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The Oprah Winfrey Talk Show will come to an end in 2011 after more than two decades on air.

Mad TV – Oprah Winfrey

After 25 seasons, the self-anointed high priestess of the religion of Oprah,  talk-show queen Oprah Winfrey is calling it a day. Frida morning Oprah will announce the end of her hugely successful TV chat show, to her Chicago audience. The iconic figure in television who gave the world such pills as Martha Stewart, Dr. Phil Rachel Ray, Martha Stewart, Madonna and “O” magazine.

Many people are saying, “Thank God! Party in the USA.

After months of rumors, it has finally been confirmed–Oprah Winfrey will soon bow out of daytime television, effectively ending her beloved talk show in 2011.

Into your kitchens, your bedrooms, your lives

“We have the greatest respect for Oprah and we wish her nothing but the best in her future endeavors, we do know anything she turns her hand to will be a great success,” said a spokesman for the CBS Television Studios, which distributes her show. We look forward to working with her for the next several years, and hopefully afterwards as well.”

According to ABC News, insiders report that Winfrey informed her staff of the decision after a company meeting, which was described as “emotional, supportive and respectful.”

Winfrey’s “Oprah” talk show debuted on television in 1986.  From Michael Jackson to Tom Cruise to Sarah Palin, Winfrey’s show has been an important platform for celebrities to both promote their work and rehab their image while making Oprah the richest African-American of the 20th century, and the most philanthropic African-American of all time who courts the likes of President Obama.

As a newcomer, “The Oprah Winfrey Show” chipped away at talk-show king Phil Donahue’s dominance. Later, it turned to inspiration. Donahue today is reduced to begging independant film-makers to make documentaries with little success. The Oprah Winfrey show’s coverage ranged from interviews with the world’s celebrities to an honest discussion about Winfrey’s weight struggles. As the show evolved, it really kind of dressed up the neighborhood of the daytime talk show compared to her sleazy competitors like Jerry Springer, Montel Williams, Chevy Chase, Ellen DeGeneres.

In 1986, pianist-showman Liberace gave his final TV interview to Winfrey, just six weeks before he died. In a 1993 prime-time special, Michael Jackson revealed he suffered from a skin condition that produces depigmentation. Tom Cruise enthusiastically declared his affection for the much-younger Katie Holmes on the program in 2005 — and jumped on the couch to prove it.

In 2004, Winfrey unveiled her most famous giveaway, when nearly 300 members of the studio audience opened a gift box to find the keys to a new car inside. The stunt became a classic show moment as much for Winfrey’s reaction — “You get a car! You get a car! You get a car! Everybody gets a car!” — as its $7 million price tag.

The show also became a launching pad for Oprah’s Book Club, which then launched best-sellers. The titles ranged from “Song of Solomon” and “Paradise” by Toni Morrison to Wally Lamb’s “She’s Come Undone” and Elie Wiesel’s “Night.”

Lately, the rehab their image thing hasn;t been working so well. All of the celebrities whose careers she helped launch are under fire from Dr. Phil the pill, to Martha Stewart, Tom Cruise (who can forget the jumping up and down on Oprah’s couch manic episode?) Oprah’s Book Club backfired when Oprah personally selected,  “A Million Little Pieces” which exploded in sales after Winfrey chose the James Frey memoir in fall 2005. Soon after, it was revealed as a fabricated tale of addiction and recovery, and Winfrey later chewed out Frey on her show. There was Michael Jackson’s death due to overdose, celebrity-chef Rachel Rey caught up in her husbands adulterous scandal followed by erotic-photo shoot by Ray followed by an ugly divorce  and even lately Oprah has been getting a lot of flack for her recent interview with wacko Sarah Palin. Suddenly Oprah’s “vision,” whatever that is- is under fire as being out of touch with reality.

She has had her critics in the past twenty-five years. Her loyal followers, feel Oprah has always been real, down-to-earth, a humble person. Her critics say that she is a “Queen Diva” who only cares about Oprah and has always been on the “wacko” fringe, out of touch with reality and buying loyal viewers with money and give-a-ways. Recently Oprah has come under fire by Rosie O’Donnell and other “out of the closet” lesbians for Oprah and Gail Kings refusal to “come clean” about their lesbian relationship.

However you feel about Oprah Winfrey, lover her or hate her, Oprah will remain an icon of American television. My  beef with Oprah is that she is one of the biggest hypocrites of all time, examples of her hypocrisy range from championing gay and lesbian rights when she herself doesn;t have the courage to come out of the closet about her lesbian relationship with gal-pal Gail KIng. Had she had the courage to come clean about her lesbian relationship as Rosie O’Donnell did many years ago- Oprah would have earned my respect.

Through all of these, Oprah preaches “how to be your best self” and “live your best life.”  Unfortunately, a predilection for radical Islam and excusing terrorists is a prominent element of Oprah’s “best self.” Cheating husbands don’t get off as easy as Islamic terrorists, murderers, and torturers in Winfrey’s world. Take “O” Magazine, Oprah’s monthly print version of self-conceit.  Like every other month, the cover of the June issue of “O” features Oprah—for the gazillionth time.    Unfortunately, also for the gazillionth time, the inside of the glossy mag features Oprah’s unique brand of understanding and empathy for terrorists and radical Islam. Last month, Oprah’s “O” asked readers to understand “The Heart of a Destroyer,” Mohammed Atta.  You remember him—the Al-Qaeda ringleader of the 9/11 hijackers who murdered 3,000 Americans. But that’s not exactly the way “O”’s “reading room” wants you to remember him.Beneath a picture of young Mohammed and his smiling sister on the Egyptian beach, “O” exhorts you to read a book that “sets out to understand the hearts and minds of the men behind the photos” of the 9/11 hijackers, a group of “lonely, exiled young men.”

Over the  years, Oprah and her publicity team have pushed Oprah’s latest weight loss—to loud, gushy media acclaim.  Oprah, girlfriend, if only you could have gained the weight of a conscience.

My other beef with Oprah through the years is that she has given the “whack-jobs” like Tom Cruise, Dr. Phil, Martha Stewart, Madonna,  a platform to market their hypocrisy, lunacy through the medium of her show and O-magazine to  make millions. The whole world knows what a “whack-job” Dr. Phil is.  L.A.’s Cedars-Sinai Hospital granted TV’s Dr. Phil access to Brit’s hospital room unannounced. (In L.A. county, celebrity doctors are legally permitted to walk into hospital rooms unannounced.) But in a shocker, the diva in distress actually walked out on Phil. (In L.A., patients still retain the right to reject the advances of celebrity doctors, though this is under appeal.)

Mad TV- Dr. Phil

I think it’s time Oprah left the stage and gave other Chicago talent a sot at stardom like Oprah has had. Chicago has a lot of very fine local talent, Richard Roeper, Cheryl Burton, Robin Baumgarten, Sylvia Perez and Linda Yu to name a few. Perhaps, Oprah could remain in the backgrond as producer and not the “main attraction.” IN the last few years Oprah has flown too near the sun and it has brought her much controversy not to mention personal anguish. It’s time to step aside and let other’s have their shot while remaining in the shadows.

Note to Oprah: 2001 is too far off. Don’t wait till 2011 to end your hypocrisy, do it now! By January 2010.

Hire Me! Will Work For Minimum Wage

I’ve hit a few speed bumps along the way, as I’m sure, most of us who are middle-aged (or older) will testify to. Facing pink slips, repossessions, foreclosures, and a sinking economy may force some of us to take on any job available. More than once, as a college graduate in my 30s, a prospective employer told me that I was overqualified — the euphemistic way of saying that he didn’t think that I would last long on the job, and that investing in my training would be a waste of time for the company. hire me, will work for minimum wage, minimum wage, pizza delivery, wall street. Unfortunately these days, employers will have to face an increasing number of applicants who will be trying out for jobs they are highly overqualified for. With the unemployment rate rising, more and more people no longer have a choice about the kinds of jobs they’re pursuing. Sadly, these tough economic times have been forcing many highly skilled individuals to shift careers and downsize their jobs involuntarily, and to apply for jobs that they claim they would never have dreamed of doing in a previous life. Take the story of the hedge fund manager who earned $750,000 a year just a few short years ago. He’s now a pizza delivery guy.
Will You Work For Minimum Wage?

He’s not the only pizza man in town. What about the fellow who was dismissed as a restaurant manager making $55,000 a year? He now packs pizza boxes in his family car and spends the night delivering pizzas for $10 an hour. Is he ashamed of his new position? Yes, his wife grudgingly admits. And yet, honest work should always be a source of pride, no matter what the conditions are.

Radical Tips To Get Employed

1. Consider other career paths.
As mentioned, times have made it harder for people to stick to the familiar jobs and careers that they’ve long been cultivating. So would you be willing to take any job that’s out there? Or maybe it’s just a matter of shifting expectations and casting a wider net as far as what type of job it is you should consider.

2. Retrain yourself and build new skills.
You may not have to put everything you own on eBay, as a family from Georgia recently did to help defray heavy medical bills. A better choice would be to retrain (e.g. go back to school). For job hunters out there, you may be interested in a book by Ben Kaplan, called How To Go To College Almost For Free, which offers some options for the laid-off worker who wants to retrain. For those in a tough bind, you may be able to receive special help at no or very low cost.

Also, with the new stimulus package details in place, look for Obama to include retraining as part of the job stimulus programs in the works. Many jobless people only need to learn a new trade to find employment easily. One of the areas that has seen growth in spite of the crisis is the medical field. There are all kinds of jobs that do not require you to study medicine or nursing.

3. Advertise your skills through unconventional methods.
If you are not familiar with Craigslist, now is the time to find out what it is. Many skilled artisans have placed ads on Craigslist detailing their various abilities, and have subsequently found jobs quickly. You may have to pay a small fee to post your request, depending on the city.

4. Join networks.
If you are a professional, I recommend that you join social networks which are much more a fit to your skills and interests than your career or past job history. For example, although I’m a teacher, I also belong to ELanceTalk.com, a community of freelance writers who exchange information about our trade. You’ll be surprised by the opportunities you can uncover through these avenues.

