Sunday, March 29, 2015

Heading to DC

We are heading to DC for a few days. As it turns out, lots of friends are there. It will be fun. 

Friday, March 27, 2015

Tyne Daily and Harriet Harris - Perfection

I went and saw "It Shoulda Been You" last night.
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And I will say, it looked like it could have been cute or a stinker.  It was so much better than "cute".  It is a musical comedy on Broadway with no intermission and a shed-load of laughs.
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I was surprised.  And loved it.  I will do a full review when it is legal, but in general, I think I will like it.
Tyne Daily, Sierra Boggess, David Burtka (spouse of Neil Patrick Harris) and Harriet Harrison

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It started Tyne Daily and Harriet Harris.  They are perfection live.  I never saw an episode of "Cagney and Lacey" so I did not have any preconceptions before seeing her on Broadway.  I have seen her now in Comedies, Musicals, Dramas, as a Jewish Mother, as an uptight WASP.  And I have never seen her perform poorly.
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Harriet Harris is famous (to me) as Frazier Crane's agent.  That voice she has is all her own.  I have seen her in a couple of other things too.  She was the best thing in "Cry Baby", except for the Dance Captain - he was the mascot of the month once.  Scute.
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Anywho, if you are heading to New York and want some great old fashioned Broadway fun this is one of those shows.
During the bow.  That is Montego Glover (tony winner) on far right!

Speaking of Cars... And Bad Drivers

You all may now that I loved my Grandmother Zela.  A better woman would be hard to find.  She used to drive Nash Ramblers - later AMC Ramblers.
A Nice Boring American Motors Rambler
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However, she could not drive to save her life. My Grandfather used to tell this story (which was the only one he ever told with a dirty word).
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Zela drove to work one morning, and at Florence Blvd, sideswiped a car.  She called my Ham (my Grandfather (Henry Albert Mitchell aka Ham) to come get her.  She was a mess and upset.  Crying and apologizing.  Now they didn't have much money, but Ham knew better than to say anything right then.  Instead he consoled her and got her home.
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After a nervous day, she set off the next morning to work and, at the same intersection, she sideswiped another car (he said 2, but I think the tale grew in the telling).  About this time in the story Zela would being to tell him to "hush up".
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Well once again she called Ham, a crying mess.  And once again he consoled her and got her home.  Where she swore she would quit work and never drive again.  Ham knew she just wanted reassurance, but he words got away from him.  "You'll be fine, honey.  Just take a different damn road tomorrow!"
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Now you may say, what is a "Rambler".  A "Rambler" was a horrible, heavy, slow car that was like driving an underpowered tank.  Because my grandfather knew that she was such a bad driver, he always purchases slow, boring Ramblers to keep her and others on the road safe.  She always resented that damn Rambler.
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So, when he died, she was distraught.  But not so distraught she didn't go out town months later a buy a V8 Impala.
The 350 HorsePower V8 72 Impala

A Simple Example of We're Screwed Coming or Going

What seems to be happening right now is a Islamic Civil War between the Sunni and Shite (Shia) factions.  There has always been tension, but now it has grown into open war on multiple fronts.
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Our position here, which should be None-Of-Our-Business, is seemingly designed to make now no one happy (except businesses that build bombs).

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Yes, up in Syria / Iraq we support the Iraq / Iran / Syrian positions of anti-ISIS (which is Shia).  And yes, down in Yemen we support the Saudi / Egyptian  position of anti-Sunni.
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If we are going to be asinine enough to be drug into this, pick a side.

Thursday, March 26, 2015

Final Four in Indianapolis - Can They Please Tell Us Fags Exactly Which Establishments Will Serve Us?

The Final Four is in Indianapolis, Indiana.  Indiana just passed a law that allows anyone to discriminate against gays and lesbians because they think it is icky against their religion.
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That is fine, one supposes.  But since there will be plenty of fags at the Final Four (depending on who goes), can the hate-loving homophobes at least give us a nice list of places we should not eat at, stay at,  or visit with our faggy dollars .
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I mean, if you can't stand to service treat us as customers, have the good grace to put up a sign that says, "I love Jesus, We don't serves Fags."  That way we won't offend you by offering to pay for things.

