Better late than never.

Logically speaking, you would think that if someone advertises a service that they would perform said service when asked to. If you advertise in the phone book, newspaper (yes they still have those) or on the Interwebz, it would follow that you were ready to do business. So why has it been my experience the past year or so that you can call people to perform a service for you and then they simply never get around to doing it?

We have just moved to the Nation's Capital into a very nice new home. Since it is slightly older, there are certain things that need to be done around it to make it nicer and more comfortable to live in. So I have spent most of my time here calling various repair and installation services to try and get these things done. My success rate has not been the greatest in the world.

On at least a half dozen occasions, I have made arrangements with plumbers/electricians/ general handymen to come out to the house to perform services for me and on more than 50% of those occasions, the people who promised they would be out to do the work simply never showed up. Keep in mind that they didn't refuse the work. They made appointments with me over the phone to come and just never bothered to show up or call.

Today is a great example. I called two different general handymen yesterday to come out and give me estimates on how much it would cost to do a few projects around the new house. Both said that they would come out today (One at 9am and the other at 1pm) to look over the projects and give me estimates on how much it would cost to do them. The 9am guy finally showed up around 11 after ignoring my calls to find out where he was and the 1pm guy just never showed up or called. Calls to his phone go straight to voicemail.

So I am left wondering a simple question. WTF? Why the fugg do you agree to do something then just not do it. Hells, I'd be okay if Mr. X called me and told me that he couldn't make it or even if he had decided to just not do the jobs. That'd be okay. I could have called other people who might be more amiable to actually earning some money and I certainly wouldn't have wasted hours out of my day waiting for someone who never shows up.

I guess what it boils down to is common courtesy. Shift happens. Crap comes up that keeps people from doing things. Hells, some days you just wake and decide “The Hell with this, I'm taking a day off.” I get that, I really do. However, when you are in the business of serving other people then there are consequences to your decisions that you have to take into account. You tell someone that you will be out on Day Y at X time and they actually expect you to be there. If you can't make it, then it is your responsibility to make sure that they know it.

Most of these people would be peeved as Hell if someone were to waste their time in the same way that they waste other peoples' time. They should learn to have the same considerations for other people and their time. What goes around comes around and Karma is truly a bitch so people should always keep in mind that it might be them one day.

End of Rant

Postscript: Like I mention sometimes, my readership both here and in the Ordinary Joe: Coffee Wisdom blog is truly mind blowing at times. A huge number of people in dozens of different countries “listen” to my words every day. I would love to hear from more of you in the comments section to see what you think and hear what you like. Please take a moment or two to make a comment. Thanks!

Keep on moving or you stagnate

Okay I am going to do something I seldom if ever do. I am going to preface this rant with a little modifier. I am not an economist. I am not a sociologist. Hells, I am not any sort of -ologist. What I am about to put forth is simply my opinion based of my own personal experiences and observations over the years. Take it for what is worth and don't take me to task because I claim no professional expertise in this matter.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/exclusive-signs-declining-economic-security-195015309.html;_ylt=An4jaW5eHM0Bm65rufvTZNAJVux_;_ylu=X3oDMTJhZjZqdWxtBG1pdANBVFQgMyBTdG9yeSBKdW1ib3Ryb24gSG9tZSBDYWNoZWQEcG9zAzE1BHNlYwNNZWRpYUF0dFdpZGdldHJvbkFzc2VtYmx5;_ylg=X3oDMTFkcW51ZGliBGludGwDdXMEbGFuZwNlbi11cwRwc3RhaWQDBHBzdGNhdANob21lBHB0A3BtaA--;_ylv=3

The above article and so many others that I have read talk about how times are getting harder and harder for the Middle and Lower Class. This trend has been exacerbated by the recent Great Recession, but the trend existed long before that. People who had lived a certain way their entire lives were suddenly finding that they couldn't do it anymore. This is a trend that is only getting worse as time goes by.

Fer example, Sherman set the Way Back Machine for 1950 something. My father never made it out of elementary school. He lacked any sort of formal training for specialized jobs. I seriously doubt he ever made more than minimum wage (If that much) his entire life. Despite this, he married and raised three kids. He owned his own house and a mind boggling eclectic number of odd cars and trucks. Except for a very short period of time when I was very young, he never took public assistance for anything.

If you go back 50 or so years you can probably find hundred of thousands of stories like my fathers. Stories of people who worked hard all their lives, raised a family and lived well if not great. Those were times when a Man or Woman with no formal education or training could earn enough money to keep things together.

Unfortunately, times like that are rapidly fading away. With the globalism of industry and the loss of more and more jobs to automation and better techniques, jobs and places where someone like my father could earn a decent living are vanishing faster than ice in Nevada. Unless you have prior training or education, getting anything more than the most mediocre jobs is practically impossible. As the job market shrinks, more and more people are trying for the same job so even with the training or education, it is still harder to get a job.

People lament that jobs like mining and lumber have been the way their parents earned a living and their grandparents did too. They complain that modern techniques and machinery is making it impossible for them to work. They complain that things should stay the way they were so that they can work and feed their families.

In truth, being at the beginning of my second 50 years, I empathize with them. However, things are not going to go back to the way they used to be no matter how much some people might want it. Times like when my father raised me are fading fast and once they are gone, they will never come again. People are being faced with two choices. They can either adapt or be left behind.

Sure that sounds harsh, but it is the truth. The world isn't going to stop moving forward. Technology isn't going to stop advancing. The world and the way we live in it is evolving at a startling rate and unless we learn to evolve with it, we are going to join the Passenger Pigeon and the Dodo. So instead of lamenting about the way things were, do something to prepare for the way things will be.

Send your kids to some sort of school. I personally feel that most college degrees are kind of useless, but you can send them to technical schools where they can learn new skills. Hells, forget how old you are, You can go back to school and learn something new. Just do something, anything to keep from being thrown to the wayside. Do your best to keep up because the world isn't going to wait for you.