5. Stay honest!
What’s so radical about being honest? Well, when times are rough, it’s much more tempting to bluff our way into a job we so desperately hope for. But avoid embellishing your resume with exaggerated facts or untruths. As a former HR manager, I’ve had the chance to detect lying candidates who were desperate to find a job. I strongly recommend that you don’t lie about your education. If the new employer finds out, he will lose confidence in you. Tell them the truth, but make sure you emphasize your commitment to the new job and what you can bring to the bottom line.

Hollywood Collapse

Of the recent movie 2012 film-critic Richard Roeper had only this to say about it, “WHEN IS THE F—— MOVIE GOING TO END?!?!?!?

With the new electronic media and all the new “Vampire” and Werewolf” movies that abound, Francis Ford Coppola thinks Hollywood is collapsing.

The cinema as we know it is falling apart,” says Francis Ford Coppola. “We used to think of six, seven big film companies. Every one of them is under great stress now. Probably two or three will go out of business and the others will just make certain kind of films like ‘Harry Potter’ — basically trying to make ‘Star Wars’ over and over again, because it’s just become such a business.”

Vatican sinks teeth into new TWILIGHT movie…

Cinema is losing the public’s interest,” says Coppola, “because there is so much it has to compete with to get people’s time.” The profusion of leisure activities; the availability of movies on copied DVD and on the Internet; and news becoming entertainment are reshaping the industry, he says. Companies have combined businesses as customers turn to cheap downloads rather than visit shops or movie theaters.

In 2002, director Woody Allen commented on the current state of Hollywood in his film, Hollywood Ending. Val Waxman (Allen) is a one-time prestigious film director lately reduced to overseeing cheesy television commercials in order to pay his bills and support his current live-in girlfriend (Messing). When he is thrown off his latest effort (a deodorant commercial being filmed in the frozen north), he desperately seeks a real movie project. Out of the blue, Waxman receives a offer to direct a big-budget blockbuster movie to be set in New York City. However, the offer comes from his former wife (Leoni) and her current boyfriend (Williams), the studio head who stole his wife from Waxman several years ago. Pushed by his agent (Rydell), Waxman agrees to the project, but a psychosomatic ailment strikes him blind just before production is set to begin. The movie plays out with an aging director struggling to regain his vision, both metaphorically and literally.The movie is a not-so-subtle metaphor for Allen’s real-life struggles during the 1990s to regain (or retain) his early momentum in the film-making milieu.

Gone are the times when writers sat outside restaurants and bars sucking cigarettes and downing glass after glass of brown liquor, exhausting themselves over their next novel or screenplay. From Hemingway penning  The Sun Also Rises amid cafe hopping among some of the great Parisian cafes of the 1920s, to Diablo Cody scribing “Juno” at a Starbucks inside of a Target, the times are a changin’, my friend. It’s a known fact that LA is littered with screenwriters. Lots of them. Tens of thousands to be exact. Some are professionals, some are hobbyists, and others are uninspired goons trying to cash in on the illusory spec sale lottery. Anyone who lives in Los Angeles and has walked ten paces to a Starbucks knows that there is a good chance the coffee shop chain will be infested with amateur and professional screenwriters penning the next summer blockbuster or quirky-ironic indie cult hit.  What the movie-going public gets is movie’s like, Snakes On A Plane with Samuel L. Jackson mouthing dialogue like: “I want these motha fuckin’ snakes off my motha fuckin’ breakfast sandwich!” The dialogue exchanges between the three main characters in New Moon are so overblown and cheesy that I just can’t take any of it seriously. There’s one exchange between Bella and Jacob that rivals Anakin Skywalker’s “sand is coarse, not like you” speech in Attack of the Clones for the most unintentionally lamest dialogue ever spoken on screen.

Film critic Michael Medved, cohost of PBS’s Sneak Previews, presents a scathing indictment of Hollywood that is sure to be controversial. Asserting that “the dream factory” has become the “poison factory,” Medved criticizes Hollywood movies for portraying religion unfavorably, glamorizing violence, and celebrating immorality. Martin Scorcese’s The Last Temptation of Christ (1988) is among the films censured at length, and there are many others whose objectionable scenes are singled out, from Total Recall (1990) to The Prince of Tides (1992). Those who lament America’s loss of what lately have been generally called “family values” will agree with Medved, while others are likely to dismiss his impassioned text as a windy sermon.

The point is that the past few years Hollywood is turning out “clunkers” that make millions of dollars, 2012 made $64-million-dollars it’s opening weekend while the star of the film, John Cusak couldn’t string together a few words to put together for use in an intelligent sentence. Now I like Chicagoan Cusak, but he was definitely miscast here. A dramatic actor known for dramtic performances in Midnight In The Garden Of Good And Evil, Beng John Malkovich, the Ice-Harvest,  1408 and other’s-he is not an “action” guy. Though he did farely well in Con-Air with Nicholas Cage who would have turned in a better performance in 2012 than Cusak.

Actor’s today are being offered sooo … much money to appear in these dogs like 2012, it’s getting very difficult for them to turn down the money. And that’s the problem with Hollywood these days. It’s all about the “green-screen,special-effects, and box-office sales like 2012 which will most likely clear well over 100-million by the time the DVD is released and with world-wide promotion.Hollywood today has an over-abundance of acting talent but few good writer’s like Elmore Leonard. (Get Shorty). So, the next decade Hollywood will churn out a boatload of crap like we have seen the past ten-years, one super-hero, fantasy, action movie like Spiderman, Transformers, 2012 after another until they all begin to look the same. Mindless entertainment bringing in mega-bucks.

If you’ve watched the Academy-Awards the past few years, it’s getting hard and harder the the board-of-governors to weed out the crap and select a truly fine film.Best motion picture for 2009 was awarded to a “foreign film” called Slumdog Millionaire because it was better than all the crap Hollywood made in 2009 like The Dark Knight for which Heath Ledger won best-actor posthumously.

Forbes List Of Most Overpaid Hollywood Stars


Nitwit Palin strikes again

Once again demonstrating her incapability for becoming or running for president in 2012, disgraced Republican Sarah Palin said this week of the FT. Hood shooter that the military should do profiling on all our military bases. They do and the Ft.Hood shooter, being the base psychiatrist would have been doing that profiling. Nitwit!

As Sarah Palin blanketed the media on a whirlwind book promotion tour, the former vice-presidential contender once again landed in hotwater this week first by the biased journalism cover in Newsweek and then by Fox News. Anchor  Jarrett claiming video is of “Huge Crowds” on Palin Book Tour was actually 2008 Campaign Footage. Bill O’Reilly Had “Hissyfit” Over Sean Hannity’s  Sarah Palin Interview. Fox News, which  continues to be the Republican channel, was later forced to apologize.

BARBARA WALTERS, ABC NEWS: Have you seen the cover of Newsweek? It’s a picture of you in shorts from a photograph that was taken for a Runner’s World magazine. So how do you feel about they’re showing you like that on the cover?

SARAH PALIN, FORMER VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think that it’s so cheesy. Had I known then that a picture of me in shorts would end up on the cover of Newsweek I would not have allowed Runner’s World to profile me. I think that that — for me, personally, it’s a wee bit degrading. Newsweek should be more — more policy oriented, more substance oriented than showing some gal in shorts on the cover.

Runner’s World did not provide Newsweek with the image. Instead, it was provided to Newsweek by the photographer’s stock agency without Runner’s World knowledge or permission.” Instead of Palin going after Newsweek for biased reporting and using its front-cover to editorialize- Palin, nitwit that she is gossips with “Babs” about  how cheesy the photo is. It’s a “hot” photo I admit but had Palin half-a-brain, which she hasn’t, I would like it even more if she got tough and vigourously went after her attackers. How the hell can she ever be Vice-Presdient or President if she can;t even go after Newsweek and Fox News when she clearly has a case?

Use of the photo by Newsweek was  demeaning and degrading and Newsweek knew exactly what it was doing. They made sexuality a part of her performance. And this is something that if it had happened to someone on the left, the feminist organizations would be screaming about. The other thing is,  that the editor of Newsweek said that they chose a cover that was most interesting. One that was available to them to illustrate the theme of the cover, and that they apply the same test of photographs of any public figure.

Oh really?

Schwarzenegger rules out another run for office

No More Fires!

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger won’t say what his plans are when his term expires next year, but he won’t be running for another office.“I have never labeled myself as a politician, so I am not going to run for anything else,” Schwarzenegger told reporters in Milan on Tuesday. Schwarzenegger, a Republican, is restricted by California law from seeking a third term as governor when his tenure expires at the end of 2010. He has previously indicated that the only other political office he would be interested in seeking is president, and he can’t run because he was born in Austria.

Facebook abuse

Man in the box

I signed up for Facebook for one reason and one reason only. To keep tabs on all of my ex-girlfriends, ex-wives, high-school and college friends to make sure that none of them are  living more meaningful lives than myself. They are but that’s not the point.  I did not join FB  to be harassed by a faceless army of Facebook morons whom I have never met, who have no life and way too much time on their hands and are constantly updating their status.

I recognize that I have “friends that I have requested and I  don’t know how to “unfriend” people. I haven’t found that button yet.Unlike certain celebrity’s, I did not join FB to see if I could reach 5,000 friends and then get pissed off that Facebook won’t allow you to have more than 5,000 friends per FB site. Many of these celebrity’s who “friended” me have now “unfreinded” me now that they reached the 5,000 friend goal. Which leads me to the question, how can you be friends with people you have never even met much less keep track of them all if you have 5,000 in your friends list?