... like the corners of my mind...

Somehow in the my trip around the interwebs today, I found this picture (it was in the "10 worst cars of all time" display).  And I thought- Wow, that is the car where I learned to drive.  For those of you familiar with the story of my father's ashes; yes, this is where he put the cigarette pack on the hump.
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This could been ours, if the back of the car had a Mickey Mouse decal to cover the f-word scratched into the panel (before we bought it).
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It is probably the best little car to learnt to drive in.  It has the pick up of wounded gazelle, the handling of a dyslexic hippo and you can't enough speed to hurt yourself too badly in an accident.  Of course, if you get lightly rear-ended, it goes up in flames - but that just teaches you the value of the rear view mirror.
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When I make fun of my Pinto youth, Ed brings his own story into the can-you-top-this story.  I forget what he learned to drive in (a civic circa 1970s I think).  But his family had one of these beasts.
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I have to admit, when it came out with it's acres of glass, I was both terrified and awed.  In retrospect, the AMC Pacer doesn't look that horrible. And probably not as impractical in Wisconsin as in LA, where all that glass conspired to melt the plastic dashboard when you parked it in the sun.
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I love the older woman's sensible hair and polyester pants suit with matching long sleeve blouse.  Her tense stance and forced smile scream, "Honey, your not marrying someone who is proud of this."

Wednesday, March 25, 2015

Odd "In Rep"

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These two shows are being done "in Rep".  That is the cast is alternating between the two plays.
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Now normally this is done with two shows by the same author (often Shakespeare), or two different shows about the same topic - even if they are only tenuously related - like 2 shows on different aspects of love.
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But Macbeth - a Shakespearian tragedy - and A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court - a Mark Twain comedy best known from its Bing Crosby sing-along version?
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That is some twisted "in rep" thinking.

The Missions

After my last post (LINK) I couldn't let you go without a map of the missions.
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They were built starting in 1769 (before the American Revolution, our history teachers impressed on us) - thorough 1800.  They were built about a days horse ride form each other.
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You can tell they are historical from the old timey pictures.
The Missions brought the Catholic Church, and education (and slave labor) to the Indians of the California Coast.  Unlike much of the East, the California Coast we very lightly settled by American Indians.  This was due to two things:
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First, the California Coast, without irrigation and many damns isn't a bountiful place for settlement.
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Second, the diseases introduced int he proceeding 200 hundred years from Europe (for which American natives had no immunity) wiped out the native population long before the Spanish arrived.
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So the Missionaries set up schools and farms to educate and employ the natives.  These Mission were quickly followed by Land Grants first from the Spanish and later Mexico to their War Heros and major families.
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These giant land grants (Ranchos) were then farmed by the natives, all taught Spanish and trades by the Missionaries.  They exported leather primarily, because refrigerated shipping hadn't been invented yet.
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Here is a picture of a California doing what we all had to do in 5th grade.  Create a post about a mission (if you class was crowded you could double up - I doubled up with Devon).
See how good the missions were for the natives!

