Saturday, August 30, 2003

Confused city, state and nation.

The weekend arriveth and goeth away just as quickly. Dost one wonder when
weekends were long and enjoyable? No, say I. Memory faileth as most everything
else does these days. Well, not quite everything. :-)

Certainly in this fog shrouded City by the Bay, what Herb Caen called Baghdad-by-
the-Bay, things move slowly and confusingly. Actually, they lurch along from one
mini-crisis to another and no one knows what to do about any of them.

Now Mr. Clean, Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamente, is now taking heat for accepting
questionable campaign contributions for the recall election. The Republicans have all
but handed over the election to party boy Schwarzenegger which is too bad as former
Los Angeles mayor Richard Riordan would have been a good choice had Gray Davis not
played dirty tricks in the primary last year which permitted Bill Simon to win that
primary. Now, even Bill has dropped out of the running in this silly recall which is
not going to prove one damn thing except how much money it takes to put on this
charade of democracy. Democracy! Ha!! Only until there is total and complete
campaign reform will we even begin to start down that road.

Elections must not be bought and paid for by large corporations and the election
campaign time must be limited to eight weeks during which time all candidates will be
given free time on radio and TV to air their views.

As it stands now, the government cannot be trusted to do what is right. They are
only interested in perpetuating and increasing their power and income. And then they
wonder why so few people bother to vote. Well, duh! Why bother to choose
between tweedle-dee and tweedle-dum? It becomes a matter of who is the least
dangerous of the candidates and that is no way to run an election and the country.

About the only thing the government has been good at in recent years is in covering
up the truth. Cover-ups abound from the attack on Pearl Harbor to the assassination
of John Kennedy to the incident at Waco, Texas to the Oklahoma City bombing,
and the events of Sept. 11, 2001, etc., etc. Actually the list is rather lengthy but
those are some of the more prominent incidents along the way.

It does get discouraging but what can I do? Move out of the country? Actually I
would like to but can't afford it so I am stuck here. Then again, should lightning
stike and I win the big one in the lottery, it might be possible. Oh, I forgot, I am
more likely to be struck by lightning than win the lottery. Damn!



Wednesday, August 27, 2003

Slogging along through the day

This day seems very disorganized to me. I guess I am accomplishing something at work but I'm not sure what and with only two-and-a-half days left without my co-worker, I am wondering if I will be able to clean up the records center before she returns next week. So much to do but so little time...yuck!

My inner thoughts also seem disoriented as I continue reading Gore Vidal. What he writes makes sense but I fear it also makes me more cynical and possibly paranoid about the government of the old U.S.A. Government intrusion into our daily lives is at an all time high especially with the Patriot Act in control and now there are those who want Patriot Act II. No wonder Mr. Vidal lives outside the country. It is not safe here.

That saddest thing of all is that so many Americans don't realize what is happening to them and the country. At least people here in California especially the Bay Area, are more aware but it is going to take more than that to get our country back on course.

We set ourselves up in Iraq for a fight just as previous leaders set us up with Japan in order to pick a fight. Neither action made any sense. Somedays I wish I could be the first man on Mars and if they could provide enough food, water, and oxygen for the rest of my life, I might not object. Of course, I would want to pick a companion for company. Hmm...Adam & Eve revisited? No, how about Adam & Adam! Well, whatever...

Tuesday, August 26, 2003

Maybe!

Some days I think I should change the name of this blog, or give it up, but since I am close to retiring (I hope) I should have a lot mre time to devote to this and I might actually start to become serious about what is written here.

Recently I have been reading some books (pamphlets) by Gore Vidal and I can't put them down. Finally I have found someone who makes sence about what is happening in this messed-up country. I plan to read more by him as well as books he has recommended by other authors. Looks like retirement will become very interesting.

In the meantime it looks like people in this state will do the right thing and vote NO on the recall but cast their vote for the logical successor to Gray Davis, Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamente. Perhaps we should all say Hasta la vista baby to Arnold.

Saturday, August 23, 2003

Back up my hard drive? How do I put it in reverse?

