DAILY NEWS - September 22, 2011

DATELINE: ON DEATH ROW, OUTSIDE LOOKING IN – Troy Davis died last night. He did not die of natural causes, he did not die of old age. He was executed for a crime that no one is even sure he committed. While I understand, and yes, even sometimes succumb to the urge to want retribution for those people so brutally, heinously tortured, abused and killed, and for their families as well, there comes a point when you still have to question the whole process. Yes, there are appeals, yes, there are processes… BUT even that is flawed. Rick Perry, GOP leadership candidate, stated that he sleeps just fine at night knowing the number of people he has ordered executed, and that he does not worry about any one of them being innocent. Well, there is every possibility that Troy Davis was innocent. The witnesses who recanted over the years said so. The forensics, when reviewed also said so, but still there was no a mechanism in place to even re-open the case. While I understand that we have all taken great strides towards equality, you still have to wonder if, had Troy Davis not been black, would he be dead today. This was a black man accused of killing a white cop in Georgia, a case with more holes than a block of fucking Swiss cheese. So, while I willingly jump naked into the muddy waters of discrimination and capital punishment, let me ask some questions that are perhaps not asked enough in these situations. Where is the justice in this? If Troy Davis did not commit the crime, or if it was accidental or if it was a wonderful job of the lame evidence offered being planted in order to secure a conviction in a hot-topic emotionally-charged case, did he deserve to be put through years of this emotional torture, the appeals, the stays, and did he deserve to be strapped to a table, left there for an excessively long time, then injected so that he would die a slow death? Is that justice? For one second, put yourself in his place, on death row, on your way to that chamber, knowing you are wrongly accused. What the hell does that feel like? What about Troy Davis’ family and friends? How would it feel to watch as your loved one, someone you know is not guilty, someone who you have been working hard to vindicate, who you have evidence of his innocence, but you can get nowhere for it. Those are people who, for their lives may have believed in the ideal of innocent until proven guilty and guilty beyond a shadow of a doubt, those who believe that good and right will overcome, and the true killer will be caught. Do they deserve that hell? At least while he was live, there was hope that the system could be corrected, but now there is nothing. What about the victim? If Troy Davis did not do this, and there is every possibility that he did not, there is another murderer out there, wandering the streets with the people of Georgia, but this one is even more despicable because he has now taken one more life, indirectly, and is fine with that. Does the family of the victim, in this case officer MacPhail, not deserve to know without any doubt that the person who killed their loved ones is someplace where he cannot hurt anyone else, where he is paying for his crime? What about the person who has to actually push the plunger on that syringe or flip the switch or trip the door? It’s a job, something he is ordered to do. What the fuck does this do to his mind? What nightmares does he have? Execution is barbaric, a tool in the arsenal of despots and dictators, something we cringe at in movies about the French Revolution, but that is to be warmly embraced under our own flawed terms? Yes, there are some who are so hideous, so dangerous, so proud of the lives they have taken and the pain they have caused that we want them gone. They are the few, however. Yes, there are Bible thumpers who would cling to, grapple to the old ‘an eye for an eye’, but that same book says to turn the other cheek. Neither is a sound premise for dealing with justice.

FYI – a look at some statistics courtesy of Wiki… The following 23 countries carried out executions in 2010: Bahrain (1), Bangladesh (9+), Belarus (2), Botswana (1), China (2000+), Egypt (4), Equatorial Guinea (4), Iran (252+), Iraq (1+), Japan (2), Libya (18+), Malaysia (1+), North Korea (60+), Palestinian Authority (5), Saudi Arabia (27+), Singapore (1+), Somalia (8+), Sudan (6+), Syria (17+), Taiwan (4), USA (46+), Vietnam (1+), Yemen (53+).As of 5 May 2011 executions have been reported in the following 9 countries during 2011: Bangladesh, China, Iran, North Korea, the Palestinian Authority, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, UAE, USA. That's some pretty upstanding, stalwart, reasonable, rights-respecting crowd there, ain't it.

DATELINE: IN A CAGE IN A PUB IN ENGLAND – Picture it: the beer is flowing, the crowds are screaming, pumping their fists in the air, hollering for that massive take-down punch. The women prance around in their almost altogether, egging the spectators on. In the middle of the room, inside a cage, are the combatants, neither wearing anything but their shorts, fists raised, both murder and panic in their eyes. Sorta takes you back to those good old gladiator days, until you consider the sick twist this now takes. The two in the cage are aged 8 and 9. Yes, there are children fighting to entertain the frenzied adults. That night, before a crowd of over two hundred, children received the screamed requests to ‘kill em’ and ‘knock ‘is bloody teeth out’. The children were the subject of bets and bookie hard-ons. Am I the ONLY one who sees something incredibly fucking sick and perverted with this? How is it possible for authorities to look at a blood sport like this and say it’s sport and there was nothing wrong? It was in a pub, they were in a cage, they were wearing no protective gear – hell, they were wearing practically nothing – there were women wearing the same amount of clothes prancing around, there were adults grunting and screaming like fucking behemoths as they got their rocks off and their pockets lined, and yet there was nothing wrong with this? What the fuck sort of animals are we turning into. They were 8 and 9. What the fuck lessons are they and their friends learning from this bullshit, this abuse, this hideous treatment of those who are among the most vulnerable. That the Brits can’t find a fucking thing wrong with this, says a mouthful.