One of the Interesting Things about the US

I may have touched on this before, but I think this is interesting.
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In most countries, there is a unified history taught to school children.  That is kind-of the case in the United States.  For most of the country, the history books are essentially the same.
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Okay, actually there are usually two major set of school books.  Texas is the key buyer for a set of school books that more conservative states purchase.  California is the key buyer for most other states text books.
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That is because California and Texas have the largest school age populations, and once you create a good text book, it is much cheaper to buy one already done, than try to commission a new one.  Not that either Texas or California commission these, but they are the largest markets, and the purchase process tends to select ones the board finds relatable.
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But that is in general.
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In Grade 5 (maybe different now), most states' history classes are the actual state's "history".  That is, it is on the history of the state, not the country.
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So, in Ed's case, they learned about the mine workers (called "badgers", hence the school mascot).  They learned about the westward migration into the mid-west.  They learned about Indians and even the bad things we did to the Indians.
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There weren't many Indians in the California - the Spanish killed them off.  So I didn't learn all that much about them.
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In California, our history is really different than Wisconsin's or New York's.  We were first settled by the Spanish, who built the Missions and killed the Indians.  To this day I will roll my eyes when we pass a Mission, but secretly want to go to complete my mission charm collection.  We took school field trips OR my parents / grandparents took me to (deep breath): Mission San Fernando, Mission Ventura, Mission San Juan Capistrano, The San Diego Mission, The Santa Barbara Mission, and more.
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Japanese Interment Camp
We also learned about the Japanese Internment Camps.  During WWII, America decided that Americans of Japanese descent were a risk of treason and terrorism.  So they rounded them all up and shipped them to internment camps in the middle of nowhere (the deserts of California, the swamps of Arkansas, etc.).  The war hysteria was helped, becasue all that land that got sucked up by the states or connected individuals, but that isn't why it happened (sarcasm).  Anyway, I was told about this because Gardena, where I went to grade school, was one of the 2 places in Los Angeles that the Japanese were re-settled.  The other was a community called Sawtelle, which was condemned with a decade for the 405 Freeway. My school was probably 1/3 Japanese - and, like all children, I assume that the entire world was that way.  I thought everyone knew about this and that every town was 1/3 Japanese.  And this happened in 5th grade.
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So if you hang out with a bunch of Americans from different areas, you can ask them about their history and, depending on the state, get much different answers.  Isn't that odd.

Tuesday, March 24, 2015

Interesting Little Show

This is the interior of a Dime Savings Bank (now Chase) in Brooklyn
So, last week-end Randy, Ed and I went to the show mentioned here.  It was all about Landmark interiors in New York that were being saved.  It had lots of information and pictures from each building.
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One of the coolest amenities however, were the information cards.  For example, they told you where building was, and when (if) you could visit.
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These were some of the interiors highlighted (that you CAN get into see).
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Interior of the Gould Library in the Bronx. 
The mural in the Air Terminal Building at La Guardia (open, but I don't think planes leave from here anymore).

Friday, March 20, 2015

So Yes - I Wrote a New Novella

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So I finished a new novella (longer than a short story, shorter than a novel).  It is a sci-fi Kindle book right now.  And only 99cents!
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Go on, buy it if you have a Kindle or a Kindle application on your iPad or Tablet or computer. Cliffside The Lost Colony
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And then review it (lie and say it is pretty good).
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Huzzah!
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PS - As for the dedication it is:

For Joe McCarthy:
        Who inspired me, pushed me and checked my spelling.

Union Square Statues


Union Square Tables and Chairs, put in place ready for Srping
I was buzzing around Union Square the other day (Tuesday) and noticed the Union Square statues.  I noticed because Union Square is getting ready for spring (despite the 2 - 4" of snow today).
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Anyway, I took pictures of the statues.  I was interested in why it was called "Union Square" as well.  Most other squares make sense to me.  Madison Square is on Madison Boulevard.  Herald Square is at the front of where the New York Herald office's were.  Times Square, where the New York Times office's were.
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Cortege is "a solemn procession, especially for a funeral."
Then I found this plaque that says Lincoln's Funeral Cortege went through  here and it because Union Square (for the Union Army).
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Anywho, I have futzed with the pictures to bring out the detail and they are quite fun.
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George Washington is right up front on 14th Street - Front and Center
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Lafayette the Frenchie gets a big statue for his help during the Revolution
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I don't know why Gandi gets such lousy placement.  This area is impossible to see on the week-ends.
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Madonna and Jesus.  It's grainy because of the sun's position.
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Honest Abe.  They moved him here in 2002.  He is now opposite Washington, but faces the same direction.

How to make the "Religious Freedom / Right to Discriminate" laws FINE by me.

