotel in Las Crucas.

Leg 2 from Dallas to El Paso
Things actually started to go sour on this leg two days before the trip began when I got a call from AA that it would be delayed 45 minutes due to an Air Show in El Paso. Well, there wasn’t much I could do about that and it gave me more time to watch the Jets while in Dallas.

We boarded and left at the expected later time and everything was ok until about 15 minutes from El Paso when the pilot came on the intercom. You remember that Air Show? The one that delayed the flight 45 minutes? Well, it still wasn’t over, and we didn’t have enough fuel to circle for as long as they wanted us to circle. So the pilot turned around and headed for Midway-Odessa airport about halfway between Dallas and El Paso.

We proceeded to land, refuel (I wonder who pays for that?) and sit for a little over an hour. We then took off and proceeded on the 45 minute or so flight to El Paso. That was the first time, in the hundreds of flights I’ve taken, that I’d ever been diverted to another airport for any reason. The irony of that statement will become apparent later.

All of the delays included, I got into El Paso about 3 hours later than I originally expected. The really bad part about this was I was stuck in a windows seat. I have a bad left knee and I really need an aisle on my left so I can stretch my foot out but I figured I could survive the short flight. By the time I got off the plane I could barely limp. The pain was bad until I managed to get some Advil the next afternoon and that helped a little. I clearly did some additional damage during that flight somehow.

Now, another reason I like to travel early is to avoid driving in unknown territory when it’s dark. I had never been to El Paso and I still needed to drive to Las Crucas New Mexico. I did get to see the sunset over Fort Bliss as we landed though.

By the time I got the car (a Nissan X-Terra) there was little more than a glimmer over the horizon; by the time I got on Interstate 10 West, it was dark; as I entered New Mexico it was pitch black. I only had a vague idea of how far it was so I started cursing profusely when, after already having driven for a while on IS 10, I saw a sign saying I had 42 miles to go. My knee managed to forcefully remind me of its presence for the entire trip.

The only thing that went well on this leg was the hotel was easy to find and I settled in until 5:30 AM the next morning although my knee managed to insure that I tossed and turned trying to locate a way to make it happy rather than sleep.

Leg 3 to White Sands Missile Range and Back (5 times)
Over the next week it was get up at 5:30 AM, shower, shave, hop downstairs for some free breakfast (scrambled eggs, toast, sausage, coffee and even some French Toast) and then, around 6:30 AM, head for WSMR about 35 miles over the mountains and then to my assigned area which was another 20 miles into the desert. That 20 miles included a 3 mile detour over desert because a stretch of the road was being repaired. I don’t know how many times I took that 20 mile drive over Nike Ave as either a driver or a passenger. I’m guessing at least 15 times over the week. During the entire week I popped a pair of Advils about once every 4 hours including in the middle of the night when my knee reminded me it was time.

If you like food, don’t go to WSMR. The top cuisine was Subway (which ran out of turkey, ham and chicken one day) and that was at headquarters 20 miles back over Nike Ave. Out at the post in the desert you got Boo’s Barbeque at lunchtime. Other than that it was snacks from the vending machine or go out and try to catch some wildlife.

I ate lunch at Subway twice and Boo’s once. That once was more than enough. The other two days I settled for a dark chocolate candy bar.

As for dinner, two days I got back in time to eat at Appleby’s in Las Crucas which I figured was slightly better than the McDonald’s next door. The other three days, including the evening I arrived, it was a bag of popcorn from the free hotel popcorn machine and a free root beer soda.

After five days of this I planned to relocate to El Paso on Friday afternoon in order to (1) get a decent meal and (2) get a decent night’s sleep for my 8 AM flight Saturday morning.

Sure, fat chance. I didn’t get out of WSMR until after 7:30 PM. That meant I had the pleasure of driving the 50 miles or so back to El Paso in the dark and then I had the additional pleasure of finding the hotel in the dark.

How hard could that be? It was at the airport. Yeah, right. The problems were (1) it was really dark and (2) there were no signs! People in El Paso must think it’s unnecessary to tell you what road you’re on anytime after you get on it. I found the Radisson; I found the Marriott; I found the Microtel, a gas station, a 7-11 and the rental car return but I couldn’t find the damn Wyndham.

I’m not the kind of guy that won’t ask for directions. I ask. I asked in the 7-11 and the girl sweeping the store didn’t know. I stopped in the gas station and the guy sweeping the mini-mart didn’t know either but he thought it was in the airport (duh, no kidding).

The problem was the hotel was on Airport Ave. Getting on Airport Ave. from IS 10 was easy but right after you entered the airport the road splits three ways and there was nothing to say which was Airport Ave.

The first time I went to the left and that got me out the other side of the airport where I found the 7-11. The next time I went to the right which got me to the main terminal, the rental car return and out the other side of the airport again. On my third try I went center and bingo, with a sign about the size of a large manila envelope, was the Wyndham. You would think hotels would want a really big sign visible from miles away wouldn’t you?

So much for dinner that night. I managed two fruit & nuts nature bars, six Oreo cookies and a bottle of water. I then popped two Advils and settled in until 5 AM the next morning. The room did come with a free breakfast buffet but that didn’t start until after I was long gone in the morning.

Leg 4 El Paso to Dallas
Considering the way things had gone so far I was a little concerned about this leg. I only had 40 minutes in Dallas to make my connection to Newark. If you know Dallas International Airport, you understand how easily that 40 minute limit can be blown through no fault of your own.

To my surprise, the flight from El Paso left on time, landed a bit early and, wonder of wonders, the gate for my flight to Newark was in the same terminal as the gate where my flight from El Paso landed. Ok, I landed at C4 and had to schlep to C31 with my knee objecting every step of the way but what the heck. The other minor downer was C31 is about the only gate in the whole Dallas airport with no food place in sight but I only had about 15 minutes before the flight boarded anyway.

Leg 5 Dallas to Newark
As I settled into my comfy 26D aisle seat on American Airlines flight 558 and stretched out my left leg luxuriously, I figured I was home free. Yes, I had heard the rumors about snow but it was only October. I was sure we’d just get some light flurries. No big deal. Goes to show you what I know.

About an hour and a half out of Newark, the pilot came on with the wonderful news that all New York area airports, including Newark, were closed due to the snow, and he had to divert to Raleigh-Durham.

WHAT!

I had never had a flight diverted before and now I had the pleasure twice on one trip. Once we landed I called home to get the joyous news that our power was out. They did let us off the plane though. That allowed me to wolf down some KFC and buy a new paperback to read since I had finished the one I brought with me.

After about an hour we got back in the plane and confidently headed for Newark. About half-way there the pilot came on with a little bad news that Newark was struggling with the snow and that we had to circle for about a half hour. Forty minutes later we got the news that we were heading back to Raleigh-Durham.

Again they let us off the plane and I decided I better recharge my cell phone. I was only at it for 10 minutes or so when the word came that the flight crew had exceeded their legal flight time limit and, since no replacement crew was available, we would be spending the night in Raleigh-Durham.

I ran back on the plane to grab my laptop and forgot to take both the book I had just bought and the one I had finished. Even though we boarded the same plane again the next day, I never saw them again.

I’m going to say that the AA agents at Raleigh-Durham did Ok. They did do a few things that made me grind my teeth but overall they managed to get everyone a place to stay. It took about an hour and I was far from the last person because they appeared to call for each person individually.

I got a room at the Holiday Inn, a dinner voucher for $12 and a breakfast voucher for $7. I managed to squeeze into a very full courtesy van to the hotel where I suddenly realized the problem. How many check-ins would one normally expect at a Holiday Inn in Raleigh-Durham around 9 PM Saturday night? Yeah, I wouldn’t expect many either and neither did the Holiday Inn. That left one poor clerk trying to check in the hordes that descended on her.

I actually did pretty well and managed to get my room in about 45 minutes. Some folks were in line until after Midnight. Then I tried to spend the $12 voucher. Forget it. There was an hour wait for even the simplest sandwich at the “Restaurant” at the hotel (which was really a lobby bar with a few tables and a kitchen in back) . One guy at the hotel suggested the Hooter’s next door and I clawed my way up the grass hill to get there despite the objections of my knee only to find out they didn’t accept airline vouchers.

Allow me to digress a bit. I had never been in a Hooter’s before. I’m not a prude; the option had just never presented itself as a solution for anything at any time. From the short time I was in there all I can say is I wish I was 40 years younger.

I slunk back to the hotel and hit the sack. At 5 AM I got up preparing to head for the airport and the 7:40 AM continuation of the infamous flight 558.

I caught the shuttle back to the airport to find a line zigzagging all through the lobby. Luckily, the AA folks were nice enough to provider a special drop off place for our baggage so waiting on the line was unnecessary.

I did manage to grab a breakfast sandwich and headed on down to Gate D19 (which I had been told would be the departure gate). D19 was completely deserted. So were gates D16, D17 and D18. I checked the Departure Board and there was no flight 558.
In fact there were no flights to Newark at all.

Hmmm. I dialed the 1-800 number they had given us to check the departure time and gate and they told me C22 which was completely on the other side of the terminal. As I munched my breakfast sandwich I debated. Stay at D19 or head for C22. I finally decided that the airport clerk was more likely to be right than the phone line clerk and held my ground.

Good choice, as C19 was the right gate.

Only one minor problem, they hadn’t de-iced the plane. A sudden cold snap in Raleigh-Durham had the ground crews scrambling to de-ice and we were an extra flight. That translated into an hour delay and we finally bid adieu to Raleigh-Durham around 8:45 AM Sunday Morning.

After finally landing at Newark, I located my limo driver and we managed to limp around all of the down trees and branches to finally arrive at my home sweet home about an hour after leaving Newark.

My very dark and cold home sweet home because the power (and heat) were still out.

It is now Tuesday afternoon and the power is still out. Supposedly PSE&G has restored power to 83% of its customers. Unfortunately, I’m not one of them. Personally I don’t consider the trip over until I get power and heat back. I’m freezing my tail off. I wanted to go to a hotel but for some bizarre reason my wife didn’t want to go.

If it’s still out tonight, I’m going. Whether she comes or not is up to her.

I'm not that annoyed with American Airlines. They weren't perfect but they did pretty well. PSE&G on the other hand I'm ready to tar and feather.

A block in any direction from my house and there's power. Mine's been out since early Saturday afternoon while other people had it go out for only a few hours on Sunday. WTF guys? Doesn't the length of time its been out factor in?