End of Rant

Into the air, Junior Birdman!

Okay it looks cool.

I know I know! “I just did a blog on a Government sponsored weapon system debacle a day ago.” “Why do we have to listen to yet another rant on how the Pollytickans are wasting billions of dollars on something that doesn't do the job it was supposed to do?” “Why does this guy's breath smell so ba..” Wait that wasn't you. Well, me boyos (and girlos too) the answer is extremely simple. I'm doing this because 1. I can and B. This sort of Shift really honks me off.

http://www.publicintegrity.org/2013/07/16/12969/huge-drone-could-not-be-grounded

Lessee so far I have talked about the M1 Abrams program that the US Army doesn't need but Washington keeps alive. I have (Recently) go on and on about the boat that the US Navy has that doesn't work right and that they don't need. So I guess it is time I did a number on the US Air Force. So read the above article, sit back and get ready for a doozy!

So you got this drone, the Block 30, which was supposed to be the latest and bestest thingie when it comes to super duper spy craft. Able to stay on target for over a day and do all kinds of stupendous things and best yet, it is completely unmanned so we won't have any more Gary Powers. (Nope not going to explain that one, read a book.) Sure, it was going to be expensive but at least we were going to get a next generation drone machine with more bang for our buck. Right?

Well, like so many other stories, this one didn't turn out the way it was supposed to. The Drone met the usual production delays and once in service, it turns out the durned thing cannot perform as planned. As a matter of fact the decades old spy plane it was designed to replace does a much better job than the drone. So the military looked towards this boondoggle when the big budget crunch hit with the idea of stopping the purchase of more droned and mothballing the ones it had already bought. This act would have saved the DOD billions of dollars over five years. Sensible right?

Well, send up the red flag and salute boys because in steps of Northrup Grumman and our bashful boys in Washington with a multi-million dollar program to keep the drones flying and more being made. Congress over rode the DOD and not only ordered the purchase of more drones but also ordered that the drones be kept flying at a cost of millions of dollars a year. After all, NG pronounced that the drones were “high-flying, combat-proven aircraft [that] are so robust and reliable that they’re in high demand by warfighters who fly them.” so they had to be good.

Now folks, the number of flaws in this system (Um the drones not Congress) are way to numerous to list here, but do include: “Block 30 provided less than half the required 55 percent “Effective Time On Station” coverage — the amount of time loitering over a target to gather intelligence — over a 30-day period, Gilmore said. Its sensor to identify radar and communications signals “does not consistently deliver actionable signal intelligence end-products to operational users due to technical performance deficiencies” There are many more but those are two good examples. So if this is true, why keep the program going? Why spend billions on a platform that simply doesn't work? Answers are simple: Money and Jobs (IE: Bribes and Votes)

NG supplied millions and millions of dollars in PAC funds to a whole bunch of people in positions of power who rallied that cutting the funding for the project would cost the taxpayers a lot of jobs. In their tiny little Pollytick minds, it made more sense to keep the system going even though the products were flawed than risk losing votes by cutting funding and possibly costing jobs.

This mindset runs rampant through the Government. It is how we have the Joint Strike Fighter which is TRILLIONS of dollars over budget and still doesn't work right. It is how we got the boat that I ranted about yesterday that cost billions and doesn't work right. Thinking like this is one of the main reasons we are so far in debt. We spend trillions of dollars a year on stuff that isn't needed and most of the time isn't even wanted by the people that get it. We do this because we want to keep the workers of Town X happy and the owners of Business Y happy. All the time we are being screwed which makes us unhappy.

In the end, I have a very simple solution to all of this. Instead of spending billions of dollars a year to keep useless factories churning out useless equipment, lets just take half that money and evenly divide it among all the people who would be effected by the closings and use the other half for more constructive purposes like trying to find working brain cells in Pollytickans. The workers would be happy and at least the other half of the money would go towards something more constructive.

End of Rant

Never forget

     It was in a time of war and a very powerful nation rounded up hundreds of thousands of people simply because of their race and nationality, oftentimes at gunpoint.  These people were guilty of no crime other than who and what they were, but they were sent to concentration camps where they would be forced to spend years.  They had no rights, no privileges and in many cases were abused by the people put into authority over them.  The time, WWII and the place is the United States of America.

http://news.yahoo.com/researchers-uncover-little-known-internment-camp-170350272.html;_ylt=AwrHgMYg3PNRYmoAjwUJVux_;_ylu=X3oDMTJhZjZqdWxtBG1pdANBVFQgMyBTdG9yeSBKdW1ib3Ryb24gSG9tZSBDYWNoZWQEcG9zAzE1BHNlYwNNZWRpYUF0dFdpZGdldHJvbkFzc2VtYmx5;_ylg=X3oDMTFkcW51ZGliBGludGwDdXMEbGFuZwNlbi11cwRwc3RhaWQDBHBzdGNhdANob21lBHB0A3BtaA--;_ylv=3

     Let me toss out some basic info to bolster this rant:

     "President Woodrow Wilson issued two sets of regulations on April 6, 1917, and November 16, 1917, imposing restrictions on German-born male residents of the United States over the age of 14. The rules were written to include natives of Germany who had become citizens of countries other than the U.S.^[2] Some 250,000 people in that category were required to register at their local post office, to carry their registration card at all times, and to report any change of address or employment. The same regulations and registration requirements were imposed on females on April 18, 1918.^[3] Some 6,300 such aliens were arrested. Thousands were interrogated and investigated. A total of 2,048 were incarcerated for the remainder of the war in two camps, Fort Douglas, Utah, for those west of the Mississippi and Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia, for those east of the Mississippi"

     (Just so everyone is straight on this, the Government forced a group to register themselves based of nothing more than the fact than they might be a threat and to carry proof of their "otherness."  In some cases, they were actually arrested and sent away to armed camps.)