DATELINE: ON THE AUTOBAHN, ESCAPING THE POOR HOUSE – Pity Angela Merkel – seems that for many, the future of the world is landing on her shoulders. Germany is being implored to save Greece’s economy, save Italy’s economy, bail out those countries in Europe that cannot afford to pay their bills. Germany has become the eldest sister in a family of ‘live for today’ siblings as the doom and gloom predictions regarding the European economic union come to pass. Remember the flack the UK took for not jumping on the Amazing Technicolor Euro Bus? Bet they aren’t one bit sorry for the flack they took. They recognized the potential for problem, a potential we are just now starting to see. The Euro is, was, and always will be a rudderless ship. They are like the Corleone family with Fredo at the helm. They have a currency for all, but no one body with any teeth to control it or maintain it, that takes the needs of the majority into consideration while passing measures to protect, bolster and grow the economy. The system that involves Congress in the US is, as we have seen, VERY far from perfect, but at least, in essence, they will live or die on their own terms (as stupid, stubborn and partisan as those terms are, the jury is still out as to which way it will go), but Europe has nothing, and now it comes to Big Sister Germany to show pity and bail them out. This is not a situation Merkel or the hard-working tax-paying German’s want to be in, and it is a situation they should not be in. As economies the world over teeter on the brink, Germany has to decide if they open that can of worms and save Greece or let that country flounder in its own excrement. If they save Greece, can Italy be far behind? Spain? These are all big countries with big economies to consider. If they don’t bail out their neighbors though, if Greece falls, that could well precipitate a run on the banks in those other countries as the stark realization sets in that yes, the sky really could fall. A run on the banks would be a harbinger for economic death for all of them. The stakes are high, the fallout, either way, is not good, and the irony is that they world is turning to Germany to save it.
As if poor Angela doesn’t have enough on her plate, the demonstrations and protests begin today as the Pope, that bastion of justice, peace, tolerance and sound logic, arrives for his four-day tour. Yes, this is something else for which the Germans will be footing the bill, arbitrarily, and it will not be an insignificant amount.

DATELINE: WATCHING THE LOONEY GO SKY-DIVING – How the mighty have again fallen. In the course of one night, the beloved Looney, the only currency in the world named for a bird AND for the idiots who regulate it, fell a full two cents, and that was at market open. This comes on the heels of the US Federal Reserve announcing their new plan, Operation Twist. You have to fucking love when they come up with these kitschy names for crazy ideas. Operation Twist puts no money into the economy to help encourage it along, and maybe that’s the thing to do. Basically it equates to selling short and buying long (a theory I fully embrace in many aspects of life). While the theory was offered in an attempt to show something is being done, innovative ideas are at work to right the abysmal situation with the economy, investors saw it as a fucking Hail Mary pass and balked at the premise that this was a good thing. With news that Chinese factory activity is down, and Germany’s business growth has started to dig in its heels, we could be in for a bumpy ride. It amazes me though that even yet, no one looks at the way banks have bled the economy for decades, building ivory towers to house their multi-million dollar earning execs, or the self-aggrandizing, pocket-lining pork-barreling done by politicians as something that could have contributed to this clusterfuck, or as something that still needs to be addressed. No worry, though. Chubby Checker weighed in on 'Operation Twist', because the 24 hour news media knows how to dig out those pertinent positions on the issues that matter. "The Twist has always meant money for everybody," the aging twister is quoted as say. Well, then, how can it fucking fail, right?

DAILY NEWS, September 21st, 2011

DAILY NEWS, September 21st, 2011

DATELINE: IN AN ELEPHANT GRAVEYARD, WEEPING – In a crime that is heinous beyond compare, nine elephants were found dead, their tusks removed. Along with them were five lions, two buffalo and a number of vultures who had the misfortune to dine on the carcasses. The extent further down the food chain is not yet known, but the cause of these deaths is; the waterholes where these animals drink were poisoned... waterholes in five Zimbabwe game reserves. Who the fuck does this stuff? Are we so sick a species that we can drop poison in water with no regard to the effects, other than the money it will put in our pockets, the dead bodies littering the savannah be damned? The other wildlife is nothing more than collateral damage to them, the thousands of creatures that depend on this water for their lives. Already Zimbabwe officials have found ten dead rhinos as well, resulting in warnings that the animals are facing the worst poaching crisis in decades. Why is this crap happening? It’s not because people need the meat for sustenance, or the skins for warmth and protection. It’s because of the asian markets catering to people who give not a fucking damn about anything as long as they can get a boner, and to fat cats to whom such contraband as ivory carvings are expensive compensation for the penises they apparently lack. I have a wish for these particular poachers though... that they are caught, incarcerated, and given a big pot of water from which they are able to drink... a pot of water that is laced with the same crap they used to indiscriminately kill the animals. If they were subject to the same fate as the animals, and if the purchases of their good were subject to these same tactics, perhaps we might get somewhere with this dickheads and save the magnificent creatures that should be roaming the African landscape. NOTE: While I attempt to find graphics pertinent to the story, I could not bring myself to post a picture of what is done to an elephant or a rhino when their tusts are harvested. It is horrid. In some cases the animals are injured but still alive for the harvesting, then left to die. Instead, I will leave you with a picture that allows you to imagine for yourself the widesweeping consequences, the incalculable number of animals, and potentially people, who will die from the poisoning of these water holes.