To add insult to injury I called their automated line to see if I could get an estimate on when power would be restored. It said by Friday December 2nd. Here's hoping the guys doing the repairs are smarter than the guy that created the message.

Ok, Let’s Talk the NFL

2011-11-01T13:24:00.000-04:00

I didn’t do NFL stuff this year because I knew I wouldn’t be able to address it weekly but I figured I should at least say a few things now that we’re almost halfway through the season. The three things I want to talk about are the Eagles, the Lions and Tim Tebow.

The Eagles got off to a rocky start but I’m still betting they’ll win the NFC East and be a factor in the NFC play-offs. I do not like Michael Vick personally but he is one hell of a football player.

As for the Lions, woulda thunk it? After seeing them as the league’s doormat for so many years it’s wild seeing them strutting their stuff. I expect them to also be a factor in the NFC play-offs along with San Francisco and Green Bay. Can’t wait for the first Lions vs. Packers game.

Now let’s talk about little Timmy Tebow. After a miracle finish to beat Miami, the aforementioned Lions dismantled Tebow and the Broncos. Next week the Broncos have the Raiders who I’m sure will employ the same constant pressure strategy that the Lions used.

What I don’t understand is why so many people seem to be taking such pleasure in Tebow’s struggles?

Is it because Christians are doing what they do best and are acting like jerks? Get mad at them and not Tim. Maybe he’s not going to be a top notch NFL quarterback, but he’s not getting any help from his team either.

I especially can’t stand it when these so-called football experts criticize him. Those dorky pundits that never put on pads really shouldn’t talk that way. You suit up and go out there and see how well you do.

As for my beloved Giants, it’s been a decent start but now things get tough. I’m not expecting much for the remainder of the season. I’m still thinking no better than 6-10 which means a 1-8 for the rest of the year. I think that would pretty much finish Tom Coughlin and it’s probably time for him to go anyway.

He and his offensive and defensive coordinators strike me as playing the game like it was played in the past. The game seems to have passed them by. A new coach with fresh ideas might be just what the doctor ordered.

The Wall Street Protests and the 53%

2011-10-17T11:04:00.004-04:00

These are two sides to the economic crisis. First you have the protesters who appear to have a vague understanding that something is wrong. They’re calling themselves the 99% and are trying to call attention to the ongoing wealth disparity in this country.

I agree with them whole heartedly that the disparity is approaching crisis proportions. Unfortunately the message is getting garbled.

On the other side is the conservative counter which labels itself the 53%. The name comes from the fact that some 47% of the population pays no income taxes. Conservatives have been posting their stories on a web site. The stories, typically, portray what I’ll call good old perseverance and hard work. Stories of people that have succeeded despite hardships and disadvantages without asking anything from anyone.

I’m not going to take anything away from these people. They have a right to be proud of what they view as their success in the face of adversity. They view the protesters as whining and looking for handouts rather than putting in the necessary effort to succeed.

To some extent they are correct. But they overlook a number of things. First of all, if they look a little deeper into their success they will find that even though they didn’t overtly ask for help, it was most likely there in the form of government regulations and subsidies.

Second, they don’t realize that it shouldn’t have been as hard as it was. It’s the disparity of wealth and the pure greed that seems to be endemic in society today that has made it such a struggle for so many people including themselves.

Third, and most important, to a lesser or greater extent they’ve been lucky, but there is no guarantee that luck is going to hold. Again, I do not want to disparage their accomplishments, but, in many cases, it’s a lot more fragile than it looks. Overnight their success can change to failure through no fault of their own and that’s the problem.

Now let’s talk about the 47%. According to a Brookings Institute and Urban Institute report, about half of these people pay no tax simply because their liability is eliminated due to the standard provisions of the tax system. These are the same rules we all adhere to. The overwhelming majority of the other half end up with no liability due to tax expenditures for the elderly and the working poor many of which were part of the Bush Tax Cuts.

In other words we’re not talking about people given special privileges here. These are either retired folks who worked their whole lives and the working poor who are doing the best they can. The conservative idea that these people are freeloaders is horseshit.

Let’s also remember that they do pay payroll taxes and state and local taxes. In fact, as shown in the graph, there isn’t a big difference between the percentage of total income and the percentage of total tax liability for the various income groups.

However this graph points out two problems. The first is that 1% of the population should not have 21% of the income. The second is the tax liability should be more progressive with the tax burden increasing faster than it does compared to the income percentage. These are the two primary things the Wall Street protesters need to focus on.

So, as usual, the conservatives have a distorted view of reality. So what else is new?

Missing Baby Lisa

2011-10-17T11:02:00.000-04:00

I hate these stories because they never seem to have a happy ending.

An 11-month old baby girl is missing from a home in Kansas City. She’s been missing for about 2 weeks now and we all know that the longer it goes the smaller the chase for finding the child unharmed.

The latest twist (and these sort of stories always have twists and turns) involved the mom admitting she was drunk the night Lisa disappeared and that she lied about the last time she saw her. Originally she said she saw her around 10:30 PM when she checked on her. Now she’s saying it was closer to 6:40 PM. Four hours is a long time in these situations.

The Kansas City police, FBI and officers from neighboring communities have been taking the neighborhood apart house by house, tree by tree and blade of grass by blade of grass. Military Police from the Missouri National Guard joined the search Monday. So far, nothing. An “anonymous benefactor,” supposedly close to the family, has put up a $100,000 reward. I’m sure there’s a story there as well since these people don’t strike as having many friends with that kind of money.

So what the hell? Where is this kid?

Suspicion immediately falls on the parents in these cases. The father was working the night shift the night the child disappeared. Coincidentally this was his first night shift. I’m married, so I can sort of guess how the wife didn’t care for the change in schedule. Women rarely sit well with anything you do that upsets the routine. Perhaps that’s the reason why she got plastered that night.

This is not sounding terribly encouraging. People don’t break into houses and steal sleeping children. It’s not impossible, but It’s seems unlikely. The alternative is utterly horrible so one can only hope that’s what did happen and a good resolution is right around the corner.

Tim Tebow to Start for Denver

2011-10-12T09:55:00.000-04:00

And this matters why?

It matters because as much as I disagree with Tebow’s religious views, I don’t think they should a factor in whether or not he plays for the Broncos, or any other team, and I can’t help but believe they have been.

Even the story announcing that Tebow would start against the Miami Dolphins included a “Hail Mary Pass” reference saying how appropriate it was that Tim had flung one.

Well I hope the writer’s fooball knowledge exceeds his theological knowledge because I doubt Tim would be saying any "Hail Marys." As a fundamentalist Christian that would be roughly equivalent to him praying to Zeus.

Now let's talk football because that's how Tebow needs to be judged. I say he deserves a chance and John Fox is right to give him one. The man clearly has the kind of passion for the game that makes everyone else around him play better. He’s the kind of player that is capable of producing results way beyond his level of talent and I think the guy’s pretty talented as well. The big questions are how well does he fit into Denver’s offensive scheme and what’s going to happen when teams start preparing for him rather than Kyle Orton.

I don't care for his religious beliefs but that has nothing to do with football. Besides, he's free to believe whatever he wants.

I think some folks are letting their agreement, or disagreement, with his religious outlook color their football judgment. If there is a God (which I doubt), he doesn't play football and he doesn't participate in a fantasy league or weekly pool either.

Cain’s 9-9-9 Plan

2011-10-12T09:50:00.000-04:00

Everyone else seems to be talking about it so I suppose I should too. For those who don’t know what 9-9-9 stands for, it’s a proposal to replace the current federal tax code with a 9% flat income tax, a 9% corporate tax and a 9% federal sales tax. I’m not sure where Social Security taxes fit but I believe they would still be separate under the plan.

I’m going to grade it based upon three qualities. First, Simplicity, I don’t think you should need four accountants to pay your taxes. Second, Revenue Adequacy, you have to take in enough revenue to keep the federal government operating. One can argue its gotten bloated over the years but it still performs a wide range of functions that we’re going to need. Lastly, Fairness, while a tax code doesn’t necessarily have to be fair, I think most people, including me, believe it should be.

As for quality importance, to my mind Revenue Adequacy and Fairness are 5 credit factors and Simplicity is a 3 credit factor. Simplicity is nice but it’s not essential and the other two are.

I wholeheartedly agree that something needs to be done about the federal tax code. It’s too complicated. Cain’s plan is simple and straight forward so, for Simplicity, it gets an “A.”

On the question of Revenue Adequacy I have two concerns. The first is I find it highly unlikely it’s going to bring in anywhere near as much revenue as the current code and, secondly, it’s unclear to me that we’re going to accrue any significant benefit from slicing the corporate tax rate so significantly other than enrich the CEOs, the major stockholders and the corporations themselves. More money means more power and influence and the big corporations have too much of those already. I give Cain’s plan a “D” here and that’s being generous.

Now we come to fairness. The plan clearly favors the rich. A 9% flat tax on income would cut my taxes dramatically and I’m not anywhere near the top income bracket. Pure Flat taxes, where everyone is taxed at the same rate, are regressive and further encourage greed. I believe the tax rate should increase with income and would much prefer a graduated flat tax that started at 0% and worked its way up by marginal income.

In other words, for example, for the first $X no one would pay any taxes. Then from $X+1 to $Y one would pay say 5%; then from $Y+1 to $Z dollars one would pay 10% and so on. For incomes in the millions I would have the marginal tax rate in the 75% range. There would be no deductions, no tax shelters, but the flat rate would increase with income.

A sales tax is also regressive. In fact it’s probably the most regressive type of tax because the poor pay a much larger proportion of their income than the rich. A sales tax is also too easy to get around by buying goods and services outside the country. I can see “duty free” zones springing up on dozens of Caribbean Islands selling foreign goods to rich Americans just to get around the 9% federal tax.

For Fairness, the plan gets a big whopping “F.” I’d give it an F- if there was such a grade.

So let’s do the old college index calculation. ( (3x4)+(1x5)+(0x5))/(3+5+5) = 17/13 = 1.3. That’s a D+ folks so Cain’s plan flunks out.

It’s an interesting idea but I think it needs work. Going with a graduated flat tax on income while reducing the sales tax might be enough to make it a plan I could support, but I can’t support it the way it is.

The “Real” Origins of Christianity

2011-10-10T10:17:00.002-04:00

I took an online course entitled “The Real Origins of Christianity.” I put the real in quotes in the title because it was strikingly obvious to me that we’re dabbling more in opinion and speculation than historical fact.

I did learn a lot of things and did have a number of misconceptions corrected. However, I had some difficulty with the main hypothesis of the instructor.