    " Japanese American internment was the World War II internment in "War Relocation Camps" of about 110,000 people of Japanese heritage who lived on the Pacific coast of the United States. The U.S. government ordered the internment in 1942, shortly after Imperial Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor.^[2][3] The internment of Japanese Americans was applied unequally as a geographic matter: all who lived on the West Coast were interned, while in Hawaii, where 150,000-plus Japanese Americans comprised over one-third of the population, only 1,200^[4] to 1,800 were interned. Sixty-two percent of the internees were American citizens."

     (Keep in mind that the majority of these people were Citizens of the US supposedly with all the same rights as everyone else.)

     Italian Americans met similar fates, just in smaller numbers.  Like with German Americans, 400,00 of them were forced to register as "Enemy Aliens" and carry ID with them at all times marking them as such.  Roughly 250 were arrested and interned during the war.

     Now before we go any further, let me state this.  The vast majority of these people were arrested and interned in Camps had not committed any crime whatsoever.  They were arrested simply because of what their race and nationality was.  As a matter of record, a commission in 1980 found "little evidence of Japanese disloyalty at the time" and you can bet the same holds true for the other detainees.

     Now with all of that said (Long winded today, sorry) you would think that this rant is about the injustice and cruelty visited upon these groups by the US Government during a time of war.  No, sorry I don't have the talent or skill to do justice to such a topic.  It is easily one of the most shameful periods in US history and deserves much more respect than my meager skills can give it.  No, once again, my rant is aimed at all of the idiots commenting in the end.

     The majority of the comments (First 250 anyways) seem to take the path of "Well sure, what we did was bad, but what THEY did was even worse." or "Yeah we put them in camps but at least ours were NICE camps!"  and of course many people point out that most don't even know about the German and Italian American Camps.  (They'd be right of course.  As a sad side note, neither German or Italian Detainees ever received an apology or compensation and the subject of their detainment remains largely ignored.)

     Sorry folks, the fact that the Nazis had Death Camps with Gas Chambers or that the Japanese forced marched thousands of American Soldiers till they died is truly a horrible thing, but it does not detract from the injustice that the US visited upon its own people out of fear and many cases racism.  We rounded up entire families including women and children and locked them behind barbwire fences without any just cause.  The fact that we didn't go as far as other countries doesn't make that any better.

     Even now, decades later, people try and justify what this nation did to groups of people simply because of their Race or Nationality.  Americans ignore or belittle these horrors to try and forget that we had our own form of concentration camps.  We just want to forget it ever happened.  I can understand at least the feelings behind it.  I mean, it is discomforting to think that America, Home of the Free and the Brave, once acted out in violence against our own people out of fear and distrust.

     These events happened and they were horrible acts.  As a nation, we got scared and lashed out at obvious targets to make ourselves feel better.  We locked up 100s of thousands of people for years and often times took their property and possessions away from them.  We should never forget this because it would be to easy to do it all over again.  Trying to make it okay by pointing out that others did worse things only makes us look even worse.  

     "Those who do not remember the mistakes of the past are doomed to repeat them."  That wise saying is still just as true today as it was when it wad first coined.  Dachau and Bataan are horrible points in our history, but let us never forget the 27+ camps here in the US.

End of Rant

The boat sinks in the end.

http://www.publicintegrity.org/2013/07/26/13056/fast-agile-navy-ship-prone-embarrassing-glitches

     Okay so go ahead and read the article that is the topic of today's rant.  Just FYI the article was sent to me by my wonderful wife who is always scanning the interwebz for things to piss me off.  While you are reading, I am going to toss out some quotes from the article that to me highlight exactly why our country is so fugged up.  You can read them when you get back.
     "But some Senate lawmakers, citing recurrent cost overruns, maintenance problems, and unresolved design issues with the Littoral Combat Ships, are trying this summer to block that plan and force further development and modification of the vessels to occur before additional vessels are purchased. They depict this alternative approach — design before you buy — as a moneysaver."

(Huh, really?  Someone had to come up with the idea of making sure something works before they pay for it?  Wow radical concept!)

    
     “still does not know how well the ships will perform their missions, how well its unique crewing and maintenance concepts will work, or how much it will cost to equip and support the ship.”

(So we will wind up paying billions of dollars for a ship that we don't even know will be able to do the job that we commissioned it for?  Yeah, that makes a lot of sense doesn't it?)

     "But a GAO graph presented with Francis' testimony documented in blunt terms the Navy's shrinking ambitions for the ships (even as their costs rise sharply). It notes, for example, that the vessels were primarily developed for use in major combat, but now are considered acceptable to use only in a "benign, low-threat environment" unless escorted by other, more capable ships. Initially meant to be self-sufficient fighting vessels, they would actually need protection and support."

     (Okay so we are paying out the butt for the boat but hey at least it will do everything we had hoped it would do and mo...What?  It can't even do the job that we were told it would do?  Instead of cutting down on the number of ships needed, it actually needs MORE ships to escort it?   Huh, Okay.)

     There are many more lines in the article like those.  Hell, it is filled with them.  However the basic concept is pretty clear.  The US Government is paying millions of dollars of money that they don't have for boats that we don't need and the boats were are getting are flawed beyond measure.  BUT BY GOD WE STILL WANT TO BUY MORE OF THEM!  

     If the private sector was run like the US Government, we would be in serious trouble.  No where but the Gov do you find, "Okay we will give you millions of dollars to design sand build something for us and don't worry.  If you can't actually do what you said you could do in the time frame you said, we'll give you more time and even more money.

     I can think of two such boondoggles off the top of my head but I am sure there are more.  One is this boat that some experts say might actually capsize at speed in shallow waters under certain conditions.  The other of course is the Joint Strike Fighter.  Here you have two insanely expensive platforms that have gone way over budget and time and cannot do the jobs they were designed to do.  The wise thing to do would be to cut our losses and move on. Instead, the Pollytickans just keep tossing money at the problem over and over again in the vain hopes it will fix itself.