DATELINE: MATER DOLOROSA CHURCH, RAISING THE ROOF – Well, okay, it’s not the roof in need of raising; it’s the steeple, and the Vatican has announced that they will not approve the renovations to the 115-year-old church. Apparently the parish is too much in debt, and the cost of repairing the steeple is just too much. Funny, but the over $100M the church spent in legal fees and settlements for all of the assault cases they worked so hard to cover up would have gone a long way to making sure this church, this landmark, was properly preserved. This is yet another testament to the total incompetency, the absolute abomination of the rule of Cardinal Bernard Law... who, by the way, was rewarded for his errors by being given a cushy choice appointment at the Vatican. Since the decision to close this church, the parishioners have staged a vigil, keeping people in there at all times, to prevent the demolition of the building. The Dioceses has tried to raise money by selling church property that is not used anymore, but the Vatican has prevented that too... because the buildings would be sold for ‘secular use’. What a load of fucking bullshit. This stunning building is yet another victim of the gross mismanagement and hubris of those oh so holy rollers in Rome; shame on them. They should be paying compensation to the entire diocese, begging forgiveness from the people who were victimized, their families, their other parish members, all those who supported the church while it willingly, knowingly, deliberately worked to circumvent the laws and protect pedophiles and predators. I’m sorry, but it was bad enough to allow this crap to happen, but to then take Bernard Law to the Vatican, allow him to be in charge of the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore, and a member of the Congregations for the Oriental Churches, the Clergy, Divine Worship and Discipline of the Sacraments, Evangelisation of Peoples, Institutes of Conscreated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, Catholic Education, Bishops and the Pontifical Council for the Family and to sit in conclave to elect the current pontiff, is nothing but a colossal slap in the face to the people of Boston, and lends absolutely no credibility to any position the Vatican might spew regarding the sexual abuses propagated by their clergy.

DATELINE: FUCKING THE TAXPAYERS AND GETTING REWARDED FOR IT – This would be Gordon I-Can-Do-What-I-Want-Because-I-Am-King Campbell, former Premier of the province of British Columbia, who had to tuck his tail between his legs and run when the people of the province made it clear they had endured enough of his crap. This was the man who blatantly lied about taxes... not the typical eye-rolling, give them a couple months to forget it, sort of lie. We’re talking saying one thing in a campaign promise WHILE working behind the scenes to be putting the total opposite in place. This was the man who caused an entire province to stand up in protest and take measures to recall every one of his cabinet members because of his lies about the implementation of his Harmonized Sales Tax. This would be the same asshole Gordon Campbell who got the crown-jewel appointment to the diplomatic corps upon his resignation as premier, and now this is the man, the man who deliberately tried to fuck every one of the provincial taxpayers with his HST, his carbon tax and his other measures to tax the living crap out of the rural residences, who is now receiving an Order of BC award, the highest recognition in the province. It’s time for the province to rise up again in order to save the integrity of the award and the credibility of every other person who has ever received this reward. It’s time for us to say, again, that the fuck fest is over.

DATELINE: WHERE THOSE WHO SEXUALLY ABUSE CHILDREN ARE HEROES – Roman Polanski. It is one name that makes my blood pressure shoot up several major notches, especially when the arts community seems to think it appropriate to yet again honor this piece of crap sicko bastard again with a lifetime achievement award. The organizers of the Zurich Film Festival say they are ‘especially proud to welcome’ Polanski so he can receive his award from 2009 – the one he was unable to receive when he was arrested on outstanding warrants for sexually abusing a 13-year old girl. Apparently organizers Karl Spoerri and Nadja Schildknecht are ‘tremendous admirers of his work’. What the hell sort of statement is this for any responsible, remotely moral human being to make? Admirers of his work? For the love of all that is fucking holy, the sick bastard raped and sodomized a child, THEN being the stand-up piece of crap that he is, he ran away to avoid going to prison. What a man! Yes, this is what we honor, because, come on... he’s one of the beautiful fucking people, and who cares about his victims. Talk about a sick fucking society.

DATELINE: IN MALIBU, PAYING MY RESPECTS – Charlie Harper is dead. Yes, the writers of Two and a Half Men killed Charlie’s Sheen’s character off. That’s about all the space I would want to waste on this fucking story... CNN can have it, maybe add it all to the Ridicu-list, where all good artsy fartsy fluff crap belongs.