The instructor was Dr. Richard Carrier who, it is safe to say, sits near the left outer extreme of the continuum associated with the reliability of the gospels. To the extreme right are the fundamentalists that insist that every word is literally true and the text, at least in the original autographs, is inerrant and wholly without contradiction or error. At the opposite end are the ultra-skeptics who don’t even concede that the gospels are based upon a real man. Carrier acknowledges there was a real Jesus, but seems to take the position that the gospels are fiction written to make a point rather than relate a true story.

I had always been of the impression that the gospel story, or at least the Synoptic gospel story, consisted of an accurate core to which had been added mythical elements and which had been massaged to make the message better fit the particular audience. Never in my wildest dreams did I ever consider the idea that the entire story was pure fiction.

Nor do I buy that conclusion now. Carrier is writing a book defending that idea and apparently Robert Price has addressed a similar hypothesis in the “Incredible Shrinking Son of Man: How Reliable is the Gospel Tradition?” So I decided to buy Price’s book while I’m waiting for Carrier to finish his.

Now all I need to do is find time to read it.

The Mormon Question

2011-10-10T09:16:00.001-04:00

There have been some mumbles about Mitt Romney’s religion. A Baptist preacher, who introduced Rick Perry at a forum, told reporters that Romney was not a Christian. The same preacher in 2008 said that Mormonism was a “cult.”

Now, personally, I happen to agree with the preacher that it's a cult. Mormonism was created by a third rate con man and is demonstrably false. It is total and complete crap. Anyone who has actually read the Book of Mormon, and has more than half a brain, could figure that out. Of course it’s so boring that reading it is a feat in itself. Mark Twain called in “Chloroform in print” and I think he was being kind.

Of course the Baptist preacher’s religion is complete crap also, it’s just not as demonstrably so. To my mind anyone that actually believes the tenets of Mormonism is unfit to be allowed anywhere the nuclear codes.

On the Republican campaign trail they’re tiptoeing around the question a bit. Newt Gingrich called the preachers comment “unwise and inappropriate.” Notice however that he didn’t say he was wrong.

Michelle Bachmann mumbled something about religious tolerance but also didn’t say the preacher was wrong.

Hermann Cain acknowledged that Romney was a Mormon and then said “I am not going to do an analysis of Mormonism versus Christianity for the sake of answering that."

Which sort of implies that Cain thinks they’re different doesn’t it?

And then there is Rick Santorum. He simply said something to the effect of if Romney says he’s Christian, I believe him.

Not one of them actually addressed the question. Politicians, you have to love them.

A Palestinian State

2011-09-30T13:49:00.003-04:00

The Palestinians have asked for recognition from the U.N. as a full member nation.

In order to achieve such status a Security Council recommendation is required. The U.S. has indicated it would veto any such recommendation so, unless the Obama administration has an epiphany, that’s not going to happen.

Plan B is to take the request directly to the General Assembly. If 129 out of the 193 member states approve, then the Palestinians would be granted non-member observer status which would be a step up from where they are now as an “observer entity.”

The big benefit would be such a status would allow the Palestinians to join U.N. bodies including the International World Court and that would afford them an opportunity to file charges against Israel for violations of International Law.

The Palestinians claim to have 122 votes and hope to accumulate as many as 150.

Both the U.S. and Israel are saying that such a move would slow down the peace process.

What peace process? Do you people live on the same planet I do?

Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu clearly has no interest in negotiating anything while he continues to illegally build additional West Bank settlements.

Secure in the assumption that no U.S. president will risk the political fallout of not supporting Israel, Netanyahu isn’t going to budge. He demonstrated this by his raising such a hullabaloo about Obama saying that any negotiation STARTS with the 1967 borders. This has been the agreement for a decade. Note that this is the start and not the end point. No one expects Israel to return to the 1967 borders.

I say go for it Palestine. Time to shake some things up and see what falls out.

Michelle Bachmann and Arab Spring

2011-09-30T13:47:00.001-04:00

Michelle Bachmann has decided that Arab Spring, which resulted in the toppling of three dictators and gave hope to the emergence of democracy in the Arab World, was a BAD thing.

Am I missing something here or a is Bachmann a bigger idiot than I thought she was?

Granted, the jury is still out on the final outcome of the popular uprisings in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya but I would think that the U.S. would support people rebelling against dictatorships.

Is it possible Egypt will emerge as a Islamic State? Yes it is. But if that’s what her people want, so be it. That’s how Democracy works.

Anwar al-Awlaki and Ron Paul

2011-09-30T13:45:00.001-04:00

Al-Awlaki was an American born radical Islamic terrorist that has spent the last few years recruiting in the west for Al-Qaeda. He was killed in Yemen by an American drone strike.

Ron Paul, running for the Republican presidential nomination, thinks this was a terrible thing to do and that Al-Awlaki, as a American citizen, was entitled to a trial.

As I’ve said before, not only does Ron Paul not have any answers, he doesn’t even know what the questions are.

One of the few things I agreed on with George W. Bush was treating the confrontation with terrorism as a war. Article III of the United States Constitution defines treason as:

“Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort.”

I think it is safe to say that Al-Awlaki, by this definition, committed treason. Article III goes on to say.

“No Person shall be convicted of Treason unless on the Testimony of two Witnesses to the same overt Act, or on Confession in open Court.”

I would consider his open recruiting for Al-Qaeda and bombastic sermons equivalent to a “Confession in open Court.”

Besides, no one has any rights in a battle during war. In this war, drone strikes are part of the fighting. Al-Awlaki wasn’t assassinated as Ron Paul claims, he was killed as part of a military action.

If he had been captured I would have agreed with a trial but I can’t justify not taking him out when the chance presented itself.

In other words, good enough for me and good riddance.

A Little Extra at Lions Games

2011-09-29T13:22:00.000-04:00

What could be better than an NFL football game, cold beer and food?

Apparently in Detroit some enterprising folks are providing a mobile strip joint for those tailgaters that have everything else.

According to the AP, The “Booty Lounge,” a black and red bus complete with two stages, associated dancing poles and a smoke machine were allowing Lions fans access after a $10 “donation.”

Needless to say the Detroit police are taking a dim view of the arrangement and are investigating the incident to determine if the setup is illegal. At the very least the operators haven’t paid for the special license needed by strip joints.

Hey, after the last 10 years of lousy Lions football I think they should give their fans a break. On the other hand, the Lions, along with the Bills are looking pretty good this year.

The Republican Race

2011-09-29T13:06:00.000-04:00

Well, a month has gone by and Rick Perry has apparently talked his way out of first place in the race for the 2012 Republican nomination.

In the latest Fox News Poll, the numbers came out like this:

Mitt Romney – 23%
Rick Perry – 19%
Herman Cain – 17%
Newt Gingrich – 11%
Ron Paul – 6%
Jon Huntsman – 4%
Michelle Bachmann – 3%
Rick Santorum – 3%

The other two big stories are the sudden surge of Herman Cain after his Florida Straw Poll win and the total collapse of Michelle Bachmann. The falls of Perry and Bachmann lead me to hope that while the American people are really freaking dumb, they’re not all complete idiots.

I don’t know what to make of Cain. I’m betting this is a temporary bubble like Bachmann’s temporary bubble. I’m thinking it’s going to be a two man race with Romney ultimately beating out Perry.

Why? Because Romney has the widest appeal, he’s not likely to say anything so extreme as to turn people off and he’s got the best chance against Obama and most Republicans know it.

They’ll play around with the idea of nominating someone else but, in the final analysis, the fat cat portion of the party will have its way and that way will be Romney.

Troy Davis

2011-09-20T12:44:00.000-04:00

Troy Davis is scheduled to be executed in Georgia tomorrow for the murder of an off-duty police officer in 1989. A last ditch appeal to Georgia’s pardon board was rejected on Monday.

The question on the table is whether Davis is in fact guilty of the crime for which he was convicted. A number of witnesses that testified against him have recanted their testimony. Other potential witnesses claim that another person actually committed the crime.

Yet, Davis was unable to convince a federal judge to give him a new trial and the Georgia Supreme Court has upheld his conviction. Prosecutors say they have no doubt they charged the right man with the crime.

I’m not sure what to say about this. While it seems there is significant doubt, the case has been looked at in detail and no one seemed to think there was enough doubt. This is precisely the reason I oppose the death penalty. The potential of an error easily outweighs any perceived advantage.

Psalm 46

2011-09-12T14:08:00.005-04:00

At the 9-11 ceremonies yesterday President Obama reportedly read from Psalm 46. You will excuse me but I find the Psalm especially inappropriate.

“God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.”

Well then why didn’t he stop the planes from hitting the towers? This is basically bullshit of the first order of magnitude. You can trust your own right arm and your intelligence and that’s about it. This is the kind of crap the elite spew to keep the riff-raff in line.

“Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall; he lifts his voice, the earth melts.”

Yet the nations remain in an uproar, wars still rage and people still die. If this all powerful God can end war then why doesn’t he?

“He makes wars cease to the ends of the earth. He breaks the bow and shatters the spear; he burns the shields with fire.”

Not that I’ve noticed. As a matter of fact, wars go their merry way just as if there was no such thing as a God. Amazing isn’t it?

“He says, ‘Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.’”

Conceited son of a bitch isn’t he? One wonders why an all powerful being would be such a megalomaniac as to require the exaltation and worship of his pitiful so-called creations.

Like I said, I find this Psalm particularly inappropriate given it was religious fanatics with an eye toward exalting their God that flew the planes into the towers.

Some 9-11 thoughts on 9-12

2011-09-12T14:05:00.001-04:00

I’m not the sentimental type. I respect those that lost people close to them in the attacks and I’m especially prepared to recognize the courage of those who tried to help and in doing so became victims themselves.

I think a moment of silence on the anniversary or a modest ceremony at the three main sites is appropriate. What is not appropriate is a week of constant media noise and the violation of the U.S. Constitution with readings from the Bible.

I guarantee you that some of those lost on that day did not recognize the Bible as Holy Scripture nor the existence of God. So you might as well have spit on their graves especially considering the fact that it was religious morons that killed them.

Granted, this was the tenth anniversary, and cardinal anniversaries tend to be looked upon as having special significance, but enough already. How many others have died in the resulting conflicts around the world since 9-11-2001 and has anyone really bothered to address the problems that led to the attack so that countless others won’t die?

Of course not. That would mean putting aside our cherished notions and facing up to reality. We certainly wouldn’t want to do that now would we?