I don’t want to see anymore pictures of people’s  dogs. Get a life!!! I don’t want to know which Care-bear, Muppet baby, or type of “old person” I am. I don’t want to know

What The Who Song would you be?2. What Grateful Dead Song would you be?3. What Romance Movie would you be? What is your Santa Claus Name?2. What is your Super Villain Name?3. What is your Spanish Name?4. What is your Naughty Elf Name?5. What is your Nickname Name? What Hot Sauce would you be?2. What 50s TV Show would you be?3. What Cookie would you be? What is your Prison Name?2. What is your Thanksgiving Turkey Name?3. What is your Serial Killer Name?4. What is your Anne Rice Vampire Name?5. What is your Royal Name?

I don’t want any gifts from “Farmville” and please stop sending  me drinks. I won’t drink them. And then there’s the people on FB who don’t want to share any information with the public. Like why the f …  are you on Facebook? It’s a “social” network.

Please stop inviting me to use certain applications or attend special events. (like your boyfriends shitty rock-band playing at The Plaza). Chances are I won’t be attending.

My FB page is an  “interactive” marketing tool which keeps me connected to other professionals in the publishing, journalism, media fields. Unlike MySpace, which got a reputation for being a “F…. Space” and which many public libraries and other free wi-fi venues block out, FB allows me, in the media, to keep in touch with fellow “medians.”

KH



THE BOAT THAT ROCKED

Pirate Radio Trailer

boat_that_rocked_image

There is an old saying that says,    “If you can remember the ’60’s- you weren’t really there.” There is a tendency  with Hollywood movies the last 40-years to romanticize the ’60’s and throw in a groovy ’60’s soundtrack but all of the movies inaccurately portray the ’60’s by adding poetic license with the facts. The truth is- the 1960’s were a very violent, turbulent decade. The ’60’s started with the idealism of peace. love and rock-n-roll,  with pop singers like  Simon and Garfunkel but ended violently with murder, war, protests, riots, marches. The idealism of the make love not war decade ended when Charles Manson and his followers brutally murdered pregnant actress Sharon Tate Polanski and cut out her baby. A besieged president Nixon, did the only thing he could do in 1974- he brought the troops home when South Vietnam fell. Not unlike  the “Police-action” in Iran/Afghanistan today, the long, drawn out “police action” simply became a drug-war ion the “Golden Triangle.”

The new movie, Pirate Radio has an all-star cast with star actors like Bill Nighy, Philip Seymour Hoffman, and Kenneth Branagh. The British Invasion might have been taking America by storm as British bands ruled the airwaves stateside,  but the hidebound BBC broadcast only allowed 48-mutes of pop a week. Seeing a need, some rebellious disc jockeys filled it by working from boats anchored offshore. Radio Caroline is the name of various broadcasting ventures situated in several different countries, from ships that were anchored in both territorial or international waters.

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Radio Caroline

The name originated with fashion and society magazine editor Beatrix Miller as early as December 1961 but the first attempt to use it for radio broadcasting only began in 1964. While some people involved with this first usage had also associated themselves with other radio broadcasting ventures of the same name, the original commercial operation was financially and legally unrelated to those that followed after 1967. The station first took to the air during March 1964 from a former Danish passenger ferry called M.V. Fredricia and renamed “Caroline”. The ship was anchored 3 Miles off the coast of Felixstowe, Suffolk, England just outside British territorial waters. Shortly after this Radio Caroline was joined by a second ship, the M.V. Mi Amigo which anchored off the coast of Harwich, Essex, England. That ship, a converted coaster, broadcast as Radio Atlanta. Both stations continued to operate independently for several months but the sales operations were soon merged under Caroline brand name.

The M.V. Caroline then moved to an anchorage off the coast of the Isle of Man and broadcast as Radio Caroline North while the M.V. Mi Amigo remained off the coast of Essex broadcasting as Radio Caroline South. The British government classified both operations as pirate radio stations.

n 1966 the British government introduced a law that made the existing arrangement unprofitable, even with some new investment. Eventually, after the new law came into effect after 14 August 1967, the two Radio Caroline ships entered into a phase of financial instability and were eventually towed away to the Netherlands in March 1968 to secure collection of unpaid bills for servicing. At that time the Motor Vessel Caroline (Radio Caroline North) was scrapped.

The vessel that was used as Radio Caroline South (1964-1967) was later rescued from the scrapyard and it eventually came into the possession of a new group who’s primary intention was to return Caroline to the airwaves. That ship, The M.V. MiAmigo, eventually sank during a storm in 1980.

The British government responded to the presence of Caroline and the other offshore stations in 1967 by passing the Marine Broadcasting Offences Act which made it an offence to advertise or supply an offshore radio station from the UK. However a rearguard action was attempted by the Manx parliament Tynwald to exclude the North Ship from the legislation with an appeal to the European Court on the legality of the act being applied to the Isle of Man. All the offshore stations off the British coast closed, with the exception of Radio Caroline, which moved its supply operation to the Netherlands where national laws had not made offshore broadcasting without a license a criminal offence.

It was a neat idea — and might have been a neat idea for a movie back in 1966 or so, when all of this was going on. But the film seems a little after-the-fact now, while Curtis (directing for only the second time, after “Love Actually”) feels behind the times. If rock ’n’ roll is about joy and rebellion, then a movie about it should be joyful and rebellious, too. But “Pirate Radio” is staid and stolid and plays fast and loose with the actual facts in the case.

THE DENVER BEARS

kyle-orton1_0

Coming into the game 6-1 after having a “bye” week and getting beat up by the (4-3) Ravens, QB Kyle Orton, traded from the Chicago Bears for QB Jay Cutler, played exactly like he did with the Bears, expecting the “defense” to win games for him. It didn’t work for him with the Bears and it certainly isn’t working for him with the Denver Bronco’s. Orton threw 2 interceptions picked off by #43  (Troy Polamalu) of the Steelers and scoring both times as the Steeler’s went on to defeat the Denver Bears …. er Bronco’s 28-10.

Why is it that these NFL teams think that trading one so/so player for another is going to change things. Going to make them winners? Why is it that these teams make exactly the same mistakes year after year after year and wonder why they continue to have a lackluster season? The Bronco’s trading Orton for Cutler did not fix anything either for the Bronco’s or the Bears- the just exchanged one set of problems for another. Both teams now have seen their 2009 season murdered right before their eyes. In last THursday nights Bears game against the SF 49′ers, many consider the “worst” team in the league this year, Bears QB Jay Cutler was sacked 5 times and threw 5 interceptions. A record only slightly worse than Bronco’s Orton. Had Cutler stayed on the Bronco’s instead of throwing a “hissy fit” when Bronco;s owner Pat Bowden fired Mike Shanahan for failing to make the playoffs- at east Cutler wold have had a line to defend him. Orton has all the time in the word to get rid of the ball but doesn;t know how to pass like Cuter and he certainly doesn;t know how to run the ball or scramble ot of the pocket.

So the Denver Bears end u being the same lackluster team they have been since John Elway retired in the late ’90’s and the Chicago Bears just plain suck. It’s interesting to note that since ____ when the Chicago Bears went to the Superbowl and everybody in Chicago was doing the Superbowl shuffle – the Bears have had 33 QB’s.

Now the Bronco’s are repeating the same mistakes the Bear’s have made the past dozen years. Copying from someone else’s test when they get all the answers wrong gets you an “F.”

BOth the Bears and the Bronco’s need to pick one guy as QB – then stick with him for the next 5 years as he develops into a John Elway. Changing up QB’s every year or every other year puts you back at square one, you have to start over every year. What team can hope to win the Superbowl when they are “rebuilding every year or every other year?

This year, out of nowhere come the New Orleans Saints. They;re hot! UNless they start dropping game after game- most likely they will win a playoff berth as will AFC Indianapolis Colts.

The Denver Bear’s ?  Better luck next year!


OPRAH STILL IN THE CLOSET

abc_oprah_gayle_060925_ssh

It’s not a new rumor that Oprah and her BFF/editor-at-large of O Magazine Gayle King are lesbian lovers. In fact, they’ve even been asked point-blank many times over the years and have always had the same answers:”Of course not” and “If we were, we’d tell you.”

Gail King went public this week  after Rosie O’Donnell, who made some random assumptions on Howard Stern’s Sirius XM show regarding the pals’ sexuality, o not only remain in the closet about their lesbian affair but to publicly deny accusations of the lesbian relationship that everyone knows they are having. Here’s Rosie O’Donnell’s assertion about Oprah and Gail:

“I don’t know. I think [Oprah’s] never been married and she’s exceptionally close to Gayle. I don’t know that [Oprah] and Gayle are necessarily doing each other, but I think they are the emotional equivalent of.. [a gay couple]. When they did that road trip, that’s as gay as it gets, and I don’t mean it to be an insult, either. I’m just saying, listen, if you ask me, that’s the couple.”

Gail King fired back in the media at last night’s Glamour Women of the Year Awards in New York City, and shot them down to Access Hollywood. with this retort:

50971_f520The thing [is], if we were gay, we would tell you. We would so tell you. We wouldn’t try to keep that a secret because there’s nothing wrong with being gay. So if we were, we would tell you. The truth of the matter is we’re not. It’s hard enough for me to get a date on a Saturday night as it is. This isn’t a rumor I’m trying to continue to explore, but no there’s nothing, there’s nothing wrong with it. Oprah, who is always very candid about her life, including her childhood abuse, is one of the last celebrities who would keep any kind of secret, especially one that it doesn’t seem she’d be ashamed of in the least.”

Oprah Winfrey who claims to be a “gay advocate,”  has gay friends, touches on and supports gay issues on her TV show is in fact, a lesbian according to those who work for her, those who know her and other “gay advocates” like Rosie O’Donnell.  The fact that she never married her longtime partner Stedman Graham who in fact moved out of the couple’s townhouse in Chicago recently and remains in the closet about her “lesbianism” makes Oprah Winfrey the worst kind of hypocrite. In the August issue of O, The Oprah Magazine, the reigning daytime TV queen and media mogul said some people misunderstand her close friendship of 30 years with Gayle King, an editor of the magazine and Oprah’s longtime confidant and BFF.