     Here is a radical idea.  If companies want to design and build things for the Gov, let them.  Hells, I am even okay with giving out funding to help out.  However, when the companies cannot produce a working product within the time frame specified and at the costs agreed on, dump em.  Sure a few billion dollars here or there won't solve our debt problem, but it can help.  Stop rewarding companies for not doing their jobs.  Make them work for their money.  I promise you they'll start producing if the gravy train stops coming to their stations.

End of Rant

What's in a name bullshift stinks no matter what you call it.

So over the eons, my friends and I have come up with our own versions of the most commonly used Political Descriptions. What follows is a list of those words and my interpretation of their meanings:

Damnocrat- Damnocrats preach a good fight about making life better for everyone, but really their ideas and policies damn everyone to heck.

ReBoobican- ReBoobicans blame everything on the Damnocrats and also the Liarberals while doing everything in their power to obstruct any sort of real progress. (See also Cantservatives)

Liarberal- Liarberals love to preach progress and charity at any cost while damning the rich and powerful as the Devil's own spawn. However, they tend to spread more lies than a herd of cows spread manure.

Cantservative- Cantservatives are against anything that wasn't done by Great Grandfather during the Great War. If it even hints at anything progressive and new, they dig in with both hooves and resist no matter the costs.

Pollyticks- The illegal and immoral practices that are draining our country of everything from money to the life blood of our sons and daughters.

Pollytickans- The greedy sumbeeches who are sucking on the straws.

These terms are, of course, meant to be insulting parodies showing the ludicrous nature of the politics of 90% of Americans. They are not nor have they ever been meant to be insults for those people who truly are Liberals, Conservatives etc. The premise of these insults is that the majority of people who preach certain political ideologies have strayed so far from what the terms are supposed to me that they are parodies of the original ideas.

(As an interesting note here, it might be prudent to point out that the Republican and Democrat parties have basically switched ideologies over time. Republicans were once the Progressive Liberal Type Party and Democrats were the Conservative Keep Things The Way They Were Party. End of side note.)

So after talking with my friends again, I have come up with a new political term that is not so much a parody as it is an attempt to describe people who actually try to see both sides of the political coin and who realize that the answers to our problems lies in combining the best aspects of all the political sides. (Yes, there are good bits from all the sides.) Ready? It is a doozy!

CONSERVABLE

See, isn't that fragging great? Nice, neat and easy to say. Something someone said inspired this new word (Yes TC this song is about you) when he said he considered himself to be a Conservative but tried to roll all of the things he liked and supported in his philosophy. I am not sure how well he has managed it, but at least he is trying.

I have never considered myself to be either Democrat or Republican, Liberal or Conservative. I have always and will always vote for the people who I think might actually have a snowball's chance in Hades of getting elected and doing their job. (Well except for the last election when I voted Conservative because I didn't like either Candidate for President.) In short I have always voted my conscience not my politics. So I guess I am a Conservable too.

In my opinion, this world needs a lot more Conservables. People who can see past the party lines and the political bullshift. People who honestly want things to change for the better for everyone, not just the chosen few who follow XX's policies. So, come on folks. Toss off the yoke of partisanship and start thinking for yourselves. Sure it is a scary thing to do, but you may just like it.

End of Rant

A Royal Confuzzlement!

http://www.cnn.com/2013/07/22/world/europe/uk-royal-baby

Royal Crown or Crown Royal

     So here is my (Ahem) Royal Confuzzlement and believe me when I say that it is not the first time I have pondered this.  As the above article and pretty much ever new source from Faux News to the Communist News Network have announced here in the US, the youngest Royal couple in the UK have proudly popped a bun out of the royal oven.  Hurray!
     Now I get why this is big news in the UK and UK affiliates.  The whole "Continuing the royal bloodline, God save the Queen" scene is really big there.  I am just confuzzled as to why in the heck it is big new over here?  It seems to me that every time a member of the Royals does anything, it is suddenly big time news here in the US.  If Prince Charles take a royal dump in the royal potty, the American News Service announces it.  It is like all of America is the creepy stalker guy in  a trench coat that you see in old films. 
     Now last I recommeber, we fought a couple of wars a few years back in order to free ourselves (Well okay in the War of 1812 it was to stay free-ish) from the yoke of Royal Tyranny.  We fought and bled to be free to completely no give a flying flick about what is happening in the UK.  We dumped tea, rode horses overnight and Gods only know what else to say, "Great Britain who?"
     So why have Americans been obsessed with UK and Royalty ever since?  Why do we focus on the tiniest bit of data coming out of the Royal Palace?  In no way does who Price Charles is boffing at this moment effect us in anyway.  A royal baby has about as much impact on us as a cow farting in Canada.  So why, Dear Magog Why do we search the interwebs and newpapers (Yes they still print those) in hopes of learning what the name of the latest royal bundle is?
     Like I said, I have pondered this many times in the past.  It confuzzles me that a country that is supposedly rabidly independent focusses so much on the royalty of other countries.  I mean, we did kind of fight a war to get away from that.  I think the answer lies in the old "Shoulda, woulda. coulda" category.
     200+ years ago, the US got more than a little steamed over certain issues and basically threw the mother of temper tantrums over it.  By doing so, we did what no other colony had ever done before by winning with force our independence from the Mother Realm.  This was an amazing feat. 
     However, in the newly formed US, the vast majority of the citizens were either ex-citizens of the UK or the children of descendants of Citizens.  So this early Americans still had close ties to Great Britain.  They were still fascinated by what the Royal Family was doing and who they were doing it to.  As time went on, that fascination became ingrained into our mindset.  Even today, we still focus on all of the Royal News.
     People look at the grand pomp and circumstance of the Royal Life and a part of them wonders what it might be like to be a part of that culture.  They might ponder just how close we came to still being a part of the UK even today.  (Historically speaking, there were several very strong diplomatic efforts at the beginning of the war that could have settled the differences without all out warfare so it might have been possible for the Colonies to remain with GB.)
     Since we made the choice to split and form a country without the grandeur of Royalty, we are left to try and enjoy that excitement from afar.  Still, the little bugger is kind of cute in a pink, wrinkled sort of way.