They keep saying everything changed on 9-11. I wish that were true, but it isn’t. Nothing has changed other than simmering antagonisms were escalated into full scale shooting wars perhaps earlier than they would have been. All of the underlying causes still exist. The tension in Palestine is still there and fundamentalist religion, both Islamic and Christian, continues to impede the maturing of society.

This guarantees there will be another attack. The only questions are when, where and how.

A fee for prison visits?

2011-09-12T14:03:00.000-04:00

How do people come up with these ideas?

The state of Arizona is charging a one-time $25 fee for anyone that wants to visit someone in an Arizona prison. Supposedly the fee is to cover the costs of a background check (they do background checks on people that visit prison inmates?).

Unsurprisingly the fee is being challenged as unconstitutional on the grounds that it is a special tax. Critics have also argued that it has nothing to do with background checks and the money simply goes into the general fund for prison maintenance. A charge supposedly admitted to by a corrections official in an interview with the U.K. Daily Mail.

You would think that someone would realize such a fee would get challenged in the courts wouldn’t you?

Why not go all the way? Why make it a one-time fee? Why not $25 every time you visit or have a renewal fee every year?

Sure, just what you want, isolate prison inmates from their support group to insure they become hardened criminals and gang members.

The Jobs Bill

2011-09-09T13:19:00.000-04:00

If nothing else Obama presented an “in your face we need to get our act together” speech to congress and the nation last night.

I sort of agree with a lot of what he said. I do think we need to reform the tax code. I do think the rich should be paying more taxes on excessive income. As a matter of fact I think that tax rate should be so prohibitive as to dampen the unbridled greed that is running amok in the U.S. I also agree we should be closing corporate tax loopholes and rewarding companies that manufacture here in the U.S.

I’m sure the Republicans loved the speech too because they could hear the coins headed their way from the corporate lobbyists to make sure none of these ideas are implemented in any way that would inconvenience corporate American and the wealthy elite.

In other words, expect the Republicans to place roadblocks in front of everything. Besides, why would they want Obama to succeed?

Drug Testing, more Conservative Bull

2011-08-31T09:26:00.002-04:00

In Florida they have a “great” idea. They’re going to keep them welfare cheats from using taxpayer’s hard earned dollars for drugs. How are they going to do that you ask? By requiring welfare applicants to first take a drug test, at their own expense, before receiving any benefits. In the, according to Conservatives, “unlikely event” they’re clean, the state reimburses them for the test.

How has this worked out so far? Well, according to a Florida TV station, of the first 40 applicants tested only 2 came up positive and one of those is contesting the test. Not providing welfare benefits to the two that failed the test would save Florida $240 a month. Cost of the 40 tests? $1,140. That means it would take Florida 5 months to recoup the dollars spent on testing and the failed applicants can retest in 12 months.

And that’s not to mention what it’s going to cost to defend the policy in court as I guarantee you it will be challenged as violating the 4th Amendment.

It’s been my experience that there are two types of Conservatives. The rich ones and the poor ones. The rich ones play the poor ones like a fiddle and their objective is to get richer. The poor are uneducated, ignorant slobs that have somehow been convinced that all of their troubles are the result of their money being used to subsidize those even poorer than themselves.

In their left hand they have their bible and in their right hand they have their gun and between their ears is mostly empty space. They are kept riled up on nonsense issues like gay marriage. They’re constantly being told the government is spending their money when the fact of the matter is they’re far more likely to be beneficiaries of government spending and the cuts their rich buddies keep pushing for are most likely to land right on their own heads.

No one likes to live from pay check to pay check or be in dept but chasing boogey men isn’t going to help resolve the problem. I think government spending needs to be cut back as well but we also need to rebalance the distribution of wealth in this country and stop the constant rampant greed that has driven our economy to the brink of disaster.

As for the drug testing, I’m betting it fails the constitutional test and would lose money in the long run anyway so why bother?

Hurricane Irene

2011-08-29T13:05:00.002-04:00

This was just another example demonstrating that the media and our so-called leaders are out of touch with reality.

After days of dire warnings of doom, it turns out they weren’t even focused on the right issues. The massive storm surge never materialized but inland there was flooding and lots of it.

This turned out to be not nearly as bad as the storm in March of 2010 that knocked down trees all over the place but the amount of rain, piled on top of already swollen streams and rivers, was an absolute mess.

My power has been going off and on like a yo-yo goes up and down after being out all day yesterday and most of the night. The surges appear to have fried at least one power strip.

If half the effort spent on unrealistic predictions of doom had been spent on preparing for the inevitable flooding and power issues, this would have been a “disaster” that almost no one noticed. Of course, for some folk, it was a disaster.

That it wasn’t a total catastrophe is of course a good thing. That it was blown quite a bit out of proportion by the hype is not because, like crying wolf, the next time around people might not believe you.

Oh That's Just Creepy

2011-08-25T10:18:00.005-04:00

It seems Libyan rebels found a book with pictures of Condoleeza Rice in Omar Ghadafi's lair.

That's really creepy. If I was Rice I'd be really grossed out. Then again, I hear they shared a late dinner to break the Ramadan fast a few years ago so who knows?

I guess it could have been worse. It could have been a book with Dick Cheney photos.

The East Coast Earthquake

2011-08-25T10:11:00.006-04:00

Yeah, I felt it. I could feel a slight tremor in the building and one of the table chairs in my office started to squeak as it shook back and forth.

It was sort of weird but so slight as to not be much of a big deal.

That's the second mild earthquake I've been through. The first was in California and was so slight that I slept through the whole thing.

I suspect hurricane Irene might be a tad dicier if it lands on the New Jersey coast. Maybe I'll get lucky and it will swing out to sea.

Rick Perry the Frontrunner?

2011-08-25T10:07:00.002-04:00

According to a Gallup poll Rick Perry has overtaken Mitt Romney and has a 12 point lead. Ron Paul is third and Michelle Bachmann looks to be a fairly distant fourth.

The poll also shows that virtually all of Perry’s support comes from the extreme Right Wing of the Republican Party.

So now comes the question, can someone who is so extreme win a presidential election in the United States? The conventional wisdom used to be that neither an extreme right wing nor an extreme left wing candidate could win. But that was before Evangelical Christians organized themselves into a political power and the economy fell on its face.

Here’s the deal, some people are going to vote for Perry no matter what and some people are not going to vote for him no matter what. That leaves the so-called middle of the road moderate voters.

Obama has not done a great job. He especially has not done a great job with the deficit in particular and the economy in general. I now think that Mitt Romney could beat him. But could Rick Perry beat him?

I have my doubts unless Perry shifts toward the center in the general election and gets the electorate to buy it. The American electorate is certainly gullible enough to buy such a shift and the big business faction of the Republican Party still has enough clout to force it so you never know.

I find it utterly appalling, that in the 21st century, a man who believes that “Intelligent Design” is science and should be taught along with evolution might end up as president of the United States.

What’s with the Tim Tebow Hullabaloo?

2011-08-25T09:46:00.000-04:00

Tim Tebow wouldn’t be the first college star to struggle in the NFL. He wouldn’t even be the first to utterly strike out in the NFL. So what if he may not be a Ben Roethlisberger ready to go almost immediately?

Give the guy a break already.

Playing in the NFL is hard. Playing quarterback in the NFL is damn near impossible. Tebow is facing three problems. First the offense run at Florida wasn’t a Pro-style offense. Second, Florida had a lot more football talent than most of its opponents. In the NFL, parity is the norm and Denver isn’t threatening to roll into the Super Bowl any time soon. The third problem is simply the high expectations and the glare of being under the microscope.

There’s nothing we can do about the first two problems, they’re water under the bridge, but at least the media can lay off the kid already and give him a chance. John Fox knows what he’s doing on a football field as opposed to McDaniels who I always suspected had the wrong motives with Tebow.

I have my issues with Christian Fundamentalists but that doesn’t have anything to do with playing football. I wonder if the guy ever got laid? Maybe that’s his problem. I don’t think there’s ever been a successful virgin NFL quarterback. Hell, I don’t think there’s ever been a virgin NFL quarterback period.

Rick Perry and the Constitution

2011-08-23T11:00:00.002-04:00

Rick Perry thinks the United States Constitution needs some changes. I don’t necessarily disagree with that, but let’s examine the seven changes he would like to make.

1. Abolish lifetime tenure for federal judges by amending Article III, Section I of the Constitution.

The whole idea of lifetime tenure is to isolate the judiciary from political ramifications. If a judge really goes rogue, there is always impeachment as an option. This is a bad idea. Sometimes the court has to make politically unpopular decisions and it needs to have the freedom to do so. Perry wants to make the judiciary politically accountable which is precisely what the framers of the constitution were trying to avoid.

2. Congress should have the power to override Supreme Court decisions with a two-thirds vote.

Congress and the states can already override Supreme Court decisions with a two-thirds congressional vote and the agreement of three-quarters of the state legislatures. It’s called the amendment process. The process is made difficult on purpose but it can be argued it has occurred seven times in U.S. history so when it’s necessary, it can happen. This also strikes at the independence of the judiciary and is another bad idea.

3. Scrap the federal income tax by repealing the Sixteenth Amendment.

First of all one doesn’t need to repeal the sixteenth amendment in order to replace the income tax. The sixteenth amendment allows income taxes, it doesn’t require them. Second, before I can say whether eliminating the federal income tax is a good idea or not, I’d need to know what Perry intends to replace it with.

4. End the direct election of senators by repealing the Seventeenth Amendment.

This would just about guarantee that senators would be owned by the big corporations and back room local politics. I don’t see any problem with direct election so why bother to change it?

5. Require the federal government to balance its budget every year.

I actually like this idea except that we all know that any such amendment would have to include escape clauses to cover times of emergency such as war or natural disaster. If it took a two-thirds majority of congress to allow deficit spending, I might go along with this proposal. We cannot continue down the road of spending more than we have.

6. The federal Constitution should define marriage as between one man and one woman in all 50 states.

Oh well, so much for State’s Rights and Libertarianism. Aside from the fact that this doesn’t have a snowball’s chance in hell of passing, this would dramatically cripple the 14th Amendment by making an exception to equality under the law. If I can make an exception for Gays, then why not Muslims or Blacks? No, this isn’t a slippery slope argument because I’m not claiming this would happen, I’m simply asking how it is theoretically different. Obviously, I’m opposed to this idea.