I understand why people think we’re gay,” says Oprah in O magazine and in an accompanying article online. “There isn’t a definition in our culture for this kind of bond between women. So I get why people have to label it—how can you be this close without it being sexual? How else can you explain a level of intimacy where someone always loves you, always respects you, admires you?”

In the article, the dynamic duo, who often appear side by side on Oprah’s shows, tackle their 30-year friendship and their “four-times-a-day phone calls.” Oprah’s strongest supporter’s argue that the self-appointed “Queen-Diva” of daytime talk-shows should be left alone. As arrogant as she can be, ” supporters say, “she has helped a lot of people and she has plenty of other things to worry about.”

Like say their almond and water diet.

I say that Oprah Winfrey, and the spawn-from-hell Dr. Phil whom Oprah launched upon an unsuspecting world, are the worst kind of hypocrite’s and they continue making millions lying to a “naive” public. I was never much of a Rosie O’Donnell supporter before but now I thank-god for the Rosie O’Donnell’s  of the world because they are the only one’s who have the guts to confront the liars and hypocrite’s of the world like Oprah Winfrey. Dr. Phil and other’s like them.


SKIPPY BACK FOR ONE NIGHT ONLY

111209radio2.jpg_20091112_12_10_13_19-282-400The legendary CBS 2  team of Bill Kurtis and Walter “Skippy” Jacobson hadn’t hosted a news show together for decades. Two legends in Chicago broadcasting were re-united for a one-night only broadcast on WBBM-TV (Channel 2) news to fill in for anchor Rob Johnson. We began our careers here, and we are flattered to be asked to help out,” Kurtis said.  “I haven’t been in front of a teleprompter in 3 1/2 years,” Jacobson said. “I’m a little nervous.” Co-anchors of the WBBM-Channel 2 10 o’clock news,  they were No. 1 in the late 1970s to mid-1980s.

In a landmark case in media law, Jacobson and WBBM’s owner, CBS, were found guilty by a federal jury in Chicago in November 1985 of libeling the Brown & Williamson tobacco company in a November 1981 expose in which Jacobson accused the cigarette manufacturer of marketing cigarettes to children and teens. The next month, the jury awarded Brown & Williamson $5.1 million, with Jacobson personally liable for $50,000. An appeals court ultimately cut the award to $3 million, but let Jacobson’s share stand. “I feel some outrage, some fury as well as disappointment. I am outraged at the cigarette industry for trying to intimidate the press. I don`t feel intimidated,” Jacobson told the Chicago Tribune in an article that appeared on December 6, 1985.

PALIN GOING (V) ROGUEgoing_rogue_american_life

Sarah Palin  hit the book tour trail this week to promote her new book, Going Rogue. And in Vogue style for this moose-shooting, hockey mom and political nitwits from Alaska- who once had to have the McCain Presidential campaign give her and her family a total image makeover and buy her a $10,000 dress to attend the Republican Convention, her current book handlers have “Vogued” her up for public appearances with the expensive hairstyle, the sophisticated look in photo’s and public appearances.

There are still those political nitwits, like Palin herself who think Palin still has a chance at a political career. To those people I say: “She doesn’t. Palin is through. That political career is dead, slam the lid on the coffin and good riddance. John McCain- (though he treated the entire 2009 presidential campaign as one big joke)- would have been elected hands down by American voters had he picked a reputable running mate and not a half-baked political nitwit. Sarah Palin killed McCain’s chances of becoming president and SNL helped nail the lid on her coffin with Tina Fey’s spoofing of Palin. Palin doesn’t seem to get this- they were making fun of her- not with her, laughing at her- not with her.

When Sarah Palin first burst onto the national political scene her handlers emphasised her uniqueness, a moose-shooting, hockey mom from Alaska who was a real independent woman, had a mind of her own and wasn;t afraid to speak her piece. Americans in the lower 48 soon came to realize the woman was a nitwit and began to suspect that most Alaskan’s were nuts. Palin soon began embarrassing herself, her home state and McCain when it was clear in the TV interviews that the woman didn;t have a clue about George Bush;s foreign policy or anything else. And these softball questions were thrown at her by journalistic fluff-piece Katie Couric of all people. The only important story of her career  (besides appearing on the Today Show and waving like Princess Diana) was Harry Potter. After the disastrous Katie Couric interview it was clear to McCain how “ill-prepared” this woman was and he had his own handlers step in to try and do damage control. Give Palin and her family a more sophisticated look, forbid her from doing interviews or talking to the press without McCain’s handlers being present. It was disastor control but the damage was already done. Most Americans thought Palin – a heartbeat away from the presidentcy should something happen to the aging McCain- was too “ill-prepared” to become president.

And Obama made great speeches despite the fact that Obama would go on to become the most “do nothing” president since Jimmy Carter.

The Oprah Interview

sarahNow Palin is going vogue and rogue again in her book about the disastrous republican campaign of 2009 in Ging Rogue. There are no new “revelations” in the book. Palin admits what millions of Americans have known for well over a year. That she was ill-equipped to be the republican running mate, that the Katie Couric interview was a disaster. Palin’s confession is now on record and further seals her chances of ever resurrecting a political career.

My advice to Palin is this- you’re through. Your political career is over with no chance of a miraculous resurrection. You resigned in disgrace as Governor of Alaska before official investigations into misconduct could be brought. Stay in retirement. Keep a low profile and keep your family members from further embarrassment. After one daughter (Bristol) got pregnant outside wedlock and the father Levi Johnston   has made a total public joke of himself and the Palin family- it’s time to bring down the curtain on Sarah Palin. The show is over. Don’t try for a sequel in total humiliation.

LOU DOBBS TAKES A HIKE

Dobbs resignation speechlou-dobbs

The only person who didn’t know that Lou Dobbs was doing biased reporting as anchor for CNN was Lou Dobbs himself. So prejudiced had he become at what he referred to as a “Mexican Invasion” and illegals taking over America, Dobbs could no longer see the forest for the tree’s. His no-holds-barred, sometimes acerbic style brought him a loyal following, but also attracted controversy both to him and to the network, especially over the subject of illegal immigration. Even when a movement sprang up to have Dobbs fired from CNN- Dobbs was totally oblivious to his eventual fate, believing tha he was untouchable and that his job as anchor to CNN’s afternoon drive was secure.

story.john.king.show.cnn Last week- it was quietly announced  by CNN that Lou Dobbs had stepped down as anchor of the afternoon news and would be replaced by John King, a Dobbs wannabe and corporate suck up. CNN anchor John King, the upright, square-jawed good-looker who made his name with the “magic map” – that big-screen thingie where you move your fingers around and it gets bigger or goes over there - is taking over for Lou Dobbs at the 7 p.m. slot.

CNN tried to frame King’s qualifications for the job by stating: “With characteristic forthrightness, Lou has now decided to carry the banner of advocacy journalism elsewhere,” Mr. Klein said. “We respect his decision.” King’s program “will reflect what CNN is all about: straight facts from our anchors and the widest range of opinions from across the political spectrum.”"John has enthralled CNN viewers with his vast political knowledge, and he has spent the past year reporting from beyond the Beltway on pressing policy issues and the real people they impact. Every night, he’ll share his passion and his insights about what is really going on in Washington and across America.”

Basically what CNN was trying to tell members of the Latino movement that got Dobbs fired was that John King was not Dobb’s.

We’ll see. Though head of CNN denies that the movement was instrumental in having Dobb’s removed- no doubt had Dobbs not resigned- CNN would have fired him.

Mr. Dobbs said his world view changed after the 2001 terrorist attacks and corporate corruption scandals, and he began to more freely express his opinions. He was particularly persistent in bringing the immigration issue to the foreground, winning him both higher ratings and enemies. Latino groups had an active petition drive seeking his removal. His presence became awkward for CNN, particularly as it began emphasizing reporting and non-opinion shows. He angered management this summer by pressing questions about President Barack Obama’s birth site after CNN reporters determined there was no issue.

“This will be my last broadcast,” Mr. Dobbs said after giving the day’s headlines. Mr. Dobbs, who hosts a daily radio show unrelated to CNN, said the network had allowed him to be released early from his contract. His resignation was hailed by activists who were seeking his ouster. “Our contention all along was that Lou Dobbs – who has a long history of spreading lies and conspiracy theories about immigrants and Latinos – does not belong on the most trusted name in news,” said Roberto Lovato, co-founder of Presente.org. “We are thrilled that Mr. Dobbs no longer has the legitimate platform from which to incite fear and hate.” Tom Saenz, president of the Mexican American Legal Defence and Educational Fund, the leading Latino legal organization, said, “I think the Latino community can and should celebrate that Lou Dobbs is no longer on CNN.”


MAYOR EBERT GIVES GLOWING REVIEW TO 2012

ebert-roeper-splashOf 2012,  I can only say this- Roger Ebert was the only film critic to give the movie a glowing review. Most of the other long-time film critics like Richard Roper and Richard Curtis panned the film. In Godzilla, director Emmerich has a character named Mayor Ebert. Since Ebert gave Emmerich’s 2012 film such a glowing review- calling it the thrill-ride of a lifetime- no doubt in his next movie you will see a character named “president Ebert.  Now that Richard Roeper and Richard Curtis have panned 2012- what horrible demise will director Emmerich have in store for these two in his next film?

untitledIn ‘2012′ John Cusack plays a failed science fiction writer who has to fight, along with his estranged family, to survive the end of the world. Along the way his character has to survive every matter of peril that director Roland Emmerich throws at him.

In his 2006 novel Next (released November 28 of that year), Crichton introduced a character named “Mick Crowley” who is a Yale graduate and a Washington D.C.-based political columnist. “Crowley” was portrayed by Crichton as a child molester with a small penis. The character is a minor one who does not appear elsewhere in the book. A real person named Michael Crowley is also a Yale graduate, and a senior editor of The New Republic, a liberal Washington D.C.-based political magazine. In March 2006, the real Crowley had written an article strongly critical of Crichton for his stance on global warming in State of Fear. Crowley responded by saying that he was “strangely flattered” by his reference in Crichton’s novel. “To explain why, let me propose a corollary to the small penis rule,” he wrote. “Call it the small man rule: If someone offers substantive criticism of an author and the author responds by hitting below the belt, as it were, then he’s conceding that the critic has won.”