Well, at least I feel like going back in time to a more peaceful and safer age, that is, the middle of the 20th Century. Or, maybe I should move to a country outside the U.S. I have a few places in mind but financing such a move would be the biggest problem and since I did not win the $93,000,000 lotto prize a few weeks ago, I won't be doing anything like that.

California politics continues to make headlines around the world because of our recall election now definitely scheduled for the 7th of October. Gray Davis may loose but who will the winner be? I doubt that it will be the State of California. I may vote NO and Bustamente but will that help? The legislature is a big problem in itself and since the not-so-enlightened voters of this state voted for term limits not too many years ago as the way of avoiding actually having to go out and vote the critters out of office, we now have a revolving door on the state house. Even the good members of the legislature can't stay for very long so we end up with a bunch of inexperienced nincompoops in Sacramento.

Oh well, September is around the corner and the opera and symphony seasons opens so I can enjoy some things in life anyway. Even our San Francisco Giants maintain a healthy lead over the Arizona Diamondbacks. I do not know what the magic number is however for winning the division. They meet the D'Backs two more times before the season ends and I will be at one of the those games on the 7th of September. It would be nice if that is the game in which they clinch the Western Division Championship.

That is all from my end for now.

Cheers...



Wednesday, August 20, 2003

Whale of a story.

LONDON (Reuters) - A British family's vacation was rudely interrupted when a 30-foot whale crashed onto their sailing boat off the east coast of Australia, British media reported on Wednesday. The 10-ton humpback whale leapt out of the water and pulled the rigging and mast along with it as it slid down the boat.

"I was below deck when there was a hell of a crash from port as it leapt out of nowhere," said Trevor Johnson, who was on the boat with his wife, two sons and a son's girlfriend.

"It's amazing that no one was hurt or killed, but it was a terrifying experience," he told The Daily Telegraph. The boat was 10 miles away from the shore and the radio equipment did not work. They were eventually towed to dry land after using a mobile phone to ring for help.

----------------

Well, I guess you can tell by my lack of entries or taking stories from elsewhere that I have not felt much like writing anything recently. It's true and I guess I am bored and/or depressed or frustrated by the political situation here in the U.S. I think I am also becoming more cynical as I have now decided that no matter who I vote for, things will not get any better. This country, in fact, the whole world, is going down the tubes. Sometimes I think that "outside" intervention is the only solution but then I am not a religious person. So what's the alternative. An alien invasion? Hey, they certainly couldn't do any worse than earthlings have done in recent years, or could they?

If anyone out there has a possible solution to the mess we are in I would like to hear it.

Until then, hasta la vista baby.
(Did I say that?)

Sunday, August 17, 2003

Get those guys some new glasses or binauculars.

This really ticks me off and why does it seem like it is American troops who make such stupid mistakes?

----------

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - U.S. troops shot dead an award-winning Reuters cameraman while he was filming on Sunday near a U.S.-run prison on the outskirts of Baghdad.

Eyewitnesses said soldiers on an American tank shot at Mazen Dana, 43, as he filmed outside Abu Ghraib prison in western Baghdad which had earlier come under a mortar attack.

Dana's last pictures show a U.S. tank driving toward him outside the prison walls. Several shots ring out from the tank, and Dana's camera falls to the ground.

The U.S. military acknowledged on Sunday that its troops had "engaged" a Reuters cameraman, saying they had thought his camera was a rocket propelled grenade launcher.

"Army soldiers engaged an individual they thought was aiming an RPG at them. It turned out to be a Reuters cameraman," Navy Captain Frank Thorp, a spokesman for the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told Reuters in Washington...

----------

Don't news people wear something that identifies them as journalists? That is the first question I would like. Even if they don't, I would think that someone would have inspected the situation with some sort of high powered scope to get a better look, or doesn't the U.S. military issue such essentials?

Well, I have my own battles to face in the office this week as the firm is busy trying to photocopy thousands of documents for some lawyers. It is a monstrous job but I think I will be on the sidelines, more or less, with this one however the office is rather chaotic during the process. Time for slumberland now. I have had a full day and now am feeling a little tired. Was up late late night too but that is another story.