7. Abortion should be made illegal throughout the country.

What is it that drives conservatives to want and regulate how people live? How about you mind your own business about what one does with their own body? Again, obviously, I’m opposed.

So, I sort of like one idea, need more information about a second before I can decide and oppose the other five rather vehemently. This is one reason why I wouldn’t vote for Rick Perry unless the only alternative was Michelle Bachmann.

Science and the GOP

2011-08-18T09:24:00.002-04:00

The ignorance of the people we consider for the presidency never ceases to amaze me. Let’s go down the GOP list shall we.

Rick Perry
Perry believes the “issue of global warming has been politicized” and “there are a substantial number of scientists who have manipulated data so that they will have dollars rolling into their projects.”

Perry also says “we're seeing, almost weekly or daily, scientists are coming forward and questioning the original idea that manmade global warming is what is causing the climate to change.”

The only people that have “politicized” global warming are the Republicans. As for accusing scientists of what amounts to fraud, Perry is walking on very thin ice, but then what do you expect from a man that accepts the support of hate groups. This accusation most likely dates back to the “climate-gate” e-mail furor from 2009 which turned out to be much ado about nothing.

As for scientists daily or weekly questioning the idea of manmade global warming, this smacks of the creationist claim that scientists are abandoning evolution. Neither statement is even remotely true.

Speaking of evolution, Perry says he is a “firm believer in Intelligent Design as a matter of faith and intellect,” which gives you a pretty good idea of his lack of intellect, and he believes “it should be presented in schools alongside the theories of evolution."

Now a lot depends upon what he means by “presented in schools.” Presenting Intelligent Design as a religious alternative to the science of evolution that some people believe, is not necessarily a problem as long as it is made clear that the scientific community rejects the notion.

Michelle Bachmann
Bachmann think global warming is based upon “manufactured science” and that carbon dioxide is a “harmless gas.” Michelle Bachmann is a moron. Ignorance is one thing but sheer stupidity is something else. As for evolution, Bachmann says “evolution has never been proven,” a statement that says volumes about her science ignorance, and she supports “putting all science on the table and then letting students decide."

Of course if we actually did what she says, nothing would change because the Theory of Evolution is the only science.

Ron Paul
Paul thinks climate change is “the greatest hoax I think that has been around for many, many years, if not hundreds of years" and "Pollution can be better taken care of under a private market system, under private property."

Hundreds of years? Earth to Paul, earth to Paul, come in Paul. That may well be the dumbest statement of the lot. As for pollution being better taken care of under a private market system, then why hasn’t it been? Why has it always required government regulations?

Paul says “nobody has concrete proof” for evolution which also speaks volumes about Paul’s science ignorance. He then goes on to mumble something about how it only matters in government schools whether you’re “fair in teaching that the earth could have been created by a creator or it came out of a pop, out of nowhere?”

Clearly Paul doesn’t even understand the question.

Mitt Romney
Romney is actually pretty rational for a Republican.

On global warming Romney has said "I believe, based on what I read, that the world is getting warmer" and "I believe that humans contribute to that."

On evolution, Romney takes the theistic evolution position. He says he believes "God designed the universe" and that he believes God "used the process of evolution to create the human body." He opposed the teaching of intelligent design in public-school science classes when he was governor of Massachusetts. "The science class is where to teach evolution, or if there are any other scientific thoughts that need to be discussed," he told The New York Times. "If we're going to talk about more philosophical matters, like why it was created, and was there an intelligent designer behind it, that's for the religion class or philosophy class or social studies class."

I can live with the theistic evolution position. I think it’s wrong, but I can live with it. The positions of the other three fools are totally unacceptable.

I wouldn’t be caught dead voting for a Republican but I could support Mitt Romney as president. If any of the other three get elected I’m moving to the South Seas.

A Bert and Ernie Wedding?

2011-08-09T14:32:00.003-04:00

There are those pushing PBS to have Bert and Ernie, of Sesame Street fame, tie the knot as a gay couple.

Personally I think this is one of the dumbest ideas I've ever heard.

First of all, Bert and Ernie, despite conjecture, are not officially gay. They're simply roommates. If PBS had previously made it clear they were a gay couple, then maybe. But, given the current situation, the idea makes no sense.

This is also introducing a cultural outlook that is (1) outside the pre-school educational mandate of the show, (2) way beyond the understanding of the audience and (3) violently opposed by the parents of many of the kids watching the show.

We wouldn't want the little ones to think mommy and daddy are bigoted assholes would we?

Ok, I couldn't resist that last jab. Seriously, this is an issue to be ironed out by adults in adult forums. I'm all for teaching tolerance, but this goes beyond simple tolerance. This is indoctrination.

Hasa Diga Eebowai

2011-08-08T11:11:00.002-04:00

I went to see "The Book of Mormon" on Broadway last night and my favorite number had to be "Hasa Diga Eebowai." I'll leave it to the reader to find out the translation.

The play had kind of an interesting approach to the topic of religion. While making it clear that blind faith and accepting things that don't make any sense amount to intellectual suicide, the play also acknowledges that religion can often provide solice and guidance when life throws bad things your way. Something that it will do sooner or later.

I guess it's the old question of do you prefer a harsh and depressing reality or would you prefer a comforting lie. I'd rather have the reality, regardless of how harsh, then fool myself.

No more AAA Rating for the U.S.

2011-08-08T10:58:00.000-04:00

Well, S&P has done it. They’ve downgraded the U.S. credit rating. The administration fired back with criticism of S&P claiming it made a $2 trillion dollar error. S&P fired back calling the whole “debt ceiling” process a debacle and warned of other downgrades to follow.

While they sort that out markets around the world tumbled and in Europe the central bank initiated a bond buying program to heads off a default by Italy or Spain.

Talk about an impending economic catastrophe.

Allow me to quote myself from February of 2010 “…not taking steps to correct the deficit will lead to, not only a new recession, but a potential economic catastrophe that would make the upheaval of the Great Depression look like boom times.”

We are in serious trouble and I don’t honestly see us making any progress to out of the morass we’re in. Balancing the budget has to happen and it can’t happen only with budget cuts. A tax increase is not only inevitable, but necessary, so let’s get working on it already.

Obama has not done a good job here and neither has the congress. The problem is the two parties have totally opposite objectives and answer to two totally different electoral bases. I say we kick the southern states out of the union and let them go elect their Tea Party and see how well that works out.

Christie Slams Sharia Law Fearmongers

2011-08-05T12:46:00.003-04:00

Will wonders never cease. I not only agree with Governor Chris Christie on something but I'm sending him an "Atta Boy" e-mail.

The governor of New Jersey defended his decision to nominate a Muslin to the New Jersey Superior courts against conservative nut cases claiming the appointee would implement Sharia Law by calling the idea "crazy" and "crap."

Allow me to quote Chris, "Sharia law has nothing to do with this at all. It's crazy. It's crazy. The guy's an American citizen who has been an admitted lawyer to practice in the state of New Jersey, swearing an oath to uphold the laws of New Jersey, the constitution of the state of New Jersey, and the Constitution of the United States of America . . . .This Sharia law business is crap. It's just crazy. And I'm tired of dealing with the crazies."

A lot of us are tired of dealing with crazies but Rush Limbaugh still has a radio show, Ann Coulter still appears on Faux News, Creationists still try to undermine evolutionary science and Michelle Bachmann is still running for President.

When do we exceed our quota for crazies and shut the damn door on these morons?

Oh My

2011-07-24T16:28:00.003-04:00

Almost a whole month without a single post.

Sometimes you just can't get around to doing all the things you want to do because of the things you need to do.

Ah well, complaining isn't going to change anything. I think I'll just put down some impressions from the last month.

The Debt Ceiling
I'd like to say that the stalemate is the result of two different viewpoints on what's best for the country. Unfortunately I have this feeling that it's based upon two different viewpoints on what's best for the politicians involved.

Casey Anthony
Not since O.J. Simpson have so many people been so incensed about a verdict. Why? Because a lot of people have this feeling that this is a case of "not proven guilty" rather than a case of being innocent. I have to respect the decision of the jurors. They heard the evidence and saw the body language and I didn't. I do think Nancy Grace should be ashamed of her biased coverage and CNN should seriously consider booting her rear end out the door.

Michele Bachmann
It's hard to believe that someone could actually make Sarah Palin look like an acceptable candidate but Bachmann is coming close. Not only is hubby engaging in Reparative Therapy but Bachmann herself claims to be receiving directions straight from God. She wins, I break out my sniper rifle.

Dodgers File for Bankruptcy

2011-06-27T16:13:00.000-04:00

That the Los Angeles Dodgers need bankruptcy protection boggles the mind. That one of the oldest, and I always thought most lucrative, baseball franchises can be broke strikes at the very foundation of the American Dream.

I could understand General Motors troubles but how the hell do you lose money if you’re the Dodgers?

Does the phrase glaring fiscal incompetency conjure up a picture for you because I can’t imagine what else could have gone wrong.

What would Walter O’Malley say?

I know what the Flatbush Faithful would say, “it soives dem Bums right for leavin’ Brooklyn.”

Muslim Women and Sports Uniforms

2011-06-27T12:24:00.004-04:00

FIFA wouldn’t allow the Iranian Women’s soccer team to compete because they considered their head to toe covering uniforms a safety hazard.

A Muslim-American female weight lifter has been barred from competing at the higher levels of competition because she wears the hijab which fully covers her arms, legs and head. This violates the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) rules, which govern USA Weightlifting, designed to insure the judges can see whether the elbows and knees are locked which is required for a lift to be successful.

Billy Jean King’s Women’s Sports Foundation (WSF), which apparently worries about stuff like this, has issued guidelines on uniform restrictions saying restrictions should focus on not allowing an unfair advantage, not introducing a safety hazard and not making it difficult for judges.

The problem of course is both of the current objections, by FIFA and the IWF, are within these guidelines. One was deemed a safety hazard and the other may in fact cause problems for judges.

This is the kind of story that can easily bring out the worst in someone. I have to admit that my immediate reaction was “it’s women’s sports. Who cares?”

When I got my male chauvinist inclination under control I thought why should everyone else have to accommodate Muslims? When the World Series interfered with Yom Kippur, Sandy Koufax simply didn’t pitch. He didn’t ask Major League Baseball to adjust the schedule.

Then I remembered that little thing called the 1st Amendment and reconsidered.

If you believe in the Constitution then you have to support what the Constitution says even when you’re not all that enthused about it. Either we live by the rule of law or we don’t’.

So, after considering it rationally for a bit, I sort of agree with the WSF guidelines. Unfortunately those guidelines are very subjective.