If director Roland Emmerich has the power to create a “Mayor Ebert” character in Godzilla, what will he do to Roeper and Richard Curtis who panned his movie? Create a Richard Roeper or Richard Curtis character who comes to a horrible demise in his next film?

n785480056_1238I absolutely agree with Roeper and Curtis on 2012. Time was, folks would get into a lather about the simplistic thumbs-up, thumbs-down method of cinematic analysis practiced by film critics Roger Ebert and Richard Roeper on their little TV movie-review show. Ebert, movie critic for the Chicago Sun-Times, and Roeper, columnist for  the Chicago Sun-Times debuted on PBS in 1978 under the title Sneak Previews, the duo’s half hour became one of PBS’ highest-rated shows — in no small part because, like that other halcyon PBS hero, chef Julia Child, Ebert and Siskel were unusual but natural TV personalities. When Gene Siskel tragically passed away, Roeper filled in after Ebert could not carry the show alone.

We have to get Mayor Ebert and Richard Roeper and their show, Sneak Previews back on the air. The young kids today just don’t have the experience to adequately critique a movie and when we’re talking about parting with $9-bucks for admission and another $20-bucks for popcorn and soda- it’s vital to know which movies are dogs. Beside’s- Roeper and Ebert had wonderful banter together and the public misses them.

KH

defaultUnemployment 2009

Being unemployed for any length of time is not a good idea and can lead to frustration, anger, and depression and toomuch time on your hands which you fill making goofy “You Tube” video’s like this one.  The online job-sites like Dice.com, (Dice is nice!) hotjobs at Yahoo, (Ya ..hoo ….!) and Monster-jobs are an exercise in futility. Most of the people reviewing your resumes are interns right out of Junior College. That’s when you can remember the user-name and password you first used and are able to log in in the first place. Good-luck with the Wal-Mart site if you can;t remember your username and password. Tons of video’s are popping up on the internet regarding how to survive unemployment. Check this one out:

How to survive unemployment

Experts say that people unemployed  in 2009 will be unemployed four months longer than in the past.unemployment

Face it! The economy sucks. Most of the good paying jobs have left America and wound up in China. In America, corporations have to comply with all the government regulation, OSHA, pollution-controls, insurance benefits for full-time workers. Then … after they’ve jumped through dozens of government hoops, the government rewards big business by hitting them up with a big tax. Big business in America is saying, “Who Needs This Shit?” We can move off-shore to third-world nations that have no government regulation and low taxes, if any, because we provide thousands of jobs to Chinese, N. Koreans, Phillipino’s and Mexicans.  Jobs that used to belong to American’s.

I wrote about this trend and corporate greed in my blog: All We Gotta Do Is back when unemployment rate in America hit 9.5-percent in June.

If you just got laid off, downsized, fired, or quit and are joining millions of Americans this fall 2009, forget everything you knew or thought you knew about job-hunting. You’re going to have to learn the new rules and the new reality which is that job-hunting in 2009 is a lie. The main job of businesses these days in a time of record un-employment is to find ways to “screen” you out or have the computer “screen you out.” In the old days you could walk right into a business, fill out a paper application and maybe the manager would have time to do a preliminary interview. If he/she liked your looks, the way you presented yourself, you had a shot at either being hired on the spot or being invited back for a second interview. Try getting your foot in the door today. Nobody has paper applications anymore and nobody answers their phone. Everyone from Arbys, WalMart to temp agencies and big corporations hire “online.” By now, if you are job-hunting these days,  you are probably sick of hearing “You have to apply online.” For a fricking, minimum wage fast-food job? You got to be shittin me!

Then  after you complete the 45-minute application process complete with the same boring psychological profile by Kronos which you now have to fill out for every job application, you never hear back from the employer. So you call the employer. They never got your application, or they can’t find it. So you repeat the “online” application process. More weeks go by without hearing. So you call the employer again. This time they got your application and here’s another phrase you’ll get sick of hearing, “We received your application and if we’re interested we’ll call you.”

But they don’t call you.

And why is it that a chain that has multiple Chicago locations  do you have to repeat the 45-minute process for every frickin location? You would think, like the WalMart site, that you could just check off multiple locations you are interested in applying for.

Here’s another frustrating thing new job hunters should know especially if dealing with Walmart. Say, you click off multiple locations or cities you are interested in working at. If even one location prints up your application, “Bada bing …bada boom!” it’s out of the  system. So, weeks go by and here you think multiple locations are considering you and you are not even in the system at all cause some fricking WalMart printed up your application and either never called you or called you for an interview.large_jobless-fair

Remember the old days when most people did not have a computer and went to the state job office, or Workforce to use the “online” computer’s to hunt for jobs? Try going to the Illinois State Work Office today. They may have 5 computers, all crappy Dell’s and they’re booked all day. So you go to the library to use their desktop computers. Again, crappy Dell’s, same thing. They’re all in use. Today if you are a job hunter, you need your own laptop and even then, like with myself looking for a 2009 seasonal/holiday job, you never hear back.

Paper applications in the old days were date and time stamped so employers couldn’t use the excuse,   “We never got your application” as a way to weed out undesirables and minorities. Today, it’s easy for employers to practice discrimination,  even age discrimination simply by using the excuse, “We never got your application. Maybe they did and deleted it, maybe they didn’t. How do you prove it in any law suit brought against the employer?

Here’s the sobering reality folks of the economy in 2009:

The unemployment rate in the US jumped to 10.2 percent in October, the highest level since 1983

I got married in 1982- got divorced in 1983 and it was largely because of the unemployment rate. Young newlyweds just cannot make it when unemployment levels are above 8-percent.

So if you are a young couple considering marriage in what’s left of 2009 or 2010 my advice to you is WAIT!!!! It does look like unemployment will creep much higher than 10.2-percent before we see unemployment levels come back down- if they ever come back down. My feeling is with the millions of lost American jobs oversea’s- we’ll look back in ten-years and say that 10.2-percent unemployment levels were the “good-old days.”

The US economy has lost 7.3 million jobs since the recession began in December 2007, when the unemployment rate stood at 4.9 percent. Since Obama took office in January, the economy has lost 3.49 million jobs. The so-called underemployment rate—which includes part-time workers who’d prefer a full-time position and people who want work but have given up looking—reached a record 17.5 percent in October from 17 percent,

We’ve got lots of people just giving up and leaving the labor force,” said Julia Coronado, a former Fed economist now at BNP Paribas in New York. “Consumer incomes are under pressure, and that raises questions about the sustainability of the improvement we’ve seen in consumer spending.”

Obama may or may not give Americans health-insurance but here’s my question. Will we really need insurance if we don’t have jobs?

If the economy doesn’t turn around soon- we’ll all be like:

222860.medium160-1Will Hatcher’s: Crank Dat Homeless Man

Economy experts are saying that it will take 4-years for the unemployment rate to even get back down to 8-percent. How many years will it take to reach the 2007 levels of 4.9 percent?

Here’s my advice. Worker’s over 30 should begin starting their own businesses. Definitely start your own business if you are over 50 and just got laid off after 20-years. Go back to school for the necessary tools. The survival jobs workers used to take for granted are gone- filled now by Mexicans and teenagers. Most fast-food managers are 27-year’s of age and making more money per year than most Americans made at the top of their careers. Most, are Hispanic and are bi-lingual. The seasonal Christmas jobs we used to take for granted are also gone. When the retail industry went belly-up Christmas of 2008- most retailers have gone to self-service checkout’s. The Apple Store in Woodfield even did away with their cash register’s last week when I visited for service. Seasonal cashier and sales jobs have gone the way of the doh-doh bird. Most Christmas shoppers order “online” these days. If you’re a younger worker age 27 or younger- you are in high demand. Walk into employers with an attitude and demand a high hourly wage. You’ll get it. No longer do younger workers have to settle for minimum wage as my generation did. Chances are- if you are a younger worker, not only will you get a “survival” job at a hgh hourly rate but in six-months time they’ll make you manager like with my nephew Danny. First day on the job, they promoted him from being an “Ass Man” (Assistant Manager) to Store Manager. He is paid around 27,000-dollars per year and gets a three-hour lunch.

KH

CIT files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection

Money

CIT Group Bankrupcy

Lender CIT Group filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Sunday Nov. 1, 2009, a potential blow to the thousands of small and mid-sized businesses that rely on the company for loans to keep their operations afloat.

The Chapter 11 filing is one of the biggest in U.S. corporate history, following Lehman Brothers, Washington Mutual, WorldCom and General Motors. CIT’s bankruptcy filing shows $71 billion in finance and leasing assets against total debt of $64.9 billion. A prepackaged bankruptcy, which has the support of major bondholders, speeds up the process of restructuring debt and could allow CIT  to exit court protection by the end of the year. In addition to reducing its debt, CIT said the plan cuts cash needs over the next three years, which should help it return to profitability more quickly.

Americans say Bullshit!

Instead of government protections in the form of Chapter  11 and government bailouts while the executives of these companies continue to receive huge bonuses- I say the Obama administration and the FBI need to arrest these “white-collar” crooks and throw their ass in jail to sit alongside with other CEO crooks like Bernard Maddoff, Koslowski, and Enron’s CFO Jeff Skilling.

Government (particularly he Obama administration) is in bed with these guys. Americans knew it the minute Obama appointed Geithner as Treasury-Secretary. Timothy Geithner was the one who bankrupted Lehman Brothers and Obama puts him in charge of the administration’s economic recovery?