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The United States are clearly divided by their distaste for same-sex marriage.  This is not unusual.  There are many many divides in the US and this is only the latest one.  I have heard the solution (thank you Ohio).
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I am going to try to be fair to both sides here.
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From the traditional side, many people believe that their religious freedom should allow them to opt out of providing services to same sex couples.  The mildest of these would ensure that same-sex couples get equal service (say marriage license), but that employees with "religious issues" don't have to do the work, some one else is the office would.  The strongest of these would allow companies to refuse service to people who identify with same-sex attraction in any case.
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From the liberal side, many people believe that religious freedom DOES include the freedom to believe what you want and act upon it.  However, if you are providing a business service for a fee, you are not allowed to discriminate against customers based on sexual orientation as well as skin color, gender or marital status.
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I heard recently however of a proposed Ohio law that splits the difference for me.  Which, I know, is hard to believe.  It is a religious freedom law I can support!
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The crux of the law is quite simple.  A business is allowed to opt out of providing a service to same sex couples, provided that they advertise that way up front.  That allows same sex couples or gay people to not be offended when we are turned away or to make it our problem.  It also allows the religious freedom of individual to choose who to serve.
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The New York Farm that advertises as a space for Wedding and Wedding Receptions could then simple advertise, Available for opposite sex weddings only, due to Religious Freedom.  Now I could laugh with my friends and say, "I wonder if they allow second marriages.  Or if they allow people had sex before marriage to get married there. Because that is against the Catholic Religion too."  This gets them out of holding gay-wedding receptions there - which they are fighting in court right now.
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This would also allow them to deny weddings to Jewish people, Atheists, Lutherans ... well really anyone except Catholics who bring their own Priest.  And right now they have to provide access to these groups too.
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I make fun of "Liberty Farms", but I am serious.  If the law said they had to advertise that they discriminate against any group for religious reasons, I would be a-okay with that law.
"we grow memories" - if you are a heterosexual catholic

Wednesday, March 18, 2015

Israeli People Have Voted: Congratulations

The Israeli people have voted and I fully support their right to elect leaders that agree with them.  Congratulations on a record 20th free election in 60 years.  That is an amazing achievement in the Middle East.  Their elections have been free since the founding of the contemporary state of Israeli. Another milestone.
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And so, in congratulating their process I am honest and truthful.  Is is an amazing achievement.
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The outcome, however, is not what I would deem as optimal.  (Although the 47 Republicans that signed the letter to Iran must be over the moon right now.)  You see after 40-ish years and 6 US Presidential Administrations (3 Democratic and 3 Republican including Reagan), Prime Minister Netanyahu has repudiated the peace process.  During the election cycle he has un-equivocally said that there will be no 2 state solution.
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Which, like I said, is his right to say and the Israeli people's right to vote for.  In fact, Israel now has the same position as Hamas, there is only 1 possible country between Jordon and the sea.  They differ only on the government of that country.  Which says to me the process of negotiations is over.  We stopped sending money to Hamas / Gaza when they repudiated the two state solution, we should do the same with Israeli.
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Let us agree to abide by the decisions of the Israeli people / electorate of the region and ske-daddle.
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I see no use in sending them $3 Billion a year.  The country is one of the richest and most technologically advanced in the world.  They are more than capable of taking care of themselves - and, in fact, doing that while persecuting the Palestinians.  Let's spend that $3 Billion on our own infrastructure (bridges, roads, etc.).  And, as long as we aren't buying peace in the region, let's stop spending $3 Billion a year on Egypt.  And roughly $1 Billion a year on the Palestinian West Bank.  I mean at $7 Billion we are talking real money.

Tuesday, March 17, 2015

Lynn Makes Me Smile (again) Today with a Tree


A few weeks ago Lynn sent me a picture and story about one of the Giant Sequoias .  And it made me smile.  I thought - before I went all rant-y, I would share it so it could make you smile.
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This is "The President" tree.  At least that is what the UK Daily Mail called it - and Wikipedia.  Wikipedia said it was named after President Harding - so I don't know what it isn't called the President Harding. There is, after all, a General Grant tree and a President Lincoln and a President Monroe, but whatever.
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Anyway, what makes this amazing is that National Geographic stitched together a number of pictures to get a head on view.  Take a look.  And at the very top there is a man standing in it for scale.
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Beautiful
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Just in case you wondered.  The Giant Sequoias are in the Sierra Nevada mountains of California (I have been with Eddie, my Grandparents and Lisa).  The slightly taller, but less massive are the Coastal Redwoods, primarily in the Northern Californian Coast, with a few in Oregon and a grove outside of San Francisco.