Still, I’m sure someone can figure out a way to work this out. Doesn’t sound like rocket science to me. As much as I think the Muslim idea of female modesty is utterly ridiculous, the 1st Amendment says they have every right to be ridiculous. I would also think it’s in the best interest of the governing bodies to work something out. Unless of course the governing bodies don’t care because it’s women’s sports.

The Republicans

2011-06-27T10:29:00.003-04:00

A recent Iowa poll shows Michelle Bachmann now even with Mitt Romney and that scares the hell out of me.

Bachmann is a certifiable lunatic. I don’t want this lady anywhere near the nuclear codes. She thinks the world is 6,000 years old and that Climate Change is a hoax (by who and why one wonders?).

I will grant that her education appears to give her the necessary credentials to be president but clearly her schooling hasn’t made her educated. Just what we need, another god damned Christian fundamentalist in the White House.

Let’s face it, Romney can’t win the Republican nomination. He’s the type that will always be a bride’s maid and never a bride. So who does that leave? If I had to pick a Republican it would be Jon Huntsman but I think he’s too rational for the Republican base.

Then again, McCain won in 2008 so you never know.

I mean, talk about the inmates trying to take over the asylum. Hopefully Bachmann will self destruct in the not too distant future but perhaps not.

The problem with lunatic fringe candidates like her is her supporters are too irrational to ever give up on her for any reason and a lot of people may not take her seriously until it’s too late. That’s one good point about her polling high early, it forces people to take her seriously and notice what a moron she is.

On the other hand, I might prefer her over Palin which really tells you a lot about what I think about Palin. What is it about the Republicans that they attract such lunatic females? Oh yeah, that’s right, a lot of the males are lunatics too.

I'm not voting Republican anyway. I wouldn't vote Republican if you held a gun to my head. My only interest is how scary is the 2012 campaign going to be. So far, looks like it's going to be pretty scary.

A Win for Gay Marriage in New York

2011-06-27T10:28:00.000-04:00

Much to my surprise Governor Cuomo managed to pull it off and get Gay Marriage legalized in New York.

Cuomo managed to put together an unlikely coalition including a number of high profile Wall Street GOP supporters to allay fears that voting for Gay Marriage was the death knell for a Republican legislator.

We’ll see how well that one works out.

Even more amazing was Cuomo’s ability to somehow manage to neutralize the Catholic Church which, in the final analysis, did little more than whimper in opposition to the bill.

Well, now there are six. Here’s hoping this will cause Rhode Island and Maryland to reconsider their recent failures in this area.

Financial Crisis

2011-06-22T12:48:00.000-04:00

The Congressional Budget Office, in its mid-year long term budget forecast, has again warned that the U.S. is headed for a financial crisis based upon its level of debt.

This is the same warning that Congress and the White House didn’t take to heart last January. The really scary part is there are two scenarios. The Baseline Scenario and an Alternative Scenario. The Baseline Scenario is bad but the Alternative Scenario is a financial nightmare.

The Baseline Scenario assumes that tax rates will return to their 2000 levels by the end of 2012 and that Congress will enforce Medicare cuts mandated in a 1997 law. The CBO, in its Alternative Scenario, predicts that Congress will do neither of these two things.

I can’t take the Republicans seriously as long as they insist on not only maintaining the current maximum tax rate but are proposing to lower it significantly. I can’t take the Democrats seriously because they seem to act like a teenager who doesn’t realize that the credit card bill has to be paid someday.

Do I have a third alternative?

Evolution, Fact and Theory

2011-06-21T10:54:00.004-04:00

I just read an article by Jonathan Dudley on Huffington Post arguing that Evangelicals are abandoning Christian tradition when rejecting the Theory of Evolution.

Dudley quotes Charles Hodge, considered the father of modern evangelical theology, as saying: "Nature is as truly a revelation of God as the Bible; and we only interpret the Word of God by the Word of God when we interpret the Bible by science."

Dudley then goes on to say that “Christians must accept sound science, not because they don't believe God created the world, but precisely because they do.”

Dudley then points out that those that reject evolution “claim their rejection of evolution is not a rejection of science” and quotes Phillip Johnson as saying that “all he's rejecting is the atheistic lens through which evolutionary scientists view the world.” According to Johnson evolution is "based not upon any incontrovertible empirical evidence, but upon a highly philosophical presupposition."

No Phil baby, evolution is based upon what is considered the best explanation of the empirical evidence that we do have. As far as I know, no empirical evidence is "incontrovertable" which is why all scientific conclusions are tentative. If you have a better explanation, feel free to present it.

Dudley proceeds to reject Johnson’s argument based upon the simple fact that creationism has failed to provide any explanation for most of the data that evolution does explain, and that allows evolution to make accurate predictions.

I’m not sure I buy Dudley’s argument myself but what I found most distressful were the comments to the article. Whenever I read comments to Internet articles I get concerned for the ability of the human race to survive in the nuclear era. I honestly don’t understand how people this ignorant manage to brush their teeth, never mind use a computer.

The center of debate revolved around the old confusion of fact versus theory.

A Fact is a simple observation. Evolution, which simply means “descent with modification,” is a simple observation and therefore it is a Fact. A Theory explains how and why Facts happen and the implications of their happening. The Theory of Evolution addresses these questions for the Fact of Evolution.

In the final analysis the only parts that get people upset are the implications of evolution.

I might also point out that we are not comparing what “God says” versus what “scientists say.” We are comparing what “scientists say” versus what “some men say God says.”

To my mind those men, who claim to speak for God, are a hell of a lot more likely to be wrong than modern science. It makes no sense for God to design a creation 6,000 years ago which looks like it’s billions of years old. It makes no sense for God to create man in his present form and then scatter thousands of fossils that provide clear evidence of the progression of man over time.

To reject evolution is essentially to call the deity a deceiver. Even I’m not willing to perform that sacrilege.

Making fun of your principal is Free Speech

2011-06-20T12:52:00.000-04:00

Apparently, according to a Pennsylvania federal court, it’s within a student’s right of free speech to make fun of the principal on-line.

The court sided with students in two cases, but in one case by 14-0 margin and in the other only by 8-6, so clearly there is a line beyond which the 1st amendment won’t protect you. Now all we have to do is figure out where that line is.

I have to agree with the court here. While such antics might be in poor taste, it’s not up to the school to discipline for out of school hijinks as long as things don’t go too far. What’s “too far?” Well, that’s that line that exists somewhere. My advice is better to be safe than sorry.

Why doesn’t this surprise me?

2011-06-20T12:50:00.000-04:00

In the massive sexual discrimination class action law suit brought against mega-retailer Wal-Mart alleging a endemic pattern of discrimination with respect to salaries and promotions, the Supreme Court has ruled that the case did not satisfy the rules of a class action suit.

Basically the court ruled that the plaintive could not demonstrate enough commonality across all of the issues nor was adequate evidence of a policy of discrimination presented.

The court didn’t rule on the merits of the accusations, but simply upon whether the case could proceed to trial as a class action. All five conservatives concurred; the four liberal judges partially concurred finding fault with the court’s blanket dismissal of the appropriateness of a class action suit.

This is another example of the law potentially trumping justice and I always thought it was supposed to be the other way around.

Why not let a jury of their peers decide on the evidence rather than turning the case on a point of law? Probably because Wal-Mart could lose and that would cause some of the privileged to lose money. Can’t have that happening. Better to deny low wage workers their day in court.

U.N. Passes Gay Rights Resolution

2011-06-17T12:44:00.000-04:00

Or at least they passed a resolution to commission a study on discrimination based upon sexual orientation and gender identity and how human rights law can be used to end such violence and discrimination. They also agreed to follow up on the study which was to be completed by the end of December 2011.

Well, it’s certainly a start. The resolution was introduced by South Africa and the vote was close with 23 in favor, 19 opposed and 3 abstentions. The United States voted in favor along with most European, South American and Asian members. Most African and Middle Eastern countries were opposed. Russia voted against the resolution and China abstained.

One has to wonder how the United States would have voted with a Republican president? I’d love to ask the so-called Republican presidential contenders how they would have instructed the U.S. representative to vote on this one.

Stuff in the News

2011-06-14T15:15:00.001-04:00

One of the wonderful things about the Internet is it is so easy to get a variety of news quickly. Of course one needs to be careful about the accuracy of things on the Internet but, with a little caution here and there, it works out well.

First there’s the GOP debate news. Different people have different opinions but the gist of the situation seems to be that Romney didn’t hurt himself, Bachmann exceeded admittedly low expectations, Pawlenty came off as a wimp, Gingrich and Cain did nothing to help their causes, Paul came off as consistent if a little wacko and Santorum was a total flop.

I’m not sure I could stomach any of these morons but Romney and Pawlenty are probably the least objectionable. Actually I like Huntsman but he’s too intelligent to have any chance in the Republican race.

Then there’s the story from California about the 9th Circuit trying to decide whether the decision of the gay judge on Prop 8 should be tossed out. Tossing his decision without any other evidence of prejudice beyond simply that he was gay would set a dangerous precedent to my mind and I suspect the 9th Circuit will see it the same way.

Another story from California is about some stealing a relic of St. Anthony from a Long Beach church. I have two thoughts about this one. The first is bewilderment about how people in the 21st century can still believe this garbage and the second that it took a lot of misplaced guts to steal the damn thing from the alter of the church. Parishioners are confident the relic will return because they’re “praying.”

Last, but not least, is the story from Peru that the president there is determined to build the world’s largest statue of Jesus above Lima harbor. Unfortunately, the idea appears to have been nixed, or at least delayed, by the mayor of Lima. The statue would be 72 feet high.

Islamic Schools on the Rise

2011-06-13T12:36:00.000-04:00

According to MSNBC, the number of students attending Islamic religious schools in the US has increased by about 25% since 2006 to around 40,000 students.

My mind immediately goes back to the old question, which can be used either with religion, race or nationality, “are you an American Christian or a Christian American?”

The right way to say it, of course, is Christian American, or Jewish American, or Atheist American or Islamic American. We’re all Americans who just happen to be Christian or Jewish or whatever. Except of course that some Christians, such as George Bush Sr., don’t think atheists should be included.

Things start to be an issue when one considers themselves a Christian or Jew or Muslim that just happens to be American. I believe that many fundamentalist Christians look at themselves that way and I suspect so do many Muslims.

You are entitled to practice your religion as you see fit. That includes having separate schools if you desire them. However, government money, through things such as voucher programs, shouldn’t support those schools.