Hug da baby!  Hug da baby!

A quick reminder

http://ordinaryjoecoffeewisdom.blogspot.com/2013/07/with-great-doggies-comes-great.html

     If you enjoy this blog, check out my other popular blog.  It is much more comedic than this one and a lot more light hearted.

Here we go with another ride on the Bigotry Train!

http://publicshaming.tumblr.com/post/55715208108/baseball-fans-super-angry-hispanic-american-superstar

So it wasn't that long ago that we had all the teensy minded bigots and haters in an uproar because a Hispanic Youth DARED to sing the National Anthem at a sporting event. The haters and racists raged on and on about how only a “Real American” should be allowed to sing the song and made hundreds of disparaging remarks involving whether the boy an illegal alien. So this prompted nation wide shaming of these bigots ranging from Tweets to Blogs to National News Coverage. The lad was even invited back to do it again just to spite the haters.

So it is a given that the truly ignorant are slow learners, but you would think that after all the shaming and uproar, that they would at least learn to keep their big mouths shut. Well, apparently it is going to take a bigger baseball bat (Metaphorically speaking of course) because they are at it again.

It was at the 2013 MLB All-Star game and New York born, United States citizen of Puerto Rican descent, Marc Anthony came out to sing God Bless America. I repeat New York born, US citizen sang God Bless America. Once again, all of the truly ignorant bigots out there took offense at this. They ranted that only true Americans should be allowed to sing that song. By True Americans, they obviously meant White people. I'll give you some of the “highlights” just in case you don't feel like reading all of them.

Guess we should be grateful he actually said Spanish.

Really Spic?  Whose his partner, Span?

Um yeah, 2 seconds of research would have told you that.

and my personal favorite

Lessee Anthony is of Puerto Rican origins and born in New York.  Castro is Cuban.  This guy loses for bigotry AND bad Geography.

I have news for all of the bigots and racists out there. The USA has not been a Homogeneous Nation since...well technically ever. Sure White people were the majority for a long time, but the whole “One Big Melting Pot” has always been our thing. We have White folks, Black Folks, Hispanic Folks and a whole bunch of folks who are kind of a mix of other types of folks, A Hispanic America is just as much an American as a White American. This idea that seems to fill so many tiny minds that Americans have to be White to do certain things is more outdated than Bell Bottom Pants.

Of course what is truly impressive is how so many people automatically assume that any Hispanic person they see is an Illegal Immigrant is even more moronic. They make no effort to find out if the person they are insulting is actually a legal resident which in the above person's case wouldn't have been that hard since he is actually pretty durned famous here in the US and worldwide. I guess typing Marc Anthony in a search engine is too much work.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marc_Anthony Just FYI

Funny thing, I have several Non-Americans sing at games including Celine Dion. Where were the racist comments and hateful Tweets when they were singing OUR music? It seems like the racist comments were reserved specifically for Hispanics.

Well, I have news for all the haters out there. Our National Anthem and God Bless aren't just “your” songs. They belong to every single American citizen regardless of race, religion or gender. It belongs to every single person who has become a Citizen whether through birth or through hard work and determination. If it pisses you off to see one of “Them” performing “Your” songs then you really should be prepared to get pissed off more and more. I like to believe that the world is slowly (Gods way to slowly) moving beyond bigotry and hatred.

Still, as you morons so love to point out, This is America and you have the right to say and feel however you want. So rage on all you like about “those people” and “your” America. Just keep in mind that an ever growing number of people out there and reading and hearing what you say and mocking you. Remember that the laughter you hear is not people laughing with you, but at you.

End of Rant

Only cowards are afraid of open debate

Talk may be cheap, but it isn't easy.

     So I have this friend, lets call him Tick.  I have known this guy for several decades and consider him a very good friend.  Now, Tick and I don't always (See seldom) agree on things especially politically.  To say that our viewpoints on most issues are widely divergent would be one of the best understatements of this millennia.  Our discussions often times get heated and lively.
     I posted a blog on the aftermath of the Zimmerman case and this led to a very lively, perhaps even heated debate on the events leading up to the trial and the events afterwards.   About half way through this back and forth, two of my online friends private messaged me and basically asked, "Why do I let TC rage against my opinions.  Why do I let him say those things in my feed?"  Their basic attitude was if he disagreed with me, why keep him as a friend.
      My mind boggles at the idea.  I grok that most people out there only want to hear from "friends" who agree with and support their ideas.  Well folks, in case you haven't figured it out by now I am not one of those people. 
     Lets compare three of my best friends.  Friend one (Well call him BeeBee) and I are as much alike as twins when it comes to most of our likes, dislikes and beliefs.  I call this man my Brother and am proud to do so.  I treasure his insight and intelligence  every time we talk.  Friend two (We will call him Mouse) is someone I have known almost as long as Beebee and Tick.  Even though there is a impressive gap between our ages, we have been as close a brothers for a very long time.  I calculate the mutual agreement ground with Mouse to be about 60/40.  We usually agree, but can have some significant disagreements too.  Again, I treasure his insights, intelligence AND his incredible artistic skills which often times net me free covers for my various novels. 
     Then there is Tick.  To say that we seldom agree on a lot of matters is an understatement.  It is almost a sign of the coming Alpacalips when we actually agree on anything of significance.  Hells some of my most colourful and entertaining post chains on FB are because Tick and I disagreed.  And this is hardly the first time people have questioned our continued friendship.
     Well, folks.  Here is the skinny of it.  I am a highly opinionated, some might even say arrogant person.  I have an ego the size of some small countries and the attitude of a pitbull on steroids.  I am unafraid to give my opinion on pretty much any subject  that I have even the most basic of information on.  I piss people off on a regular basis because I ask questions that a lot of people would rather not be asked.
     Having said that, I would rather have someone who disagrees with me and is willing to debate the situation than people who are too timid to speak their minds.  I'd rather have one honest dissenter than a 100 sycophants.  If you disagree with me, say so.  If you think I am wrong, tell me.  (Keep in mind you had better be prepared to back it up with skill and information.)
     Tick is not the least bit afraid to tell me (or anyone else for that matter)  when he thinks something is inaccurate or outright wrong.  He is willing to give his opinion about the world around him.  I admire that because that is what I expect from everyone.  Sure we disagree and will continue to do so probably for the rest of our lives.  And yes sometimes he annoys me but in truth I wouldn't have it any other way.
     Never be afraid to welcome open honest debate.  Always remember that just because people are agreeing with you to your face doesn't mean they aren't ripping you apart behind your back.