Monday, March 16, 2015

Dolce & Gabbana Nincompoopery and Backtracking As Fast As Their Little Feet Can Dance


There is a "blink and you might have missed it" kerfuffle regarding Dolce & Gabbana.  These two gay man (partners in work still, a couple until 2006) were interviewed for some Italian magazine and said some asinine things more normally said by backwards numskulls.
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In addition to being anti-gay marriage (which, please, just because you can't keep it together, don't blame the rest of us), they came out very strongly against IVF.  Not just gay people who have IVF kids, but anyone having IVF kids.  Calling them "synthetic" and not real.
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Elton John has called for a boycott of them, which is all well and good.   But a boycott of what?  Who actually buys Dolce and Gabbana - except perhaps sunglasses?  I mean I love the ads (except the faux rape ones), but I know very few people that could pull those looks off.
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Perhaps Elton John and Ricky Martin (who also blasted them) are the two people that actually keep the house afloat!  Pissed off the wrong homos, boys.
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Oh. My. Goodness.

This has been the first non-sports event that Ed and I convinced ourselves we HAD to watch live.  Luckily it was on HBO with no commercials.
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If you watched it, you know what I mean.  If you didn't, you should  watch it at the insanely slow pace of show #6.  There is a nice pace of the entire series that is rocked in the final episode - for good reason.
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It was chilling.  Literally, goose-bump raising.  And knowing that he had already been arrested didn't make the episode any less freaky.
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I will say that this is one of the few true crime things that actually ends like it didn't take you on a ride.  You know how to say..."Wow.  I wonder what really happened?" usually on those shows.  This one doesn't leave that question, it leaves a thousand others.
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Cool!

Friday, March 13, 2015

Hillary's Email Nincompoopery

So Hillary Clinton is getting a ton of crap for doing a silly, but legal thing.  I could go on about how it is a fake issue.  About how Bush the Young "lost" 3 million emails, but that is beside the point.
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The point is this.  Hillary will, and should be, held to a higher standard of conduct.  The same should go for Jeb Bush.
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These two are completely familiar with government, campaigning and the rules of the game.  Is it "fair" that they are held to a higher standard? YES!  If part of you resume is that you are familiar with the office and duties of the President, then it is fair for people to demand that you fulfill that.
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As long as this goes both ways, I am fine with it.  In fact, I applaud it.

Wednesday, March 11, 2015

China Orders Dalai Lama Must Reincarnate

Wow!  That is some power the Chinese Government has.  The "reasoning" behind this is that the current Dali Lama - the spiritual leader of Tibet - has said that he might not be reincarnated right away.
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Normally when the Dali Lama dies the reincarnated Dali Lama is found pretty quickly.  And China wants this to happen because this current Dali Lama fled Tibet after China (re)took control.  If the new Dali Lama is found in Tibet, now controlled by China, then they can mold that person.  One assumes to support Tibet's integration into China. (LINK)
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(or else!)

The current Dali Lama is old.
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What I find humorous is that China, officially the party is anti-religious, is demanding control of the incarnation process.
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The debate over whether or not the Dalai Lama will reincarnate has reached a boiling point in China, as one of its prominent party officials recently told reporters that “Decision-making power over the reincarnation of the Dalai Lama, and over the end or survival of this lineage, resides in the central government of China.” The Dalai Lama recently said his spiritual lineage might end with him and that he might not reincarnate. This would upend plans by the Chinese government to pick a successor who would support its control of Tibet. The Chinese official, Zhu Weiqun, shrilly declared that the Dalai Lama’s musings are “in religious terms, this is a betrayal of the succession of Dalai Lamas in Tibetan Buddhism. The 14th Dalai Lama has taken an extremely frivolous and disrespectful attitude towards this issue.”
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I haven't found Dali Lama reincarnation so funny since Kenau Reeves was the reincarnation...

Tuesday, March 10, 2015

If you don't live in the United States you won't believe this.

It is hard to believe how much the Republicans HATE President Obama.  It doesn't matter what he does or why.