Bonne nuit.

Thursday, August 14, 2003

Hey gramps, can you loan me a thousand?

DALLAS (Reuters) - Texas police said have arrested a 91-year-old man suspected of robbing an Abilene bank, possibly making him the oldest bank robber in U.S. history.
J.L. Hunter Rountree, who goes by the nickname "Red," was arrested on Tuesday on suspicion of stealing about $2,000, Abilene police said.

They said they had no records to prove it, but they thought Rountree was the oldest person ever to rob a bank in the country.

Police said Rountree, who was not armed, asked a teller to stuff money into a large envelop with the word "robbery" written on it.

A witness took down the license number of his vehicle and he was arrested on a highway about 15 miles outside Abilene. He did not resist, police said.

If convicted, Rountree faces from two to 20 years in prison. He told police he needed the money and he had a grudge against banks, said Abilene police Sgt. Mike Perry.

Rountree left a prison in Florida, where he was the oldest prisoner in the state, about a year ago after serving a three-year sentence imposed on him for a 1999 bank robbery in Pensacola.

He was caught holding up a bank in Biloxi, Mississippi, in 1998 when he was 87, and given three years' probation.
---------------------
Well I guess you are never to old to rob a bank providing you can move fast enough.


Tuesday, August 12, 2003

Exporting hate?



It is bad enough that American bigots want to shove their way of life down the throats of others but now apparently they are exporting their hate to other countries. See the following article from the Bangkok Post.

----------

SOCIAL ORDER CRUSADE

Now it's war on lewdness, striptease

Patrons all low-class, miserly, not wanted

Temsak Traisophon

Deputy Interior Minister Pracha Maleenont has declared war on obscene shows and striptease at entertainment venues across the country.

Mr Pracha said they would face a relentless three-month crackdown.

He said some foreigners would help authorities ferret out those venues providing explicit sex shows and other indecent performances, particularly in Bangkok's nightstrips in Patpong, soi Nana, soi Cowboy and Sutthisan road, and Pattaya in Chon Buri, Koh Samui in Surat Thani, Hat Yai in Songkhla and the southern island resort of Phuket.

Mr Pracha said he was not worried that tighter controls on obscene shows would affect tourism. Tourists visiting places providing indecent shows were of low-quality and Thailand did not welcome such visitors.

``We do not want them here.

``They spend little money and look down on Thai women and Thai people,'' Mr Pracha said.

Mr Pracha, who personally supervises the social order crusade, said he inspected Nana Plaza on Sukhumvit road on Aug 8 and found 27 entertainment outlets were hosting obscene shows.

He gave police and the Klong Toey district office one week to get all operators at Nana Plaza to obey the law.

Mr Pracha said he would also ask the Excise Department to use tax measures to bring traditional massage parlours back into line.


Mr Pracha said some traditional massage establishments were also providing illicit sex services and this could not be allowed.

----------

No, this article does not say who the foreigner is but only a big fat stupid ugly American S.O.B. would stoop so low. Why can't bastards like this stay at home. If they don't like something. keep away. As for tourists not spending enough, what exactly is enough anyway? I am beginning to think a regime change is needed in Thailand as well as the USA.


Friday, August 08, 2003

Grand Opera - California style



A number of years ago Californians elected another actor to be governor and he went on to the White House. Since Arnold was not born in this country he cannot go there but he has apparently grabbed a lot of attention this week with his surprise announcement that he will seek the post of governor.

This whole situation is the stuff of Grand Opera. My god, where is Giuseppe Verdi when you need him? Many of his greatest operas were about real life political intrigue and the current situation in California is no less. What a cast of characters we have here and you certainly need a program to keep up with them all. The biggest surprise is that Rep. Issa, the one who started this whole recall thing, dropped out of the race.

So we have Arnold Schwarzenegger as the main Republican candidate with a whole bunch of lesser characters also seeking the post. Even two Democrats have broken rank with Davis and are running.