DAILY NEWS, September 20th, 2011

DAILY NEWS – September 20, 2011

DATELINE – IN THE LAND OF THE ETERNALLY IRREPARABLY IGNORANT – Yes, that is definitely where I am, exposed to the queen of all things fucking asinine, Michele Bachmann. How the hell can anyone take this insane, raving woman seriously? You think you have problems now with jobs? Hell, put this woman in charge and the last five years will be a fucking cakewalk. I find it hard to grasp that ANY step to decrease the chance of people getting cancer could be spun in a bad way, but this is the shit that happens when religion interferes with politics. They are NOT good bedfellows. It is sort of the equivalent of a donkey and a chicken procreating – anything that comes out of that is gonna be ugly as hell, useless as hell, and make a lot of irritating noise. To raise the issue of HPV vaccines in a political debate, insinuating that it is an invitation for young girls to instantly turn into whores and sluts is not only ignorance at its peak, it is unbelievably irresponsible. To then take that already dumbass notion from the debate and turn it into a public statement to the press that ‘it causes mental retardation’? What the fuck is that!!! Despite ALL evidence to the contrary from every possible aspect of the medical and scientific spectrum, this stupid shit-for-brains bitch stands up and makes this statement to the world, THEN counters it with the proviso, a week later, that she was just repeating what she heard, and that she is not a scientist so we should just shrug and say ‘well, hell, that’s okay then’. We’re talking preventing cancer in young women, for fuck sake. How is this even a debatable issue? If her point was to stress that the vaccine should be voluntary, then make that fucking point, but to make such absolutely wrong statements for the sake of striking some political points in a bullshit debate is reprehensible. The thing is, she is not an economist either, so where does she get her information on setting the economy straight? Who whispered that in her ear as she passed through a crowd? What about her position on foreign affairs? Terrorism? Did she get her information on what NASA should be doing from a fucking Star Trek paperback she picked up at the gas station? Any politician that just spews crap from her lips for the sake of grabbing a headline, or more to the point, causing absolute fucking panic, is not someone who should even for one minute be held with any respect. She has no credibility, and if this is what the Tea Party and the Republicans feel they can present to the world as a potential leader, holy fucking crap, are we in trouble. Michele Bachmann – living proof of the merits of birth control. Michele Bachmann – a terrorists dream for leader of the free world.

DATELINE: IN EUROPE, IN THE ‘YOU’VE GOT TO BE FUCKING KIDDING ME’ ROOM – After the last several debacles in the US Congress and their inability to come to agreement on absolutely anything, bringing the economy to a screeching halt and showing absolutely no fucking leadership at all, I cannot believe that anyone associated with the US government has the fucking audacity to go to Europe and demand they get their house in order financially, and get their leaders actually leading. Holy fucking crap! Congress would have a hard time passing a fucking bill on what font to use on the god damned bathroom doors right now, so how is anyone supposed to take them seriously in this case? The arrogance is astounding, and considering who they are speaking to, that is a pretty tall fucking order, but still, there they are, dishing out advice on how to hold off a downgrading or default for countries like Greece, Italy, Spain and Ireland. Yes, this has become a situation where global co-operation is necessary, but the US is in no position to pontificate on the merits of cooperation and negotiation, not on the heels of what has to be the most politically internationally embarrassing show of asshole selfishness and partisan posturing, with absolutely no regard for the consequences or the people FOR WHOM THOSE REPRESENTATIVES WORK, that we have seen in the last forty fucking years.

DATELINE: AT THE CROSSROADS WHERE THE HOLY TRIUMVERATE MEET – No, I am not talking God et all. In this case, that holy triumvirate, those Voldemortian entities that must not be named or discussed are sex, politics and religion, and it comes in the form of the repealing of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. How the hell this policy ever made any fucking sense is beyond me, other than it appeased, again, those narrow-minded fear mongers who love to shout their at-best questionable truths to the media (see the Michele Bachmann tirade above). Finally we have a situation where the government, after MUCH foot dragging and resistance, put religion in its place, got their own asses out of the bedrooms of the nation, and did their fucking jobs. The sad thing is that it took so long to do it. It’s apparently okay to have Oval Office blow jobs, to display your Wiener on the internet and on every fucking television station in the modern world, to sleep with one woman in the bed you would normally share with your wife when she is not in the hospital having cancer treatments, to allow the woman you are boinking to drown in a river because you can’t afford the scandal of being seen with her should she be rescued… need I go on? The list of sexual proclivities in Washington is long and ugly. These good, God-fearing Christians, though, had the unmitigated gall to tilt at men who have sworn an oath to protect their country over themselves, who have trained to put their lives on the line every day with their brothers, and who happen to have a sexual orientation that differs from those expounded by the lawmakers of the land. How dare these stalwart politicians, these upholders of all that is good and moral, allow their intolerance and ignorance to bear down on good, honest men and woman who wear a uniform to serve their country? How dare they still make statements like ‘preserving the sanctity of marriage’ in preventing gay and lesbian marriages? I am sure that the long list of political perverts were thinking nothing about the sanctity of marriage while they boinked their way into the fucking history books. Finally the right has been wronged, but that’s just a first small step. Hopefully they will enforce this ruling properly, allowing these soldiers to do the good work they have undertaken, and will not allow the intolerance and ignorance of those higher up the chain of command to continue to permeate. Gee, look… there are gay soldiers in the US military, just like in every other fucking military. They have been acknowledged, and the walls of the Pentagon did not crumble at the announcement. That job is going to be left for the mismanagement of Congress and the financial political machine in Washington.