I can’t wait to see the reaction when the Right Wing nuts figure out the voucher programs they fight so hard for will also fund Islamic Schools.

Let’s Talk Deficits Again

2011-06-13T12:08:00.003-04:00

My enthusiasm for Barack Obama has definitely flagged. My fundamental problem is that he does not appear to be taking the budget deficit and national debt issues seriously enough.

Now, he is caught between a rock and a hard place. It’s quite likely that taking steps to get the deficit under control will lead to an increase in unemployment and might very well send the country back into a recession. That won’t help him at the polls in 2012.

But that’ no excuse not to be wrestling with the problem.

Back in January of 2010 I wrote a post bemoaning the Federal Deficit. At that time the budget deficits were expected to be 2009: $1.8 trillion, 2010: $1.2 trillion, 2011: $900 billion, 2012: $500 billion and 2013: $500 billion with the understanding that the further out you go the less accurate you get.

It is now about a year and a half later and the actuals for 2009 and 2010 were 2009: $1.4 trillion, 2010: $1.3 trillion so we actually did slightly better than projected. The problem are the new estimates for 2011 through 2013 which are now 2011: $1.6 trillion, 2012: $1.1 trillion and 2013: $770 billion.

How the hell did 2011 have, all by itself, almost as big a deficit as originally projected for 2011 through 2013? We’re now looking at a projected $3.5 trillion in deficits over the three year period instead of $1.9 trillion and who’s to say these estimates aren’t way off as well?

In 2000 the Federal Government spent $1.8 trillion and took in $2.0 trillion. That was a surplus of $200 billion. By 2008, spending had increased to $3.0 trillion while revenues, after dipping to $1.8 trillion in 2003, were at $2.5 trillion leaving a deficit of around $500 billion. That’s when things completely went to hell.

The Stimulus Package sent spending to $3.5 trillion in 2009 and 2010. A increase of $600 billion dollars which was more than the total of $590 billion spent in 1980. Even adjusted to 2011 dollars the 1980 federal government spent only about $1.6 trillion. In the meantime revenues actually dropped to $2.1 trillion.

What the hell is going on? Where is the money going?

If we compare 2000 to 2010 we have a net increase of $1.7 trillion, almost double. So what were the big hitters?

#1 – National Defense +$399 billion to a total of $693 billion
Clearly the toll of our Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

#2 – Income Security +$368 billion to a total of $622 billion
No, this isn’t Social Security. It’s Federal Pensions and Disability, Unemployment, Housing Assistance, Nutrition Assistances and something called “Other Income Security.” Unemployment took the biggest chunk of the increase to the tune of $137 billion followed by “Other” by $94 billion. What I’m guessing are the three main welfare categories, Housing Assistance, Nutrition Assistance and “Other” accounted for a increase of $187 billion up to $335 billion. However only about 50% of “Other” consists of welfare. The rest is money paid into by workers and earned so that reduces true welfare to $242 billion or about 7% of the federal budget.

#3 – Social Security +$297 billion to a total of $707 billion

#4 – Medicare +$254 billion to a total of $451 billion

#5 – Health +$214 billion to a total of $369 billion

These five categories account for $1.5 trillion of the $1.7 trillion increase and $2.8 trillion of the $3.5 trillion budget. This is where you have to make cuts. However you can’t touch Social Security in the short term so that leaves the other four and the dribs and drabs left over. The next biggest item is Interest at $196 billion and that’s a dependent variable.

I don’t think you can get it all with cuts. I don’t see any way to avoid a tax increase. If the Republicans tell you different, they are playing magic with mirrors.

Home Depot tells AFA to Stick It?

2011-06-03T10:13:00.003-04:00

Apparently the American Family Association (AFA) has presented its petition to Home Depot with 500,000 names of people who have sworn to stop shopping at Home Depot until the company decides to “remain neutral in the culture wars.”

Home Depot’s reaction appears to have been to tell the AFA to take their petition and stick it and reiterated their commitment to diversity.

This upsets the AFA because gays “are in the clasp of Satan.”

The AFA is on The Southern Poverty Law Center's official list of “hate groups.” Do I really need to explain why?

Now excuse me because I really need to go buy a few things at Home Depot.

The “gainful employment” Rule

2011-06-03T09:54:00.003-04:00

The “for profit” college industry has flourished over the past ten years. This is a good thing right? Well, maybe.

The business case for some of these schools is to sign up students that have absolutely no hope of actually graduating but are eligible for federal loans. The school gets paid and the student ends up with nothing but a debt which they can’t repay and they default. That’s YOUR tax dollars at work.

According to the National Center for Education “for profit” college students account for 12% of the college population but 25% of the Federal Loans and a whopping 43% of the defaults.

College expenses are divided into three categories, Instruction, Research and Public Service and Student, Academic and Institutional Services and Support. Public colleges spend, per student, approximately $9,400 a year on Instruction, $6,100 on Research and $6,600 on Services and Support for a total of $22,100 per year. Private, non-profit colleges spend approximately $15,300 a year on Instruction, $5,800 on Research and $14,100 on Services and Support for a total of $35,200 per year.

The colleges offset these costs by charging an average tuition of $6,400 for public colleges and $24,900 for private colleges. The rest has to be made up by state subsidies, grants and donations.

Now let’s consider “for profit” colleges. They spend $2,700 on Instruction, basically nothing on Research and Public Service and $9,000 on Services and Support for a total of $11,700 per year. They charge an average tuition of $15,300 per year. That’s a profit of $3,600 per year per student.

Now here’s the good part. Federal student loans pay for $9,700 of the “for profit” tuition as opposed to $6,000 in public colleges and $7,700 in private colleges.

What’s that you say? What about graduation rates? The graduation rate, for 4-year programs, from public colleges is 55%; at private non-profit schools it’s 65% and at “for profit” schools it’s a dismal 22%. To be fair however, “for-profit” 2-year programs have a higher graduation rate than public college 2-year programs.

What the “gainful employment” rule does is attempt to insure that students get reasonable value for the tax dollars being spent and there is a reasonable hope of getting loans repaid.

Career programs offered by “for-profit” schools will no longer be eligible for federal student aid if they do not hit certain benchmarks indicating they are not saddling students with unsustainable debt. The career programs would have to demonstrate that at least 35 percent of their former students are repaying their loans; that the annual loan payment of the average graduate is less than 30 percent of his or her discretionary income or that the graduate's annual loan payment is not more than 12 percent of his or her total salary.

If the programs fail to meet these benchmarks three years out of four, they would no longer be qualify for federal grants. Enforcement of the new rules would begin in 2015.

This strikes me as a pretty weak set of rules but at least it’s an attempt to protect both potential students and tax dollars. Needless to say, the two leading Republicans on the House Education Committee, John Kline of Minnesota and Virginia Foxx of North Carolina, Chairman of the Higher Education Subcommittee, are opposed to the regulations. Kline has vowed to undo any Department of Education attempt to withhold funds from “for profit” institutions.

I guess that fact that both Kline, to the tune of $100,000, and Foxx have received campaign donations from the “for profit” industry have nothing to do with those positions.

Here is the perfect example of regulations that could both save money and help people from getting ripped off and the Republicans are against it. So what else is new?

A Palestinian State?

2011-06-02T15:43:00.001-04:00

There is an international and domestic political train wreck that could happen in September of this year.

Here’s the situation. The Palestinians are working toward the recognition of a Palestinian State by the United Nations and expect things to mature sometime in September. What the Right Wing has missed, or chosen to ignore, about Obama’s recent speech was his statement opposing such a course of action.

Despite all of the hullabaloo, stating that the 1967 borders was the starting point of negotiations is not a change in U.S. policy. Stating that the U.S. opposes the U.N. initiative was the important point and the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, blew it by ignoring this critical point and harping on the 1967 borders thing. I suspect he did that as a play to his Right Wing supporters here in the U.S.

The Palestinians need 128 votes in the General Assembly to approve a Palestinian state by voting it admission to the U.N. They currently have 112 votes but hope to increase that number to 130 or 140 by September.

Of course, first they have to get the resolution to the General Assembly. In order to do that, the 15 member Security Council must first vote for statehood and the U.S. has veto power in the Security Council. All the Palestinian votes in the General Assembly are useless as long as the U.S. vetoes the resolution.

So, what’s the point?

The Palestinians are hoping they can pressure Obama by staging protests for independence and reform similar to those in Tunisia and Egypt. The Palestinians ask, “what would be the argument of President Barack Obama in trying really to disregard this wish?”

Duh, the argument would be domestic U.S. politics. There is no way a sitting U.S. President would not order the U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. to veto this resolution unless a previous agreement with Israel had been reached. According to Gallup, a whopping 63% of Americans say their sympathies are with Israel in the Mideast spat against only 17% that sympathize with the Palestinians. The remaining 20% claim to be neutral.

The Palestinians U.N. diplomat, Riyad Mansour, said if the negotiations didn’t work, the Palestinians had “other tactics” available. He didn’t expand on what these “other tactics” might be but did make the point that neither Israel in 1948 nor the U.S. in 1776 “negotiated” their independence.

Personally I think such threats are hollow. The Palestinians can’t win independence through violence. That would only lose them supporters. They need to figure out a way to get U.S. support. The problem of course is the U.S. will not publically meet with the Palestinians without Israeli participation.

The Palestinians have made no headway in U.S. public opinion. As a matter of fact the current 63% is pretty to a record support level. They’ve actually lost ground. In the 1990s a lot of Americans claimed to be neutral.

Personally, my sympathies are evenly divided. I feel sorry for the Palestinians but I can’t bring myself to support people that strap bombs onto teenage girls in order to kill other teenage girls in grocery stores. If you want to fight, then wage war on the Israeli army and not on children.

On the other hand, the Israelis deserve to live in peace but that doesn’t excuse some of their current tactics either. It seems to me that the Palestinians are doing a lot of dying over there because the Israelis tend to be a tad heavy handed.

So at the moment I find both sides both sympathetic and reprehensible. Therefore I stand neutral.

Reclining Seat Leads to Air Force Scramble

2011-06-01T13:09:00.001-04:00

Huh? Now that just sounds utterly ridiculous doesn’t it? Here how it apparently went down.