Americans are tired of being lied to, tired of watching the majority of good paying jobs being shipped over to China. Sooner or later, Mr. President- AMERICANS WILL NOT SIT STILL FOR YOUR LIES, they will stop listening to your empty words and great speeches and they will revolt. When Americans are pushed to the wall- which they are now by watching their jobs going over-sea’s and their quality of life disappear, watching millions of illegal Mexicans move into American and living better lifestyles than Americans- the revolution will come in one form or other. either they will throw Obama’s ass out of office in 2012 or there will be riots in the streets as in the 1960’s.

Note to Obama- the revolution is coming! (one way or other)

Obama, smart politician he is- will most likely duck out the side-door before the proverbial shit hits the fan. Rather than be humiliated in a overwhelming defeat in 2012- Obama will announce he will not be running for re-election. It is clear to many of the Obama faithful that Obama was more interested in “winning” the presidency than actually “being” president. Obama is demonstrating  an,  abundancy of late,  to being the most “do nothing” president in modern history, even more so than “do nothing” Jimmy Carter.

Already well into a four-year term, Americans are at the breaking point. They hear that the economy is recovering but continue to see jobs disappear. Americans have always equated a healthy economy with lots of jobs everywhere, a plethora of jobs, particularly at Christmas.

Here in the Chicagoland area- Rockford, IL. has been rated one of the top-ten cities in America where there are no jobs. Rockford includes Chicago’s Far-West suburbs. Most of the business like Caribou Coffee, Starbucks,  and other’s  you may walk into around the Chicago suburbs- have only teenagers behind the counter. Where are the older workers? The retired workers? The housewives who used to work part time? Where are the alpha-males over age 50? All retired?

AA013930Most businesses in America hire young kids to work a register who have never worked a cash register before and they’re paid the federal minimum wage of $7.25 hour. And business wonders why customer service sucks?

Slashing CEO bonuses, Bankruptcy and government bailouts will not protect millions of Americans from massive job loss. Government is responsible for forcing big business to move to China through over=-regulation, (Osha, pollution controls, providing health insurance to all employees) and then after business pay all that- the government turns around and hits them with huge taxes. And Americans wonder why jobs are moving to CHina where there are no such controls, where there are not taxes and where China enjoys a 30-percent tariff on all goods the US sells to CHina while we hit CHina with a mere 3-percent tariff.

Bears fans never happy

chi_a_wolfe_800Chicago sports-critics are particularly brutal on the hometeam. They always find fault with local teams. Bears beat Browns 30-6 and headlines claim, “ugly win,” or “not too memorable.” Not too memorable? They beat the Browns frickin 30-6. For the Bears that’s memorable. This finding fault with every little thing has become a Chicago habit. Chicagoans it seems are not happy unless they’re finding fault with something.

Bet the Bronco’s won’t be taking a week off againbroncos-cheerleaders this year

The Denver Bronco’s had a week off. Young coach (Josh McDaniel’s) insisted they not practice. Special teams on the Ravens destroyed them 30-7. The Bronco’s have their work cut out now – they don’t appear to be built to put up points quickly on teams. Quarterback Kyle Orton is going to have to look downfield a lot more now…..16 pass attempts for 44 yards is pretty disgraceful.

I bet the Bronco’s won’t be taking another week off anytime soon.

Unclassic Halloween

Scared Stiffkwzt-968367-1

For those of you older than 40- remember when TV used to schedule the classic Halloween movies on Halloween night? Bela Lagosi as Dracula, Lon Chaney as Wolfman,  and Boris Karloff as the Mummy. I even looked for Mel Brook’s classic, Young Frankenstein with Gene Wilder and could not find it. In my Chicago suburb, Comcast, the local cable provider with over 200 channels to choose from, did not have one decent Halloween movie on. What happened to all those Halloween comedy’s they used to show like Arsenic and Old Lace, Jerry Lewis and Dean Martin in Scared Stiff or Abbot and Costello in Meet Frankenstein?  I did watch The Canterville Ghost but it was not the classic 1945 version with Charles Laughton  and Margaret O’Brien BUT the Alyssa Milano/Patrick Stewart version.

What has happened to the state of TV programming in America? Have TV stations just caved in to Blockbuster and the Internet? TV doesn;t seem to even try to schedule quality programing anymore. Only Rich Koz (Svengoolie) ay Chanel 26 “The U” here in CHicago had a first-rate Halloween movie on, Gary Oldman and Winona Ryder in Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Kudo’s to Rich Koz.

Eight weeks to Xmas

Clay Aiken – Merry Christmasmerry_xmas_with_love

some years there are 10 weeks from Halloween to Xmas. This year. the way the dates fall on the calendar- there are only 8. We will be inundated now with 8 weeks of Xmas commercials. Here’s one way to screw with corporations who have taken a very blase approach to Xmas. Next time you’re in the WalMart- wish the cashier a “Merry Christmas.” They’re not allowed to wish you one- they;re only allowed to take you’re money but my feeling is that if you have just dropped a bundle of cash in a WalMart- you should be able to wish anyone a Merry Christmas. That;s the power of capitalism.

Pizza Parlour Explosion

Shaddap You Face – Joe Dolce

pizza

The last time I tried to find a pizza parlour in my area there were only one or two. Today, I noticed while driving the major highway a plethora of new pizza parlours. There’s White ____ Pizzeria, Nicks & Willy;s Pizza, Danny’s Pizza, Little Caesar’s, Pizza Hut, Jake’s PIzza, Domino’s, Papa John’s, etc etc. When did the “pizza-wars” heat up? Even visiting my local grocery chain there seems to be a pizza-war” going on in the frozen foods. Remember when DiGiorno’s was the only “self-rising” pizza? Looking in my frozen pizza section, there are now at least a dozen “self-rising” pizza’s. The pizza wars have intensified recently in the battle for the multi-billion dollar delivery and restaurant industry.

Pizza Wars

In the midst of an intense pizza war, Pizza Hut and Papa John’s are spending millions in marketing to outdo the other. The rivals are even mentioning each other by name – once against basic marketing rules – in an attempt to dominate the $25 billion pizza industry. “When you have lots of competition, as there is with pizza, you attack your opponent,” said James Lowry, a marketing professor. “The old rule of not naming your competition in advertising has fallen by the wayside. Now, you just attack.”

Dallas-based Pizza Hut bills itself as the world’s largest pizza restaurant company with more than 7,100 restaurants and delivery units in the U.S. and 3,000 international outlets in 86 countries.

Papa John’s chief executive officer is John Schnatter, a 1983 Ball State graduate. The Louisville-based firm has 466 company-owned outlets and 1,314 franchised stores in 45 states and the District of Columbia. Papa John’s plans to add 400 more restaurants in each of the next two years. “You can say you have the best tasting pizza or even have the lowest prices every day,” Schnatter says, “but it is the consumer who ultimately will make the decision of who is better.”

Corruption in the desert

article-1201267-0543F32F000005DC-0_468x326Over the weekend it was announced that Hami Karzai’s political-opponent, former Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah,  had dropped out and that there would be no “presidential runoff“  in Afghanistan at the same time it was reported that Karzis brother was not only being propped up by the CIA but was being paid by the Taliban drug-lords as well. As President Obama tried to make the tough decision whether or not to send an additional 40,000 troops to Afghanistan, the revelation of corruption in the desert left many Americans asking the question, Just what the hell are we doing in Afghanistan?”

Hamid Karzai was declared winner of the presidential vote in Afghanistan on Monday after his challenger, Abdullah Abdullah, withdrew from the runoff. But questions concerning the Karzai government’s legitimacy and corruption remain as unresolved as before.

blogSpanThe case of Ahmed Wali Karzai, President Karzai’s brother, shows how difficult it is to deal with the government now in place. The Times reported last week that Ahmed Karzai is paid by the C.I.A. to help recruit an Afghan paramilitary force that operates at the agency’s direction. He has been linked to Afghanistan’s narcotics trade and is the most powerful figure in the swath of southern Afghanistan where the Taliban’s insurgency is strongest. The report that the Central Intelligence Agency has been secretly paying Ahmed Wali Karzai — the brother of Afghan President Hamid Karzai and allegedly one of Afghanistan’s biggest drug barons — demonstrates the complexity of the war we are fighting there. Ahmed Wali Karzai is the face of corruption in Afghanistan, and given that President Hamid Karzai has lost much of his former legitimacy over his own reputed corruption, for the C.I.A. to be seen helping to support his far more corrupt brother seriously undermines the reputation of our entire military and diplomatic effort in Afghanistan.

President Bush committed the US and our troops to a prolonged mess with no “exit strategy.” Clearly now is the time to just bring the troops home and leave Iraq and Afghanistan to stand or fall on its own merit. America cannot hope to win being caught in the middle of a “drug war.” Just as we supplied the Taliban weapons to use against the Russians, the Russians who are now laughing at us, have been supplying the Taliban with weapons against us. It’s time to get the hell out of Afghanistan and Iraq.

What the heck is going on with our weather?cold_snow_generic

The Singing Weatherman

Last week as Denver received its second “snow=storm” in October, and up to three-feet of snow, and the ski resorts in the mountains received only an inch or two- many people are now asking the question, “What the heck is going on with our weather?” By now, the majority of Americans no longer believe in “Global Warming.” So, is the wierd weather just “cyclical?”

polls_3457_main_image_1244187360_1028_375871_poll_large

Global Warming? Chicago – 2009 Coolest July 8th in 118 Years

For the 12th time this meteorological summer (since June 1), daytime highs failed to reach 70 degrees Wednesday. Only one other year in the past half century has hosted so many sub-70-degree days up to this point in a summer season — 1969, when 14 such days occurred.  July closed with eye-catching temperature deficits over a wide swath of the northern U.S. overnight. Chicago’s 69.4-degree average July temperature at O’Hare International Airport was the coolest of the past 17 years. But at Midway Airport, the month’s 71.0-degree average temperature was the site’s coolest in 42 years. Estimates based on the month’s temperatures suggest the need for air conditioning was 30 percent below the long-term average.
Cool as it’s been in Chicago, in a number of Midwest cities July has never been cooler. Records were established in Rockford; Madison, Wis.; South Bend and Ft. Wayne, Ind.; and Benton Harbor, Saginaw and Flint, Mich. The month’s temperature in those cities finished 4.5 to more than 7 degrees below normal.