End of Rant

Oh yeah this makes a Helluva lot of sense!

http://news.yahoo.com/zimmerman-protesters-raid-la-store-stop-freeway-072536291.html;_ylt=AwrHgKdEbuVRJXMAIwUJVux_;_ylu=X3oDMTI5OGJsdTJmBG1pdANBVFQgMyBTdG9yeSBKdW1ib3Ryb24gSG9tZSBDYWNoZWQEcG9zAzIEc2VjA01lZGlhQXR0V2lkZ2V0cm9uQXNzZW1ibHk-;_ylg=X3oDMTFkcW51ZGliBGludGwDdXMEbGFuZwNlbi11cwRwc3RhaWQDBHBzdGNhdANob21lBHB0A3BtaA--;_ylv=3

     So I kind of made myself a promise that I would stay out of the whole Post-Trial situation with Zimmerman.  I have seen way to many arm chair lawyers and judges giving their "informed opinions" on what SHOULD have happened.  They rant that Martin was a Rabid Punk who deserved what happened to him or they cry that Zimmerman was the Closet Grand Dragon of the KKK who was out to kill all Black people.  It would all be kind of amusing if it wasn't so sickening.

     I have my opinion about the whole trial and anyone who knows me (or reads this column BTW) knows what that opinion is so I feel no need to yell alongside all the others.  So this column isn't about the trial or whether Zimmerman deserved to be acquitted.  It is about the reactions that have been running amok ever since.

     If you read the above link, you will see that a lot of people are "Objecting" to the fact that a young man was shot and killed by an older man by visiting violence on people they don't even know and who have done no harm to them.  They are "protesting" the fact that the older man was found not guilty by destroying and looting the property of other people.  In short, to protest senseless violence, they are performing acts of senseless violence.

     Now this isn't the first time this has happened.  If you look back through the years at any time when some decision or event occurred that people felt was unjust or just downright wrong, people angrily took to the streets and wrecked royal havoc.  The best example I can think of off the top of my head is of course the infamous Rodney King incident.  1000s of people reacted to the beating of a young Black man by rioting.  They burned stores, trashed cars and assaulted people.  I am sure there are many more examples.

     So in all sincerity, I have to ask all of these people one simple question.  ARE YOU FUCKING CRAZY?!

     Ahem, sorry about that.  However the question still remains.  How are you showing your support for the victim by burning down your local 7/11?  How are you protesting the acquittal of the shooter by setting fire to cars and assaulting people you don't even know?  IMNSHO, all you are doing is proving to everyone else that you are as violent and hateful as the man you are supposedly protesting.  You are proving to the people who rally behind him that their attitudes and beliefs are correct.  

     If people feel that the trial was unjust, they can and should protest it.  If they feel that Zimmerman being found Not Guilty was a travesty, then they should speak out.  But they should do so peacefully and legally.  Our governing principles give each and every one of us the right to speak out against injustice.  What isn't given is the right to ran around and burn and destroy things just because you are pissed off.  Those cars and stores belong to people just like you trying to just get along.  Stop protesting mindless violence by engaging in mindless violence.  You are only proving the Haters right.

End of Rant

What is in a name?

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/07/14/asiana-tv-station-fake-pilot-names/2515541/

Okay folks, I am usually the first one to rail against unnecessary law suits that clog up our legal systems around the world, but I gotta say I am kind of on the Airline's side on this one.

For those who are unaware there was a horrible crash involving an Asiana Jet not too long ago. Almost immediately afterwards, the NTSB and a Fox News Affiliate got seriously punked when someone gave them a list of “Pilot Names” that were more than a little bit racially offensive and also not exceedingly funny.

Ordinarily I'd be trotting out the “Hey everyone makes mistakes” argument because everyone does make mistakes, but come on peeples! Just look at this list! Sound it out in your head! Anyone with more than two brain cells to rub together can see that this is a really bad prank. The fact that both the NTSB (One of our oh so effective Government agencies) and a Affiliate of a National News Agency (Well Okay, Fox News, but that is not the point.) did not catch this makes me shake my ever balding head in disbelieve.

So now, on top of this tragedy, Asiana has to deal with the annoyance and stupidity of people who were to lazy to do their jobs or just didn't care. Maybe a lawsuit will make both parties do their jobs better in the future.

Now in the Accused defense, they have issued apologies. But since neither NTSB or Fox News has explained exactly where the names came from, I have to wonder if it was a inside job and now both agencies are trying to cover their collective asses.

The main thing to take away from all of this is this. Low brow, racial humor is inappropriate in any case (See my blogs on “Lady Chinky Eyes” etc on that. But when you are dealing with a tragedy such as a plane crash, it is really inappropriate. Someone should have caught this before it even got to the air waves. Someone didn't so something needs to be done.