1. Shortly after take-off from Dulles International in Washington, Passenger in crowded Boeing 767 on its way to Ghana fully reclines coach seat smashing knees of passenger sitting one row back.
2. Passenger one row back takes exception to knees being smashed.
3. Heated words are exchanged over reclined seat and smashed knees
4. Passenger with smashed knees smacks reclining passenger in head.
5. Scuffle ensues.
6. Flight attendant and another passenger attempt to intervene
7. Pilot, uncertain what the ruckus is all about, decides better to be safe than sorry and heads back to Dulles.
8. Pilot can’t land with full fuel tanks and needs to fly around for about an hour.
9. The Air Force gets wind of the confusion and scrambles two F-16 fighters from Andrews Air Force Base.
10. The two F-16 fighters take position 1,000 feet above airliner “just in case.”
11. Airliner finishes burning off fuel and lands.
12. Fighters return to Andrews AFB.
13. Dulles police take arguing passengers into custody.
14. Passengers get to stay at flea bitten airport hotel until the next morning
15. Arguing passengers are released by Dulles police.
16. Flight heads for Ghana 12 hours or so late.
17. Disposition of arguing passengers is unknown.

Now if would be interesting if the airline and the U.S. government presented these two morons a bill for the airliner fuel, the lost time and the F-16 fuel and wear and tear. I suspect it would be a healthy sum.

Simple courtesy says, given the lack of leg room on airliners, you don’t recline your seat unless the one behind you is empty. On long fights this is a bit annoying but those are the breaks. If it’s so important to you to be able to recline, buy both seats.

Can you imagine what it was like for those two yo-yos on the trip back to Washington and during the time circling to burn off the fuel? You could get lynched for making people spend extra time on an airline flight like that. I hear Rush Limbaugh and Sarah Palin are blaming Obama for the whole incident. After all, Obama is black and there are black people in Ghana so obviously it’s his fault.

The KKK as the Good Guys?

2011-06-01T12:15:00.001-04:00

What does it take to make the KKK the Good Guys? Answer, the Westboro Baptist Church.

Apparently the KKK doesn’t take to the WBC’s antic of demonstrating at soldier’s funerals and showed up over the weekend to protest the protesters.

The WBC says it doesn’t care because the KKK has “no biblical support.” As if that meant anything to anyone with at least half a brain.

I have an idea. Since football this season is looking a bit iffy, let’s schedule one on one gladiatorial combats, to the death of course, between the KKK and the WBC as a substitute for the NFL games.

I can see the advertisements now. Two bigoted assholes enter, but only one leaves. Who could argue with that? We’ll blindfold the combatants, to add to the suspense, arm them with battleaxes and kick them out onto the field. We’ll legalize gambling for the events and Las Vegas can set the odds. It can’t miss.

I suppose that would violate some law or other. Too bad.

Don’t Say Gay?

2011-05-31T13:52:00.000-04:00

Leave it to the Republicans to dream this one up. In Tennessee they are working a bill through the legislature that would prevent teachers and counselors from talking about homosexuality in grades 1-8.

I understand the natural sensitivity associated with sex education, especially in the area of sexual orientation, but I would think that educational professionals would be better judges about what should be said, and when, rather than politicians.
The head scratching stops when you hear the sponsors rationale. Allow me to quote Senator Stacy Campfield, “This legislation isn't anti-gay. It's about preventing teachers and counselors from pushing a gay agenda on students.”

Three things I’ve learned about conservatives are (1) they’re naïve; (2) they’re irrational and (3) they’re paranoid. In this statement, we have a perfect example of “paranoid.”

Every conservative seems to be convinced that as soon as they let their kids out of their sight, some nefarious individual starts working on them to shatter their respect for family, God and country. Teachers and, especially college professors, seem to be the primary culprits in the fuzzy mind of the conservative along with the “liberal media.” I’ve always suspected that this “fear” is at the root of home schooling.

I find it interesting that it never dawns on them that the more educated portions of society tend to disagree with their opinions.

This bill isn’t going to prevent school kids from “learning” about homosexuality. It’s simply going to push the “learning” into the schoolyard where the odds are the information will be warped and inaccurate. Perhaps even more warped and inaccurate that what they hear at home and in church.

I find it hard to believe there are many teachers in Tennessee “pushing” a gay agenda and it seems to me more than a bit short sighted to handcuff school counselors on the subject should it come up for whatever reason. I think this could especially be an issue at the middle school age.

This is another one of those things that tip toes on the border between fact and opinion. There are certain “facts” that are undeniable. Fact #1 = Homosexuality exists. Fact #2 = No one is certain why homosexuality exists. Fact #3 = The Bible says homosexuality is wrong. Fact #4 = Researchers believe that homosexuality is most likely not a choice.

Then there are opinions. Opinion #1 = Homosexuality is a natural human variant (based upon Facts #1 and #4). Opinion #2 = Homosexuality is a choice (based upon Facts #2 and #3). Opinion #3 = Even if homosexuality is not a choice, one should refrain from homosexual activities (based upon Fact #3). Opinion #4 = Homosexuals should have the same rights as heterosexuals including the right to marry (based upon Fact #4 and the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution). Opinion #5 = Preachers should have the right to condemn homosexuality without being labeled bigots (based upon Fact #3 and the 1st Amendment to the U.S. Constitution).

Now teachers and counselors should certainly be allowed to discuss “facts.” They should shy away from discussing “opinions.” Opinions related to matters of faith and morality belong in the home which is why the overwhelming majority of teachers are smart enough to stay away from them.

The Tennessee “don’t say gay” bill is idiotic. It will accomplish nothing good and may cause some harm.

Tea Party Thugs

2011-05-26T15:14:00.004-04:00

Calling these guys “thugs” is actually a compliment. They’d have to climb about three stories to get to the ethical level of a thug. I’m talking about the bozos that have threatened Amy Myers, the 16 year old that challenged Michelle Bachmann to a debate on the Constitution and American History, with physical harm and even rape on Tea Party web sites and blogs.

Her father is, understandably, in a bit of a panic. But I agree with the Cherry Hill Police Chief that internet threats of this type are invariable hollow because the people that make them aren’t thugs as much as cowards.

This is just another example of how the Right Wing has taken political discourse out of the intellectual arena and into something that resembles the conversation at a make shift trailer park bar.

They focus on personalities rather than policies because, invariably, the evidence is against them in every case. All they can do is appeal to the baser instincts of their under 80 IQ base in order to keep them in line.

As a result you get people like the two wacko callers into Bryan Fischer’s show the other day reported by Right Wing Watch. The first railed against the "Benedict Arnolds" who are preventing the majestic eagle that is America from flying because "communistic cancers" like the NAACP and ACLU are undermining it at every turn.

The second was terrified that Muslims were going to be exempt from the health care reform legislation but allowed to serve on the "death panels" that would determine what care Christians would receive.

Thank you Sarah Palin for bringing the moronic term “death panels” into American vocabulary.

People like this are scary but, given the range of human intellect and emotional stability, it’s not terribly surprising that they exist and we learn to live with it.

But, when the Republican Party, one of two major political parties, begins to exhibit the same sort of irrationality, not simply because they’re pandering to the lunatic fringe which would be bad enough, but because lunatics are actually beginning to obtain positions of influence within the party, it’s time to really get concerned.

I worry that the corporate fat cats that have always controlled the Republican Party are beginning to lose their grip to the wing nuts.

More Wonderful Christianity

2011-05-24T12:00:00.001-04:00

While Camping is declaring his next doomsday, the trial of a woman in Ft. Wayne Indiana accused of trying to rid her three year old son of “demons,” by forcing a mixture of oil and vinegar down his throat, is about to begin. This nut job forced the concoction into the child’s mouth three times and, on the third time, held his mouth shut until he stopped breathing.

Ok, let’s face it, she’s nuts. Lock her up in a mental hospital and throw away the damn key. My only problem here is the minister that scared her with nonsense about demons and demonic possession isn’t on trial with her.

Oh No, Not Again

2011-05-24T11:59:00.000-04:00

Harold Camping has declared that he “misunderstood” that May 21st was simply a “spiritual judgment” and the world is still scheduled to end on October 21st.

Well, if the NFL owners and players don’t work something out, a lot of us won’t care. If they do work something out, given the season I expect the Giants to have, I’ll be looking to be put out of my misery anyway.

Camping is an idiot and Christianity is idiotic. I suppose this gives him a potential five more months in the spotlight. Personally Harold, I don’t give a damn.

May 23rd and We’re Still Here

2011-05-23T12:12:00.001-04:00

I ignored Harold Camping’s prediction of the Rapture arriving on May 21st because I considered it totally ridiculous. Now that we’ve arrived at May 23rd, I am a tad curious about the reaction of the faithful.

I thought one quote was a bit revealing. Camping’s PR aide says the group is “disappointed” that they weren’t whisked off to heaven while the rest of us died horrible and painful deaths. No, he didn’t say that literally, but that’s what it comes down to if you think about it.

One follower, who spent $140,000 advertising Camping’s prediction, said he couldn’t understand why nothing happened. Let me help you out there. All Religion is nonsense; Christianity is especially nonsense and Camping doesn’t know what he’s talking about. Given that, why SHOULD something have happened.

Will they learn from this? Probably not, at least one person expressed the opinion that the judgment HAS occurred and the world will still end on October 21st. Others are already saying that their prayers led to God giving the world more time in order that more will be saved.

The human race is really very good at self deception. You’ll excuse me if I don’t mark down the October 21st date on my calendar.

Teen Challenges Bachmann

2011-05-18T12:49:00.000-04:00

A 10th Grader, Amy Myers by name, from Cherry Hill, New Jersey, has challenged Representative Michelle Bachmann to a debate on the Constitution, US History and US Civics.

Why? Well as Myers says in her letter “As a typical high school student, I have found quite a few of your statements regarding The Constitution of the United States, the quality of public school education and general U.S. civics matters to be factually incorrect, inaccurately applied or grossly distorted.”

All I can say is, YOU GO GIRL!

It’s about time someone called out MS. Moron.

According to the Yahoo the two things which, so to speak, broke the Myers back, was a statement by Bachmann to a Conservative group in NEW HAMPSHIRE that it was good to be in the state where the battles of Lexington and Concord were fought and a quote saying that America's founding fathers "worked tirelessly until slavery was no more in the United States."

Pretty good trick “working tirelessly” years after your demise. Yo, Bachy, ever hear of the damn Civil War?

The fact that someone with the minimal intellectual capacity and knowledge of a Michelle Bachmann can be in the House of Representatives in bad enough, but to have this idiot as a potential presidential candidate for one of the two major political parties is a complete disgrace.

It must be a really sad group of yokels that populate her district in Minnesota.