FROM THE DRIVERS SEAT

WHILE THE RICH GET RICHER...

I'm back, and I'm plenty pissed off! I get pissed off when I see people hitting kids. I get pissed off when I see teenagers bullying a senior. I get pissed off when politicians sell out to corporations, and I get pissed off when large companies (Amazon.com) sit back and rake in the money KNOWING they are helping to perpetrate theft and fraud. How do I know they know about it? Because I told them what was happening. They don't give a flying crap though, as long as they get their money... lots and lots of money.

I write books (PS... get off yer asses and start buying the fucking things!). My books are both digital and POD by design and desire. I don't want them sitting in warehouses. I don't like when books get the covers ripped off and tossed into a box to be sent back to the publisher. It's sad, it's wasteful and it's wrong. Do you have any fucking idea how much money is spent in just driving the damned things around the continent to sit in a warehouse and get shipped back? They don't fucking fly on their own wings. Each traditionally printed book makes a HUGE carbon footprint -- from the equipment to cut down the trees, to the loss of the trees, transporting them, storing them, boxing them, on down the line. So, when I went to Amazon.com and saw that 'grabmore_us', 'BooKnackrh', 'any_book', and 'brandnewgoodsus' have my books sitting in warehouses all over the continental US, I was plain bloody pissed.

When Writers AMUse Me tried to have these listing removed because none of them in fact, have ANY of my books, I was even more fuckin pissed. Where do these dickheads get off trying to undercut the price so they get the sale AND their huge chunk of the pie... all of it coming from MY fucking pocket. They didn't pay to stock the book. They don't have it in inventory. Most of them don't even have their own fucking websites either... they are Amazon 'stores' so they only appear on the same god damned page that Amazon has for the books, still with their hands out, robbing us with every bloody book they try to sell.

When WAMM contacted each and every one of these 'third party sellers', they asked for copies of the paperwork regarding these books. Let's face it... the POD companies are NOT giving the books to the distributors. Someone has to pay for each and every book when it's printed, and none of those monies have been seen. She pointed out that there was a problem, that the books were POD, that they were NOT sitting in their fuckin warehouses as they claim they are... one even had the fucking audacity to say they had 'crisp new copies' in their possession... lying bastards! When she pointed out that they are at the very least committing fraud by lying to their customers, some argued, some pulled their listings immediately, some did one fucking fine texas two-step around the issue, saying they deal with reputable distributors and they are not infringing on any copyright issue. The simple fact of the matter is they are stealing money from the writers. They are lying to get the sale for something they don't have, never had, never will have, and getting a huge payment for doing so. I would like to thank pbshopus, super_star_seller, and, after MUCH back and forth and other bullshit, Buyve: Buy to Give for removing their bullshit listings from my books, but I know they will just keep doing it to other writers... BECAUSE AMAZON LETS THEM. Amazon is creating a nice little monopoly... they print the books, they convert the digital because of their asinine proprietary Kindle formatting that no one else can have access to, they sell the books, and now they are pulling this crap... all the while putting small sellers out of business and taking more money from the pockets of the writers, and they will keep doing it... BECAUSE WE LET THEM.

BooKnackrh, any_book, grabmore-us, brandnewgoodsus and the rest of these third-party-sellers are committing theft and fraud. Ingram Books helps them, taking their own cut in the process, by including POD books on all their distribution lists, but puts no restrictions on how that information is used. Yes, third-party-sellers have value when they are in markets that amazon.com doesn't reach outside of North America. Yes, they have a place when a book is out of print... but for them to sell current, available new books on Amazon's pages, competing with Amazon for the sale, when they claim to have new books that they don't have, they are doing nothing but committing theft. It's time to shut them down. It's up to their victims... the writers, the publishers, and the readers, to step up to the fucking plate and let them know that even though times are hard and every penny is precious, it is not an excuse to allow predators to sit in wait and steal from others. It is time to stop this game, time to send them directly to jail. they should not pass go, and they should bloody well not be able to collect $200... ever again, at least not while fucking the writers.