“Scientists Debunk UN “Global Warming

El Nino Is Back

The United Nations exaggerated warming 6-fold: the scare is over. SPPI’s authoritative Monthly CO2 Report for July 2009 announces the publication of a major paper by Professor Richard Lindzen of MIT, demonstrating by direct measurement that outgoing long-wave radiation is escaping to space far faster than the UN predicts, showing that the UN has exaggerated global warming 6-fold. Lindzen’s paper on outgoing long-wave radiation shows the “global warming” scare is over.

H1 N1 flu shots- making kids sick?

vaccine2_1514785cMy brother, a retired paramedic of 30-years believes that our public schools are making thousands of kids sick by giving them the H1 N1 flu shot.

Months back, when a swine flu vaccine was still just a glimmer in scientists’ eyes, US health officials were driving home the message that children, and especially those with underlying health conditions like asthma, and pregnant women were at greater risk of dying from H1N1 influenza and should be first in line for inoculation. But after rolling out the vaccine early last month, the authorities ran into a problem: there was not enough to go around.

“The National Institutes of Health and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have done a very good job of emphasising the importance of getting vaccinated. But then there’s no vaccine,” said Steven Salzberg, director of the Center for Bioinformatics and Computational Biology at the University of Maryland.

So why are they being so heavily pushed onto the general public? Why is there so much enthusiasm for flu shots in general, and especially the new H1N1 flu shot or nasal spray, when there’s basically no proof whatsoever that getting it is any more effective than saying a prayer that you won’t get it?

Why did New York try to force unwilling health care workers to get the H1N1 vaccine, when it’s already known that flu vaccines are not very effective?

There has been an American Medical Association study that concluded that for every 100 people who get a flu shot, it will prevent 1 person from getting the flu. So, even in the most rosy, best case scenario possible, the flu shot still seems fairly ineffective. That you might be that lucky 1 in a 100 for whom the flu shot actually works, doesn’t seem worth the risk that you will be one of the many unlucky ones who develops unwanted side effects.

So, should you get the regular flu vaccine or the H1N1 flu shot this year? That’s your call. Why not if it makes you feel better, or if you think getting shots is pleasurable? But if you decide not to, then from a scientific perspective—no one who believes that scientific based evidence is worth something will blame you. For the last three winters my job has offered flu shots at work, for the special discount price of something like $18 to &20 (USA) I want to say. For the first two winters I got the flu shot I remember being congested and tired, all the way into spring. Every time anyone got sick around the office I seemed to pick it up and it would linger and not go away. Last winter I decided not to get the flu shot and I hardly got sick at all. I did get a pretty bad cold at the end of the winter but it did not lurk into springtime like when I had gotten the flu shot. Personally I’m choosing not to get one this year either.

KH

THE KING OF NOTHING

If I could rule, I’d dance my cares away, find romance everyday.
I wouldn’t have to listen to these poor fools say,
“I’m the King, I’m the King, I’m the King of Nothing.”

~Seals and Croft

Barack Obama is becoming the biggest “do nothing” president since Jimmy Carter and like Carter, when the approval ratings are down, Obama gives a great speech.  But it’s all talk – and no action. Or failed action. Once his biggest supporter during the presidential primary with Obama making several appearances on SNL, even Saturday Night Live has of late, begun lambasting Obama as a “do nothing” president with this clip from the show opener two weeks ago:

Obama – do nothing skit

madmagazineIn 2008, Obama was elected by overwhelming mandate to bring America change they could believe in. Many of the Obama faithful are angry and dis appointed that it has been a year and Obama has nothing to show for it. He has done nothing. The ring-wing “Nazi” talk show hosts like Glenn Beck, Rush  Limbaugh, Hannity and others have been quick to point out Obama’s dismal record and shortcomings. In fact, Obama’s lack of a “Mission Statement” is proving to be fodder for the talk-show Nazi’s and Obama’s political enemies. His first day in office, Obama promised to close Guantanamo Bay detention facilities. He has backpedaled. Instead of tackling jobs and the economy right away, Obama backed himself into an impossible corner like Hillary Clinton trying to “re-invent” health care. he will lo se. Already Obama has backpedaled on his own “Public Option” plan . Whatever health-care plan COngress comes up with is not going to be what Americans want or need. Have you seen how the federal government runs the food-stamp program, unemployment, Medicare or public transit in America? Miss an appointment and they cut you off for food stamps. Are Americans going to get a letter in the mail stating that due to a missed appointment, we are cutting off your health insurance? And anyone in America who has ridden government subsidized bus service like Pace, CTA, RTD, who build crappy plastic bus shelters, whose buses run every hour when they run at all and are never … on time, whose drivers are from some African nation, do not speak English and do not know where any landmarks are on their own bus route, government subsidized bus companies that now charge $3 per ride with no transfers and yet, who always beg for more government money- do we really want health insurance like the government-run food-stamps, unemployment or public transit? Do we really want government panels deciding who lives, who dies, who has pre-existing co nditions and are not eligible for health care. Do we really want government putting caps on medical procedures like they do with Medicare?

Underweight toddler denied health insurance

As President, Obama had a moral and ethical responsibility not to re-invent health-care but to regulate insurance companies who have been gouging for years and cherry-picking pre-existing conditions.

Here is Obama’s record  on the Obama-meter the first year in office and the overly ambitious campaign promises he has failed to deliver to the Obama faithful:

No. 24: End income tax for seniors making less than $50,000

“Will eliminate all income taxation of seniors making less than $50,000 per year. This will eliminate taxes for 7 million seniors — saving them an average of $1,400 a year– and will also mean that 27 million seniors will not need to file an income tax return at all.”

Promise Broken

No. 234: Allow five days of public comment before signing bills

To reduce bills rushed through Congress and to the president before the public has the opportunity to review them, Obama “will not sign any non-emergency bill without giving the American public an opportunity to review and comment on the White House website for five days.”

Promise Broken

No. 240: Tougher rules against revolving door for lobbyists and former officials

“No political appointees in an Obama-Biden administration will be permitted to work on regulations or contracts directly and substantially related to their prior employer for two years. And no political appointee will be able to lobby the executive branch after leaving government service during the remainder of the administration.”

Promise Broken

No. 505: Create a $3,000 tax credit for companies that add jobs

“During 2009 and 2010, existing businesses will receive a $3,000 refundable tax credit for each additional full-time employee hired.”

Promise Broken

No. 508: Allow penalty-free hardship withdrawals from retirement accounts in 2008 and 2009

“Obama and Biden are calling for legislation that would allow withdrawals of 15% up to $10,000 from retirement accounts without penalty (although subject to the normal taxes). This would apply to withdrawals in 2008 (including retroactively) and 2009.”

Promise Broken

No. 511: Recognize the Armenian genocide

Two years ago, I criticized the Secretary of State for the firing of U.S. Ambassador to Armenia, John Evans, after he properly used the term ‘genocide’ to describe Turkey’s slaughter of thousands of Armenians starting in 1915. … as President I will recognize the Armenian Genocide.”

Promise Broken

No. 517: Negotiate health care reform in public sessions televised on C-SPAN

To achieve health care reform, “I’m going to have all the negotiations around a big table. We’ll have doctors and nurses and hospital administrators. Insurance companies, drug companies — they’ll get a seat at the table, they just won’t be able to buy every chair. But what we will do is, we’ll have the negotiations televised on C-SPAN, so that people can see who is making arguments on behalf of their constituents, and who are making arguments on behalf of the drug companies or the insurance companies. And so, that approach, I think is what is going to allow people to stay involved in this process.”

Promise Broken

No. 000: Here are other overly ambitious campaign pormises Obama has failed to keep.

Ending the Irag/Afgani war and bringing the troop’s home, closing Guantanamo Bay, providing those who could not afford health-insurance with a “public-option” plan.

Promise Broken

As SNL lampooned, it took Obama four-months to choose a dog for the White House. To add insult to injury. the Nobel committee decided to hand out prizes this year for ambition – not performance by awarding Obama with a Nobel Peace Prize- for doing nothing. Many joked that the Nobel committee awarded the prize to Obama because he was not George Bush. (see previous blog: How to win a Nobel Peace Prize without really trying). Perhaps “doing nothing” is …. keeping the peace. Particularly when America has a long-established pattern of butting our noses into the affairs of other nations, having the CIA topple regimes considered “unfriendly” to us. If the Republican party hadn’t derailed itself by letting the wackos and nitwits  like Glenn Beck,  Rush Limbaugh  and Sarah Palin hijack the party, Michael Steele  would now be capitalizing on Obama’s failure to keep his promises to the millions who elected him. They would be strategizing to win back Congressional seats in 2010 and picking a strong candidate to soundly defeat Obama in 2012. A candidate Americans could get behind. But alas, the Republican Party is being seen as the party of “Nazi’s.” If Obama hopes to win re-election in 2012 he had better turn around his dismal administration and start becoming the mover and shaker he promised Americans he would be. Obama’s first move should be to scrap the health-care plan. Tell Congress that they can come back to it later in his presidency (if he has one) and in the meantime Obama should concentrate on jobs and the economy.

Obama is a “professional student,” he has no “street-smarts.” Perhaps it was naive of Obama to make so many overly ambitious campaign promises. Promises which he could never keep. But perhaps it was even more naive of millions of Americans to out an overly naive “professional student” in the White House to begin with. The wacko Republican Party with its nitwit candidates of John McCain and Sarah Palin did not leave many Americans much choice. Election time always seems to come down to the lesser of two evils these days. Obama promised to change the way politics is conducted in America:

Promise Broken

POTHEAD COUNTY

Medical-marijuana-sign Is it a good idea to decriminalize Marijuana in the ghetto? I think not. It’s not the Marijuana itself, it when they combine Marijuana with alcohol, harder drugs and other criminal activities pertaining to Marijuana.