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In the current case, 47 of our Senators (out of approximately 54 Republican Senators) sent a letter to Iran.  The letter "schooled" Iran on our constitutional system - basically telling them that anything Obama did they could undo later.
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Never in our history has this happened.  Never has the Senate tried to derail talks in which the United States is a party during the talks.  It is a first.  A sad pathetic first.
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Senator Tom Cotton - a new idiot from Arkansas also sent a condescending translation in Farsi to the President and Foreign Minister of Iran.  In case they didn't understand English.  Although had he googled them he would know they hold Doctorates from Universities in Glasgow, Scotland and Denver, Colorado and their English is probably fine.

I admit to loving Jinx

Eddie and I have been devouring The Jinx on HBO.  If you haven't heard of it, you might soon.  And, if you have HBO, catch up on it ASAP.
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It is the story of Robert Durst who got away with at least one murder (he chopped up a man in Galveston and was acquitted by reason of self-defense).  He is seriously implicated in two others - his ex-wife and one of his best friends in Los Angeles.
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Durst was the oldest son of one of the richest families in New York.   In fact, the Durst family still runs lots of New York Real Estate (including the management of World Trade Center One aka, the Liberty Tower).
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Anyway, it is a fascinating story.  Last night Ed noted that it was like one of those old 1920 crime stories, only it took place in New York and Los Angeles in the 1980s.  Robert Durst reminds me very much of my father, if he had money.  Robert Durst talks about things and you know he is lying, but I kind of think he sort of believes them while he says them.
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My dad, and it seems Robert Durst have unique ability (or psychosis) to have 1/2 their brain lie to the other have.  I have honestly had my dad question things I said (like the name of one of his ex-wives) in public with a truly bewildered expression.  Later, when talking about sex with the guys on the docks (I summer jobbed with him as a longshoreman) and refer to that same ex-wive by name and memory.
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I really think Robert Durst has that same thing.  Durst also reflects my fathers antisocial tendencies.  By which I mean, no respect for societal norms.  What Durst has that my father didn't is access to millions of dollars.  And with it, the best lawyers in the world.
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Fascinating show.

Friday, March 06, 2015

Apocalypse Warning.... Peeps Flavored Milk


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Yummy.  And only 37 grams of sugar per serving (by reduced fat!) (LINK - if you dare)

Who Should Be Allowed to Refuser Service To Me Because I am Gay?

So, there are a lot of laws being in the process of being passed in states that are so called "license to discriminate"  or "freedom of religion, to discriminate" with reference to gay people.  The general idea here is that some people who don't agree with gay marriage don't want to provide services for it.  NOT religious services - that is not a thing, but rather commercial services that they are presently prohibited from discriminating when in business.
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An example is a bakery who won't bake a wedding gay for a gay marriage because they don't believe in it.  They lost a lawsuit.  The plaintiffs requested on $1.00 only to make the point.  The bakers have appealed and closed their business right now rather than abide by the ruling and bake cakes for anyone that wants to buy them.  Many people have become unhinged.
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So now there are laws being introduced (or passed) that would allow people to discriminate, in business or services, due to the workers religious beliefs.  My question - which I really do wonder about - is what business or stores should I not be able to attend?
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Say a grocery store?  If one cashier doesn't want to serve me, is she allowed to send me out of her line.  Even after I have waited patiently?
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How about the DMV clerk?  I mean the laws to do this are being worked on where government employees don't have to do their job if they don't want to give marriage licenses to gays - what if they don't want to give driver's licenses to gays.  The underlying reason is the same, they think gay people are sinners and shouldn't be part of society.
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This will also apply to attorneys, doctors and ambulances.  In point of fact, it has already happened with a doctor: a Pediatrician in Michigan had agreed to be the baby doctor for a new couple with a newly adopted baby.  The couple - two women, went to the doctor with their 6 day old child and the doctor wouldn't see them as they were lesbians (and yes - they had told the doctor before the appointment).  Seriously.
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If you were me, what services or stores would you be comfortable being banned from?  What if you lived in a small town and there was only one supermarket or bank?
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And what other forms of religious discrimination should be allowed?  Should orthodox jews and certain muslims be allowed to ban women from their stores?
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What is at stake here is not anyone religious freedom.  No one is forcing people to be a baker or a check-out clerk or a doctor.  What is being required is that if you choose a profession, you have to provide your service or product to everyone equally.  That includes blacks, women, old white men and homo's.  You don't get to pick and choose your customers.
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Back to my question.  What types of services or goods to you think it should be legal to deny me because I am gay?