DAILY NEWS - July 28th, 2011

DAILY NEWS - July 28th, 2011

DATELINE: OUT OF THE MOUTHS OF BOOBS – It’s so hard to pick which one to start with today. I could start with Glenn Beck comparing the victims of the Norway massacre to Hitler Youth because the children were gathered together in a camp to learn about government. God forbid we teach our children about how our governments work, why voting is important, the sacrifices that went into democracy, or the value of freedom of speech, even when that speaking is done by absolutely fucking nuts individuals like Beck. These are, by the way, all things that Hitler did NOT encourage in anyone, including children. Those children in Norway were killed because of hatred, intolerance and ego… issues that Beck seems to grasp exceptionally well, just not in good way. Then there is Ann Coulter, spewing her bullshit about how gayness can be prayed away, using words that more than adequately display her ignorance. Ann, hon, every day I pray you will shut the fuck up, but that still hasn’t worked; I suppose though that could be because I am not as good, pure or Godlike as you seem to think you are. Here is my bitch about all this: Yes, fucking idiots have the right to speak, but when they are given an international soap box from which to spew this hatred, it is nothing but counterproductive. What we need is GOOD logical debate on issues. We desperately need that. We need perspective, we need to be aware of others needs and thoughts and plans and ideas, but when it is buried like a gooseberry in a mountain of cow shit, it gets lost. We don’t need more hate; we need discussion and every time Ann Coulter or Glenn Beck take the stage to preach their bullshit, anything they might have to contribute to the conversation is lost… they are just to fucking stupid to realize that.

DATELINE: SPEAKING OF BOOBS – Amy Winehouse is dead; that is something very sad, very tragic for her family. To be honest, I was not a fan of hers, had not heard of her before her death, probably would not have been a slobbery fan of hers even if I had heard her music, but that is not the point. What truly amazed me, enraged me, in fact, was the comments about her funeral. She was Jewish, and it took no time at all for reports to hit the Ethernet about her untraditional funeral, questioning if, in fact, she should have been allowed that funeral. She had tattoos! Oh my God! She was cremated! It took longer than it should have! I am by no means an expert on Jewish funeral protocol, but I understand the value of tradition, especially to some people and in some faiths. However, the arrangements for a funeral… for any funeral… are something that should not be up for public debate. This is something that the grieving family, the rabbi and their God get to deal with, while considering the wishes of the deceased. Had she not been a public figure, the family would not have to endure the garbage that was debated about her ‘right’ where a funeral is concerned. The one overall precept should be that when a family is grieving, just leave them bloody well alone.

DATELINE: LOOKING AT HIS PICTURE, TRYING TO DRUM UP A MODICUM OF COMPASSION… AND FAILING -- In 1988, Abdelbaset al-Megrahi blew up a plane over Lockerbie, Scotland. 270 people were killed. In 2001, this piece of crap was convicted of his offence and was sentenced to a life-time in jail. In 2009, he was released on ‘compassionate grounds’ – because this asswipe deserved compassion? – and was allowed to return to Libya to die. He had been diagnosed with prostrate caner and was expected to only live another three months. Why he couldn’t live those three months in fucking prison where he belonged is beyond me, but I have no doubt the families and friends of every one of those 270 victims felt like they had been sucker punched in the gut when he was. Now, 23 months later, Abdelbaset al-Megrahi is appearing on television, being honored by his tribe in Tripoli, claiming that his release was a victory against oppression, being touted as the victim of a global conspiracy. His return home was celebrated by that even bigger asswipe Muammar Gaddafi, who as we all know is above reproach and a pillar of the fucking global community. Terrorists do not understand the concept of compassion, they thumb their noses at it, consider it a weakness if it is shown. Terrorists tried in due legal process deserve no compassion… not now, not ever.

DATELINE: IN JAIL, HOPEFULLY WAITING TO BE POACHED -- Victor Gordon: Everyone in Philadelphia, remember that name. Everyone in North America, remember that name. This piece of fetid steaming excrement is worth remembering, and anyone who purchases anything from him should share a jail cell with him for the rest of their lives. Victor Gordon loves ivory. He loves it way more than he loves the law. According to the indictment filed in New York, Victor Gordon arranged for a friend/partner/fellow criminal and asshole to purchase raw ivory from central and west Africa between May 2006 and April 2009. Yes, that is three fucking years of collecting ivory, at a cost of $32,000 to Mr. Gordon. The ivory was ‘procured’, then was carved, stained to disguise it, and smuggled into the US through JFK airport. It was then delivered to Mr. Gordon’s store where he went about his business of selling it all over North America. In April of 2009, hundreds of tusks and carvings were seized. More pieces were seized from Gordon’s customers. In what is described as the largest seizure of ivory in US history, it is estimated that dozens of mature elephants died in order to provide the ton… yes, one ton, of ivory for people to display as dust collectors on their fucking mantles. Mr. Gordon should have to spend the rest of his life with one of those three-foot long carved and died tusks firmly implanted up his ass, after of course, his balls are whacked off and set on a mantle for display. The same should also happen to the ‘customers’ who are either too self-centered to think laws apply to them, or too stupid to be allowed to handle money in large amounts. Without the customers, Gordon would just have been a dickhead. With all those customers greedily gobbling up ivory they had to know was illegal, Gordon ended up a rich dickhead. Either way, the maximum sentence of 20 years in jail is nowhere near enough for this piece of crap.