End of Rant

And now a little Musical Ditty...

So as part of my new life/new leaf pledge after moving to the Nation's Capital (Well okay Virginia, but DC is a half hour away) I promised myself to spend more time on my writing and less time on things that stressed me out. As part of this pledge, I promised I would write more blogs to entertain the truly astounding number of people world wide who enjoy reading my rants against all of the insanity and stupidity in the world.

As I pondered what to write about to launch this new endeavor, I looked at the many things going on in the world today that strike me as stupid, crazy or just down right WTF. The first that came to mind was the Martin/Zimmerman situation, but there are more than enough people out there ranting about it (Sharpton, Jackson, Rivera etc) that I felt no need to butt in. Then I pondered the whole Coup/Not a Coup going on in Egypt, but since I already did a rather good piece on that whole debacle way back when the First Overthrow happened I really didn't see the need for further speaking on the subject.

So, what talk about for the relaunching of the SIOTBAA Society Flagship Blog? What could I possibly find that could be crazy enough or maybe offensive enough to set things off right? I was reading through the dozen or so news feeds when an idea hit me. I hit it back and a merry battle ensued. It has everything from Politics to Religion to Comedy. In short, it is perfect. So here we go!

“ The Book of Mormon is a religious satire musical with book, lyrics, and music by Trey Parker, Robert Lopez, and Matt Stone.[1] Best known for creating the animated comedy South Park, Parker and Stone co-created the music with Lopez, a co-composer/co-lyricist of Avenue Q. The show lampoons organized religion and traditional musical theatre, reflecting the creators' lifelong fascination with Mormonism and musicals.” (Thank you Wikipedia)

The article I read was a review scathing review of the Musical whose wording bordered on Scatological. However, in the writer's defense, her differences with the Musical were purely asthetic in nature so I had no problems with her. (Well besides the normal problems I have with critics in general. Those who can write, those who can't write teach writing and those who can't teach become critics.) Nope the problem I had was with one of the comments where a a poster with the rather grandiose title of “GodsTrueOne” made the comment that the BOM proved that Mormons were a bunch of crazy cultists with no real idea of the “real” religion.

Now while reading I did make a couple of assumptions about the poster. One that he is some branch of Christianity OTHER than Mormon. Two that he is a knuckle dragging Nimrod. I am pretty sure of the latter, but could be wrong on the previous.

Why do I think this man is a Nimrod? Why do I think he needs some serious reality checks done? Why am I asking you these questions when you can't even answer before I post the blog? These are all truly valid questions and I am glad you asked them.

So let us ponder for a second the fact that Christianity has had more splits than Dairy Queen on a busy weekend. Church of Christ, Catholicism, Baptist, Methodist, Lutheran and the list goes on and on and on. So one has to ponder which “real religion” the poster was talking about. I mean, how accurate can a religion be when it has Versions of its Holy Book running around?

However, that is not my real problem with this Poster's little rant. Nope my main problem is that Mr. Nimrod is holding up a Musical Comedy/Parody written by the same people who brought us the gem of Southpark as “Proof” of his arguments. Does anyone else have a problem with that?

I have seen excerpts from BOM and found them insanely funny. With the limited amount of information I have on Mormonism, the parts I recognized were parodied to the point of tailspinning. It Is my understanding that the creators has had a fascination with Mormonism for a very long time and did weave elements of the religion into the musical, but never meant for it to represent the religion itself. He meant for it to entertain.

People who go to see things like BOT are the same sort of people who went to see Jesus Christ, Super Star back in the day and came away believing everyone in the Bible sang Rock Opera. I see so much hate and vitriol spewed out by people over things that they have made little if any effort to actually understand and it bugs the hell out of me. People say, “Well I saw on the Interwbez such and such is a goose stepping reincarnation of Satan so it must be true,” 99% (and I am being kind) of people out there don't bother to gather information and form their own opinions about anything. That is the main thing that is wrong with the world today.

So in closing, let me state again what I have said many times in the past. It is okay if you don't like someone or something. Hell, it is okay if you actually hate them. If you despise Blond Haired Left Handed Communist surfers from Redondo Beach, then despise them for good reasons. Hate them because the Commie Surfing Bastards tore up your favorite stuffed animal then peed on it. Don't hate them because your Father's Cousin's College Roommate told his best friend that the Commie Surfers sucked who then posted it on the Interwebz.

So to make a long story short (TOO LATE!), do your own research, form your own opinions and make your own decisions about everything. You may still be wrong, but at least you won't be citing comedies as an accurate source for information.

End of Rant

Huh, so it is all OUR fault! Who Knew?

Someone just shoot me now, please?