Let us do what Bibi does - put our country's interests first

As I noted, I asked my Senators what they learned from Prime Minister Netanyahu's speech to Congress.  So far there has been no answer.
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But I have watched the speech and the PM's responses before the speech and I did learn a lo.  One of my lessons was Prime Minister Netanyahu made perfect sense when he was asked to not give the speech.  He said, that while he respected the President of the United States (and waited for the laughter to die down) he needed to do what was in the national interest of Israel - not the United States.
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Fair.  Fully fair.  That is his job.
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Equally fair then to ask then, "What is in the national interest of the United States?"
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Right?

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I mean, we are NOT less patriotic than Israel, right?  What is in our national interest?
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And, - to be honest, we don't have much of a horse in the race about Iran's nuclear weapons.
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Have you noticed who is involved in the discussions, the "5+1" group?  France, UK, Germany, Russia, China and the US.  Of the six we are far and away the most removed from any threat.... Russia Borders Iran, the three European countries and China are a short missile ride away.  They should care a hell of a lot more than us.
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We don't really need the oil from the Persian Gulf anymore.
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We are, in fact, depending on Iranian forces against ISIS.
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If Israel wants to go to war with them, fine.  Israel has more 100 nuclear weapons themselves, including those on submarines.  They have the "iron-dome" (which we paid for).  Fighter planes, bombers and the best weapons systems than can design, buy or build.  We send them 3 Billion dollars a year.  It may or may not be in their national interest to go to war with Iran, but it is not our national interest.
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"But Scott," one might say, "they are our ally and we should treat them as such."
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Of course we should.  We should treat them as an ally - not as a Republican or some Texas state politician trying to dictate terms. If attacked, we should help defend Israel.  But it is NOT in our national interest to provoke problems, to start conflicts or to piss off Iran as we are fighting next to against a common foe (ISIS).
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You see - I did listen to Bibi in Congress.  I did take his advice.  Not to shut up when our national interests are at stake.  And they are not here.
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The United States isn't on this map because - Iran's Missiles can't reach us. See not in our national interests

Yay! First Babies in 100 Years!

I missed this in January.  Maybe you did too.  And maybe we need some good news.
Young Galapagos Tortoise - a first in a century.
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Rats were introduced to the Galapagos Islands by men on ships.  And rats can be destructive.  As it turns out, very destructive to Baby Tortoises.  You know, those giant tortoises that live hundreds of years.  Well, there hasn't been any made it through birth in the Galapagos Islands for 100 years because the rats eat them.
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Apparently they had a campaign on one of the islands to poison all the rates.
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And it worked. They have spotted something like 15 new baby tortoises.  Now this is great.  Also a bit surprising since there haven't been any babies in 100 years.  That means those really old tortoises are still capable of reproducing - which is also good.
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Anyway - great news for a Friday right? (link)
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Thursday, March 05, 2015

What. The. Hell.

Yikes, I often disagree with many people on many things, I get that.  but I don't understand this at all.  A majority of Americans of all ages and political party want to go back to war in Iraq against ISIS.  Why? (link)
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Now I am in the two groups with the largest minorities against this.  Democrats and less enthusiastic than Independents or Republicans and people 55 and over are less enthusiastic than various younger groups.  But still, what the hell?
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And we think, somehow, this will be easier than our last wars.  WTF?
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I seriously do not understand.  ISIS is not a group that threatens America.  They are ruthless killers that are fighting a Islamic civil war against other types of Islam. They will collapse under their own craziness if we let them.
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If we are honestly worried about attacks against civilians in our countries, an attack on ISIS will make that more probably, not less.
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I don't think we should send American soldiers into a civil war where there is no good answer.  NONE!
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For those of you that want ISIS removed, please tell me what you think a reasonable outcome is.  Because the only outcomes that are possible are:
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1) ISIS is destroyed and Syria is safe again for Bashar Al-Assad
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2) ISIS is destroyed and Iran wields more influence in the region.
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3) ISIS is NOT destroyed and we look week.
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4) ISIS is or is not destroyed and tens of thousands of people in the territory are killed, maimed and left homeless.
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5) ISIS is destroyed and Iraq can turn its weapons on the Kurds.
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6) ISIS is destroyed, Syria's Al-Assad has a spontaneous heart attack and a new pro-Sunni group takes over.  Israel has lost a key (if quiet) peace partner.
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7) ISIS is destroyed, George Bush(es) are vindicated, lollipops fall from the sky and unicorns shit rainbows.