DATELINE: IN CANADA, GETTING HIGH ON MOTOR OIL – For oil executives, it apparently works. For Janet Goodin, a Minnesota senior on her way to Canada to play bingo and visit her grandchildren? Not so much. You see, Janet, a retired girl scout registrar and the grandmother of twelve, had a jar of motor oil in her car when she crossed the border. She had no criminal record, but she must have had that glint in her eye, because the Canadian Border Service went all ape-shit over her at the sight of it. She explained that it was left over, that she forgot to take it out, but she was quickly informed that ‘No, it tests positive for traces of something’. Traces of something? Give me a fucking break. Because of this astute catch, Goodin was handcuffed and locked up for possession of a drug for the purpose of trafficking and for importing a controlled substance. Those numb-nuts at the border accused her of transporting… wait for it… heroin. After twelve days… TWELVE DAYS!! … they finally told her it was just oil, they had made a mistake, and they let her go, without explanation, without apology, and probably without her damned oil. Thank god she wasn’t carrying any poppy seed muffins on her as well, or she might never have seen the light of day again. They could have done more testing sooner, they could have made a phone call to determine if she just had her oil changed… yes, it’s unusual to keep a jar of oil in your vehicle when it’s not in the original container, unless you only need part of the jug and you didn’t want the rest in the plastic jug with the loose top and the oil drips on the outside that won’t come out of plastic – unusual, probably worth looking into, but sure as hell not grounds to lock a woman away for almost two weeks. Canada’s Border Services: Keeping us safe from heinously dangerous Bingo-playing grannies and engine oil.

DAILY NEWS, July 26th, 2011

DATELINE: STILL RAISING THE BAR – The Canadian political machine was set on its collective ear yesterday. The new Leader of the Official Opposition, Jack Layton, made the announcement that he is stepping back from his position for a while to deal with a diagnosis of a new cancer. I could talk about his policies that I don’t fully embrace, I could talk about his unbridled energy to lift his NDP party to unprecedented heights, I could commend his strength and determination in overcoming health issues in his recent past, but I won’t. I will instead offer my prayers for him and his family, wishing him a speedy, full recovery. I will also offer a challenge to all his fellow Members of Parliament: Emulate the man. It does not matter what you think of his policies or his political leanings; what matters is that in all circumstances, more than any other politician on the international stage today, Jack Layton was a leader and a gentleman. He never resorted to crawling around in the gutter with the rest of our current palate of colorful poseurs, he has never spent his every waking minute worrying about the next eletion and how to win it, he has never been obsessed with his own 'power'. He always shows a desire to compromise, a belief in the overall betterment of all our lives, a faith and trust in the people he serves, a desire to serve them the best he can. When asked a question, he answers it, something that truly is a rarity in political circles. He does not belittle, talk down, overpower, tromp, bully, ridicule or insult. He fights for what he believes in, and he does it in the most honorable of ways… and he is a lone example of that degree of unfailing class and accomplishment. Oh, that Stephen Harper could learn even one of these traits! Jack Layton's presence will be missed, but I hope that it will be just a temporary absence while he fully recovers his health. It is to be hoped though, that politicians at all levels of government, across this country, across this continent, around the globe will follow the example of Gentleman Jack, and rise to the standard he has set. You would all be so much more effective, efficient and respectable if you do. Jack, feel better soon. We need your balance, your fairness, your honesty back in Parliament.

DATELINE: MEANWHILE, BACK IN THE GUTTER – In what will probably be considered the most childish political performance, last night the world watched in utter fucking amazement as Barack Obama and John Boehner continued their games, this time with dueling press conferences. You probably heard the collective head-banging of everyone watching the unmitigated crap display of ‘I’m right and he’s wrong’ that threatens to smash into the global economy and send it spiraling. As they spoke, the value of the American dollar started to fall as international confidence in these two absolutely unbelievably stupid fucking idiots expanded the borders of their sandbox. That the government, both sides of it, allowed the debt to get to where it is, astounds. Their solutions both include one thing in common; to form committees to look into what is wrong. Sure, spend more money on another committee that no one will listen to anyways, because if the committee has any fucking brains, their solution is going to be to clear away the deadwood that lines both parties political coffers, and to take a huge bloody pin to pop the inflated egos that are holding the nation, the continent, and yes, the world economies hostage. On the good side though, you have to know that China is thrilled with watching this farce play out for all to see, as are the Syrians, the Pakistanis, the Saudis, the Koreans, the Iranians… they have to love the idea that the leaders of the greatest nation on the world are teetering on the edge of the bathtub, a rope of their own making around their necks, their hands so busy pointing and bitch-slapping each other that they can’t life the fucking ropes off before they fall. They are so distracted with proving their own point, with winning this battle, that they have lost sight of absolutely every other fucking issue on the table, and the people, good, honest, hardworking people, are going to pay the price. I never thought it would be possible to say that there could be anything in Washington more self-serving, stupid, distracted and ineffective as George W. Bush. Congratulations, you fucking idiots… you have now proven the point that yes, indeed, there is worse than Dubyah.