     So if you are one of the truly mind boggling number of people who read the last blog, you will know that we have encountered some minor (Bullshit cough cough) problems associated with our move from GA to VA.  Not to worry, the helpful (Useless Bitch) in charge of the GA section of the move has managed to figure out exactly what the problems are.  I am so very relieved.  (Bordering on stroking out completely cough cough)
     See apparently, everything that has gone wrong with this move is my fault.  That's right!  See, instead of the fault being with the fact that the guy making the move simply decided that he wasn't going to move us and despite the fact that the BIC (that would be Another word for Female Dog In Charge) failed to email us, the guy in charge of moving pretty much everyone or his Boss or anyone else for that matter till the day BEFORE the packing was supposed to happen.  Even though all of this seemed to be pretty damning evidence, the actual fault resides in me and my wife.
     Apparently, the Moving Guy (Who my wife has affectionately dubbed Balls Less) decided when he came over for the move inspection that our house was entirely too filthy for his poor little delicate movers to be exposed to.  Of course, he didn't have the spheres (Hence his pet name) to tell us that to our faces.  Instead he smiled and joked while he informed us when the move would happen.  Then when he returned to the Movers Cave, he called the BIC and told her. 
     Now folks, I admit that we have 5 cats and a decent number of litter boxes.  I also admit that the carpet could use a good steam cleaning.  But I can assure you that our house is not filthy nor is it a health hazard.  Lived here almost 10 years and so far as I know, I have not died yet.  So the very idea that this grungy little bald man can say that my house is too filthy to work in really pisses me off, but hey this is all my fault.  We have to remember that.
     So, once BIC got this information she was supposed to email her two bosses higher up the food chain and inform them of what happened.  She was also supposed to email us the same information.  She failed to do this until 08 July, 2013.  For those keeping track, that is the day BEFORE they are supposed to pack the house.  Both of her superiors, Mr. Hardeman and Mr. Passamore (Approximation on the names) confirm that they never received any emails from the BIC.  Hardeman even went so far as to go back through his "received/trash" files to make sure.  So no emails were sent out and no notifications were given.
     (As a small aside here, let me say the Mr.s Hardeman and Passamore in San Antonio, Texas have been amazing through this whole ordeal.  They are proof that most Government Employees are hard working decent people.  God Bless them.)
     So you would think that with the BICs inactions, at least that part would be someone else's fault right?  Nope, wrong again.  Apparently, according to the BIC, the in-depth briefing that my wife went to that covered the move informed her that the house had to essentially be spotless before the movers could work and a handy hand book explained all of that.  Now the fact the briefing lasted all of 15-20 minutes instead of the hour that BIC claims and no handbook was given to my wife is completely beside the point.  See apparently my wife was meant to gather the necessary information through some form of ESP.  So once again, ALL our fault.
     So after spending 80%  of the day on the phone, it is just so comforting to finally realize that all of this bullshit isn't the result of some idiots in the Government not doing their jobs.  Nope, it is all because my wife and I couldn't read Mr. Carroll's (of Carroll's Moving and Storage in Macon, GA) Mind to discover what he did not have the BALLS to tell us to our faces and that we didn't magically guess that the BIC really meant to send out those emails but just never got around to it.
     Yup, all of this pain and all of this frustration is all MY fault.  Who knew?

Now you know and knowing is half the battle. 

I AM ROYALLY PISSED OFF! (with due deference to the Queen who is not the royalty in question)

"On the road again..."

    For those of you who do not follow my Facebook Page (Shame on you!), My family has been engaged in the somewhat annoying and very much exhausting process of moving from Georgia to the state of Virginia because my wife has gotten a new, much better paying job in that area.  During this long and very drawn out process, we have encountered barriers and situations that would drive a strong man to drink.  They range from driving 700+ miles to close on the house and being told, "Oh sorry, the paperwork isn't signed yet" to trying to learn to navigate in a very large metro area during rush hour traffic.  So say we have seen our share of problems would be the understatement of the century.
     Finally it looked like every thing was getting straightened out.  We closed on the new house, made arrangements for the movers to bring the things we are taking from GA and even our new high speed interwebz was turned on.  Hey I even have cable again for the first time in 5 years!  So bright and early Monday Morn, I hope in the rental SUV we got to transport all the animules (4 cats, 2 dogs in case you are wondering) and drive 700+ miles to GA so that I can be at the old house early Tuesday to meet the movers so they can pack the house.  (As a side note, I want to add that we had already met with the moving guy two weeks before to confirm the packing/shipping days.)
     About half way through my trip, my wife calls me and informs me that the dude in charge of moving basically anyone associated with the US Gov had called her and left a message on her phone that basically said that the movers had cancelled the move.  Yeah you heard right, CANCELLED on the day before they were scheduled to do the job.
     So after I make it to GA and get a few hours sleep, I start working on the problem.  I call the actual local moving company who are supposed to do the job.  The very surly lady at CARROLL MOVING AND STORAGE in Macon, GA informs me that our move has indeed been cancelled but essentially tells me I am Shift Out Of Luck because she will not help me or even tell me why. 
     So, thanks to my wonderful wife, I finally get in contact with the dude who is actually in charge of all the moves and stuff.  After much frustrating time on the phone on both of our parts, we finally get in touch with someone who actually knows what the FUGG is going on.  We are informed that the reason our move was cancelled was because the office had never received a Moving Inspection Report which basically says that some dude came out looked at everything and said "Ayup, that is  some stuff that needs to be moved," fills out a form and mails it (or faxes not sure which) (As a side note, I'd like to refer you back to the side note of 3 paragraphs ago.)
     So now, I am waiting for more information which hopefully will be forthcoming in the Morning.  As it sits, I have no idea when the movers will come and pack.  I have no idea when they will actually come and move us.  All I know is that I rented a car for a week to drive here for the purpose of dealing with the moving.  I rented for a week instead of a couple of days because I was under the (false) assumption that I'd be overseeing the packing and a day or two later the moving of our stuff.  By the time this is all said and done, I will have spent close to $500. just getting down here (and back again of course) when you figure in gas, food etc and I faced with the very real possibility that I am going to have to do it all over again sometime in the future because a bunch of assholes cannot do their jobs right
     I suppose there is some insane chance for a miracle and Mr. Hardemann (Very cool guy in Texas who is trying to get all of this sorted out) will work out the problem, get the movers here say by Thursday to pack and get us moved by Friday.  Can't be any later than Friday because I have to be back in VA on Saturday to return the SUV.  I believe the chances of this are equal to the proverbial snowball in Hell, but miracles do happen.  After all I found a woman crazy enough to marry me, right?  Still the odds are very good that I will have to turn around and do this shift all over again spending even more money that I really cannot afford to spend right now to get the job down that should have been done the first time.
     With the rant done, let me send this final, heartfelt message to the Cast and Crew of the aforementioned Carroll Moving and Storage because all of this shift is because your boss either forgot to file or just didn't feel like filing three fugging sheets of paper.
End of Rant