Wednesday, March 04, 2015

Republicans: 5 Minutes Warning - Put your head in the snow bank now - Science Ahead

Ahh.. Science.. (LINK to Boston's Very Bad Winter)
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It’s important not to speculate too much about how human activity may have influence the record-breaking deluge — no one weather event (or four blizzards) can be directly attributed to climate change. But the National Climate Assessment showed how heavy precipitation events increased between 1958 and 2012:
This sort of thing happens because of some simple rules of physics: warming oceans create more water vapor, and a warmer atmosphere is capable of holding more moisture. And the atmosphere is certainly warmer and moister than it was in the past. In mid-winter, which is when Boston got most of its snowfall, it’s still cold enough for that moisture to fall as snow. In fact, climate experts explain, it snows more when temperatures are just below the freezing point, instead of colder.
Scientists are still uncertain about what exactly winters of the future will look like, although they do know, contrary to what Sen. James Inhofe suggested by bringing a snowball onto the Senate floor, that we’ll still have winter. So far as records go, warmer temperatures in the fall and spring will cut short the overall snow season; enough so, perhaps, that total snowfall doesn’t increase. But when regions prone to blizzards do get hit, it’s more likely that they’re going to get hit hard.

So What Did My Senators Learn? - UPDATED

You would think that for all the hullabaloo about Prime Minister Netanyahu's speech, we would hear about it.  I mean My Senator Schumer and Senator Gillibrand did decide to go and give a standing ovation to this man who wants American to go to war.
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I checked their Facebook posts.  Nothing.  Updated with new crap, but nothing about the speech they attended and refuse to discuss with their voters. I did find out that Kristin Gillibrand loves Amy Poehler. I checked their official websites.  Again, nothing.  Updated with brand new "accomplishments", including an update yesterday about how Charles Schumer doesn't like Canadian Custom Duty regulations, but nothing about Prime Minister's Netanyahu's speech.
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What a surprise.
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I wrote Senator Gillibrand (like I said, Senator Schumer doesn't even pretend to represent New Yorkers - he is Israel 's Senator).

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Honorable Senator Kristen Gillibrand
478 Russell
Washington DC 20510

Honorable Senator Gillibrand

I want to start by saying I am a life-long Democrat and supporter of Israel.

I am writing to ask what you learned from attending Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech?  Since you gave a standing ovation to a man who has spit on our President, decided to caucus with the Republicans and declared our foreign policy should be subservient to his will, what did you learn?

I have read your Facebook posts, where there is nothing about the speech.  I went to your website where there is nothing about Prime Minister Netanyahu’s speech.  I wrote you both electronically and physically to express my opinion and received nothing.  I did, however, learn much in the absence of communication.

I would like to share what I have learned from this.  I have learned that supporting and talking you up to other voters means zero.  Voting for you means zero.  Donating to your campaigns twice, means zero. I have learned that supporting the Democratic Party means zero.  Zero is exactly the amount of feedback that I have received in trying to talk to you or Charles Schumer.  All I wanted to do was understand.

And now I do.  Your constituents mean nothing unless we command vast amounts of money.  And this is painful because I truly had believed you were a different type of politician.  Beholden to special interests, of course, I get how much money it takes to run for office today; but different in that at least you would try to understand how this affects your voters.


Respectfully,

UPDATE: Just to answer a question that someone asked...  No, I did NOT ask Senator Gillibrand to skip the speech.  I respectfully asked her if there was any way a supporter of hers could make their displeasure known.  I realize that she had to attend the speech.  But, I wanted to know if there was anyway to register my displeasure with this since I had supported her by vote and donation  both times she ran for Senator.  I received no answer to that question, submitted by phone, electronically and hardcopy (snail mail).