DAILY NEWS, Monday, July 25th, 2011

DATELINE: IN THE WHITE HOUSE, STILL FUCKING THE DOG – Yeah, you know what I mean. Watching the collection of numb-fucking-nuts calling the shots in Washington playing their games, I am reminded of children who will do anything to have their own way, in that totally self-serving sulk they muster up so well, all the while being too young to appreciate yet the greater consequences outside their own benefits. In children, it’s a teaching opportunity. In politicians, it’s nothing more than puke-inducing. They try to sway their party members by explaining about ‘leverage’ to get their shit agreed to. They argue in public, criticize, and whine. They talk, but refuse to listen because nothing can interfere with their opportunity to score political points by being the ‘one’ to broker the agreement that saves the world from economic destruction. There are elections coming up to consider, you know. What the stupid sons of bitches all need to do, every fucking one of them, is get out on the street, drive through a couple of rural and urban areas, through commercial and retail and residential sectors of the country, and SEE the fucking damage they are doing. They have to tout that party line at all cost, though. How about talking bread lines instead? How about looking at the houses falling apart, the businesses boarded up, the equipment standing still? How about looking at the schools that are crumbling, the people who are standing on the street looking for help, the people pounding the pavement every fucking day looking for a job? They want to work, but they can’t because there are no fucking jobs. How about stopping the god damned grandstanding, the all or nothing posturing, the need to pander to the prerequisite political ‘savior psyche’ and just do the fucking job? Ask any housewife what needs to be done, or any small businessman, or anyone with a fucking grade ten education. You don’t have the money to run your household, then you work to raise more money, you work to save money, and you do it in a way that you can manage. The difference with this though, is that the people making the decisions regarding how to make the adjustments are NOT the ones who will have to feel the cuts or do the extra work to meet the demands for more money, so the posturing and playing and spewing of bullshit altruistic unrealistic principles is apparently easy. These elected officials are the ones who are buying the big huge fucking mansion on the hill that is way out of their price range, expecting that the ‘staff’ they already had will be able to manage the maintenance and upkeep. While you overpaid soap-opera-star wannabe’s play the fucking power game, toe the party line and all that good crap, more businesses go broke by the minute, more jobs are lost, more people lose their homes and their savings, meaning they can’t purchase sweet fuck all, including food, so that more jobs will again be lost. You see where the hell I’m going with this? Do you see now that loading up the fucking pork barrel, holding a $1M piece of legislation hostage to get your own personal political points with a $17B price tag does come back to bite everyone in the ass? You’re all fucking guilty of it, of doing nothing more than working 24/7 to ONLY preserve your own fucking power and authority. Well, here’s a news bulletin for you: you are about to be the all supreme power and authority over a destitute clusterfuck, something to be really proud of and brag to your children about. Something has to be done to stop this insanity, so, here is my suggestion to you fucking idiots in DC: Quit playing games, quit posturing, quit pouting, quit stomping your feet, and start acting like reasonable responsible adults who took an oath to work for the betterment of the people you represent. Everyone, and I do mean everyone in the global sense, is still waiting for that to happen. No one can afford to wait for much longer, because as the markets start to respond, we can all see that this is not one where the US goes down alone. It is one where there is no one else to throw a life preserver ring out in the waves to save you, as much as we might want to. Put the partisan crap aside, start to listen and do what you are fucking paid to do, because I have NO doubt while you default and crash into that green ceiling, you will be about the only ones getting paid, the only ones guaranteed of a roof and a meal tomorrow.

DATELINE: SPEAKING OF FUCKING – It seems that even still, those dick heads in the Vatican still cannot pull their heads out of their asses, and put their pricks back in their pants. Under attack for its absolutely undeniably reprehensible handling of sexual abuse and torture issues in Ireland, they reacted by pulling their ambassador from Ireland. *Insert ominous fucking gasp here*. Why did they do this? To prove a point to the Irish government that they don’t like how they are being treated, that they are being held to account for the shit they did. They don’t deny the abuse; they just don’t want to deal with it, be held responsible, own their monumental decades-long fuck-up. Two weeks ago, the Irish government requested a response from the Vatican regarding the allegations of mishandling and covering up what had been done to thousands of people by the church. They demanded an official response to accusations that the Vatican in fact stopped the bishops in Ireland from taking any action or reporting the sexual abuse by priests to the police. The Vatican replied that it will offer that response… ‘at the opportune time’. What the fuck is that!!! At the opportune time? None of their victims were given the option of ‘at the opportune time’. No criminal is given that option. At the opportune time? It seems that the Vatican and its many sick bastard bishops and priests are expert at exploiting the fucking opportune time. When will we start holding these bastards responsible? Get off your asses, people, and let the Pontiff know that the opportune time passes about forty fucking years ago, and now is the time to pay the piper – and their bullshit asswipe useless guidelines for dealing with accusations of sexual assaults as issued last month is not even a fucking baby step in the right direction.