Since Schwarzenegger is in, Riordan is out. Ariana Huffinton is in but her ex, Michael, is out. Peter Camejo was in but is now out. Sen. Feinstein says no but a number of her supporters are still urging her to jump in. Rep. Pelosi apparently says that if Dianne says no, she will say yes. Yikes!

Then we have Playboy publisher Larry Flynt in the race and the list goes on and on. I think there are over 200 people who have taken out filing papers for this post. You could probably say "Only in California".

The prelude is now being performed and the opera will begin right after the filing deadline this weekend. It will probably be a one act opera but with many scenes and a huge cast. The grand finale will take place on Tuesday, Oct. 7th. That is when the fat lady will sing unless of course, the lame duck withdraws, but for the sake of Verdi, or opera composers still alive, I hope he doesn't. This must play out until the final curtain.

Thursday, August 07, 2003

A cardiologist died and was given an elaborate funeral.
A huge heart covered in flowers stood behind the casket
during the service.

Following the eulogy, the heart opened, and the casket
rolled inside. The heart then closed, sealing the doctor
in the beautiful heart forever.

At that point, one of the mourners burst into laughter.
When all eyes stared at him, he said, "I'm sorry,
I was just thinking of my own funeral...I'm a gynecologist."
At that point, the proctologist fainted.

Wednesday, August 06, 2003

Hasta la vista baby!

Today Arnold Schwarzenegger jumped into the California recall election by announcing his candidacy. Now things will really get interesting. Yes, it is becoming or has become a circus but at least it is more interesting than what is going on presently in Sacramento. Arnold says will be go to Sacramento and clean house (Terminator sytle???). Well he sure needs to kick ass with the lame ass politicians we currently have. Most of them could not fight their way out of a wet paper bag.

Tuesday, August 05, 2003

Is it Friday yet?

Ready, Aim...

A Vicar and his friend, Colin were playing golf.
Colin misses a 3 foot putt and yells, "Goddamn it, missed the bugger!" and the vicar says, "If you keep saying that then God will punish you."

Next hole Colin misses a 2 foot putt and says "Goddamn it, missed the bugger!" and the vicar says, "ONE more time Colin, and God will punish you!"

Then Colin misses a one foot putt and "GOD DAMN IT!!!MISSED THE BUGGER!"

Suddenly clouds form overhead. God comes down from Heaven and strikes the Vicar dead with a bolt of lightning.

God says, "Goddamn it! Missed the bugger!"

-x-x-x-x-xx-x-x-x-x-x-

I am still here but these past few days have drained me physically, mentally, and emotionally so I have not felt like writing much, not that I ever did, but I almost dread even opening these pages. Ever had days like those?

Anyway, if it weren't so serious the California gubenatorial recall election continues to provide some laughs over all the political and legal wrangling going on and with the ever growing list of people who want to replace Davis. Now Hustler publisher Larry Flynt has become a candidate. Still no word from Arnold Schwarzenegger however. Perhaps Jesse Ventura has advised him against?

On other matters, my feet and my lower legs are now hurting after Friday night's accident on the dance floor when someone invadvertently stepped on my left little toe. It was not broken but severely bruised and that has gone away but now my calf muscles are aching and both feet have a tendency to start tingling. This is really very bothersome.

Bye for now.


Monday, August 04, 2003

Monday, Monday...

Two vultures board an airplane; each is carrying
two dead raccoons. The stewardess looks at them and
says, "I'm sorry, gentlemen, only one carrion allowed
per passenger."

Saturday, August 02, 2003

Closing loopholes?




While I agree that airports must be secured against potential terrorist threats, the suspension of programs allowing visa-free stays at U.S. airports whle en transit is a curious one because the government states that those most effected by the new rules will be people from Brazil, Mexico, South Korea, the Phillipines, and Peru. Strange but I don't think any of the terrorists associatated with 9/11 were from one of those countries. Also, the suspension does not affect passengers from 27 "visa-waiver" countries, mostly in Europe and the Far East and Southeast Asia. Whatever the plan, portential terrorists will find a way around the regulations. The "law" has never prevented a crime from occurring anywhere nor at anytime. There seems to be some muddled thinking in Washington once again.