The dispensary has a TV lounge, a pool table and snacks and acupuncture are free for customers who drop up to $130 an ounce for 16 varieties of Marijuana.  Welcome to Pothead County, Colorado (Summit County) the latest Colorado county where Medical Marijuana dispensaries are exploding. Despite the Deadhead and Grateful Dead Posters on the wall or the Mexican blanket tablecloths, business is booming as the number of dispensaries are exploding. This is not the “ROCKY MOUNTAIN HIGH” that John Denver had in mind. Medical Marijuana users can also look at dozens of websites on the complimentary Internet rating sites such as Yelp or Citysearch to find their Marijuana of choice. The dispensary has five I-phone applications to assist “weed fans” find the closest place to buy bud in 14 states that allow medical marijuana.

Here in Slumming County- former country sheriff is pitted against current country sheriff in the debate. Gary Lindstrom, retired country sheriff and pot-head is in favor of Nov 3, vote to decriminalize pot. Current pain-in-the-ass sheriff John Minor is busting pot-smokers for smoking a joint in their car in the parking lots of the local ski resorts because he knows there’s much money in “fines” to be had.

In my previous blog I wrote about the ghetto conditions of Summit County. (THE GHETTO MENTALITY) bilde

Drugs and alcohol in this high mountain ghetto is about escapism, from low wages, exorbitant rents, conditions of abject poverty, incest, domestic violence. The Summit County Sheriff’s Office logs some 3,000 DUI arrests every month. Add to this the fact that local city-councils have curtailed the number of liquor stores but are allowing Marijuana dispensaries to pop up everywhere simply for the tax revenue,  and you have one big accident waiting to happen. Voters in other wealthy resort towns like Vail and Aspen recently voted down the idea of “Medical Marijuana” dispensaries in their resort towns with the voters clearly stating in exit polls, “ the children in Vail already struggle with identifying appropriate adult conduct because they see guests “acting out” while on vacation. Approving the sale of ‘legal’ marijuana in Vail may further cloud their view of suitable behavior as they approach adulthood.”

Councilman Andy Daly said the Vail community has always been family-oriented and medical marijuana dispensaries aren’t consistent with that. Gee, and here I thought that Summit County (Silverthorne, Dillon, Breckenridge) were family-oriented communities with family-oriented ski resorts like Keystone. Guess I was mistaken. The greed of local city councils in allowing Medical Marijuana Dispensaries to open and operate in a ghetto environment is just one more reason to prohibit them or at least prohibit them prohibit them until the state legislature votes to correct some of the flaws in Amendment 20, the statewide voter-passed amendment that legalized medical marijuana in 2000. But greed and poverty run rampant in Summit County, Colorado and no doubt Summit County will sink into further poverty with rising drug use, crime rates, domestic violence and incest and a lowering of local wages and morality.

HAS TV GOTTEN TOO KINKY, TOO SATANIC? (WELCOME TO COUGARTOWN)

Reminiscent of Michelle Pfeffer’s sexy performance as a lounge singer in The Fabulous Baker Boys, the television trailer  for the new TV series Eastwick shows
a redhead wallowing  atop a grand-piano as she sings the song “Spooky” for the local powerful warlock sitting at the bar. Then the trailers pans to a couple caught by  a local policeman in an alley having just copulated. The trailer for Courtney Cox’s new TV series, Cougar show her throwing herself at a good-looking man walking down the street before she realizes she has already seduced him.  Since ABC-TV is now owned by “Disney” a family-oriented company, the question on many American TV viewers minds is this:
HAS TV GOTTEN TOO KINKY, TOO SATANIC? (WELCOME TO EASTWICK AND COUGARTOWN)

EastwickLogoEastwick is an American television drama series created by Maggie Friedman. The series is a television adaptation of the John Updike novel, The Witches of Eastwick, and its 1987 film adaptation. The show currently airs on ABC and is currently being produced by ABC Studios. The show premiered on September 23, 2009 at 10:00 PM ET. The show follows the lives of three strangers, Roxanne, Joanna and Kat, who meet at a wishing fountain and soon become friends. A mysterious man named Darryl Van Horne has moved to Eastwick and has sinister plans for the women, but befriends them. Even more dangerous, he unleashes their supernatural powers. By igniting their hearts’ desires, he might just be opening Pandora’s box. Eastwick opened with initially mixed reviews. Metacritic has given the series 49 out of 100 based on the pilot episode, based upon 20 critical reviews, and a user score of 7.6 out of 10 based on 33 votes. Entertainment Weekly gave the pilot episode a B, stating the show “plays like Desperate Housewives if the Wisteria Lane ladies liked prestidigitation instead of poker.” Variety was also favorable by saying “the pilot represents a polished product that neatly introduces an array of characters and establishes Eastwick as a project with no small measure of potential.” Boston Globe gave the show a more positive review, even though he still compared it to Desperate Housewives, but said, “Desperate Housewives is frustrating because it can’t seem to decide what it is: murder mystery, silly farce, or realistic look at domestic woes. Eastwick is allegory and knows it, so it can be plausibly silly and over-the-top, and hint at real issues – women in the workplace, gender politics at home – without trying too hard … I’ll take witch hazel over wisteria any day.

Cougar_Town

Cougar Town is an American television sitcom, which premiered on ABC on September 23, 2009. The Urban Dictionary defines “Cougar” as a derogatory term for an older woman who frequents clubs in order to score with a much younger man. The cougar can be anyone from an overly surgically altered wind tunnel victim, to an absolute sad and bloated old horn-meister, to a real hottie or milf. Cougars are gaining in popularity — particularly the true hotties — as young men find not only a sexual high, but many times a chick with her shit together. “That cougar I met last night, showed me shit I didn’t know existed, I’m goin back for more.”

The series focuses on a recently divorced woman who re-enters a dating scene filled with younger men while living with her 17-year old son and embarks on a journey to self-discovery while surrounded by fellow divorcees.The pilot episode of the show was broadcast after Modern Family on September 23, 2009, with the broadcast of the pilot episode achieved 11.28 million viewers. Critical response was mixed, with Alessandra Stanley of The New York Times stating that the show’s “plot description alone could drive away male viewers”while the Los Angeles Times Mary McNamara opined that it “is fun and exciting for women over forty. Where Sex and the Single portrayed women over 40 as being desperate and lonely, Cougar Town portrays 40 something women as unabashed sluts willing to do anything to get laid by a young hard body.

Critics are having their say today and they’re pretty mixed about the new ABC comedy “Cougar Town” The New York Times said the show is “funny even when its heroine is not.” The Times said “the dialogue, timing and jokes have the madcap pace and anarchic spirit of ‘Scrubs’ and it takes a while for Cox to recalibrate her Monica persona from ‘Friends.’ To her credit, Cox is game for anything, and the humor is raunchy and Seth Rogenish.”TV Guide critic Matt Roush writes, “The show’s a little frantic and more than a little crude, but the jokes keep coming and many of them score.” He added, “Watching Cox accentuate her body-image flaws may seem preposterous to most of us, but her goofy self-deprecation is quite endearing.”USA Today’s Robert Bianco says that Cox makes a “sparkling return to television” as Jules Cobb, and that she is “not only convincing but touching – and unfailingly funny.” The Los Angeles Times, while acknolwedging “some funny lines and good acting all around,” said it is a “crude show, built on jokes about oral sex and droopy breasts, a show in which words like “coochie” are used with regrettable abandon.”The Boston Globe rates the show as a C+, saying it “has the potential to be more than a one-joke affair, although Cox hitting on high schoolers is not exactly ha-ha funny. Let’s see how it develops.”

Fortunately for most TV viewers, Eastwick is sinking fast and soon to be cancelled while Cougar Town may or may not be re-newed for 2010-2011 season. Depends on how disgustingly perverted Courtney Cox is willing to get with her character and will parent company of ABC (Disney) let Cox get disgustingly perverted with high-school boys or is it easier for Disney to pull the plug and replace Cougar Town with a Teen show like Dadnapped?

0_nfl_football_sexy_broncos

BRONCO FEVER

WARNING!

Bronco Fever is a highly contagious non curable condition that creates severe dependencies in certain individuals. Loss of balance in life is known to occur. An elevated view of the role of college athletics can lead to chronic lack of concentration during more meaningful activities. The typical course of action for sufferers is to enter an “off season” recovery program beginning in the first week of January and continuing through Early August. Symptoms tend to flare up in March and April with the occurrence of spring football camp, but then subside until the beginning of August when unstable individuals can experience a complete recurrence of all symptoms and the condition can worsen. Total break down can occur in some cases after several years of repeated remission / recurrence cycles.

Much has now been said about Josh McDaniels, 33-year-old coach of the Bronco’s and the Bronco’s new Quarterback Kyle Orton, which the Bronco’s received on a trade deal with the Chicago Bears after unloading hissy-fit quarterback Jay Cutler. Poor Bears. Heading into a “bye” week, the 2009 Bronco’s are 6-0. As Bronco fever builds to all time high’s, I thought now would be a good time to present:

TOP TEN SYMPTOMS OF BRONCO FEVER

10. Your idea of Monday Night “Family Home Evening” is gathering the whole family together and curling up to listen to the weekly Chris Peterson interview streamed over the Internet into your living room.

9. When talking to your friends, you tend to ramble about Jeron Johnson’s latest bone-crunching hit. You know you’ve gone too far when you look up and notice their blank looks.

8. When fall rolls around and some one remarks about the beautiful “fall colors” your mind turns not to the reds, browns and yellows of autumn, but to the BLUE AND ORANGE!!

7. When discussing favorite superheroes, Kellen Moore’s name keeps coming to mind.

6. You actually know how to pronounce, Yriarte, Iannacchione, and Bozikovich.

5. You don’t make a single social arrangement from August to December  without first consulting the “Schedule.” (which of course everyone should know and understand to be the Bronco Football Schedule).

4. You truly believe that the BCS should be renamed “Bronco Championship Series” and BSU should be participating in the National Championship Game yearly.

3. While the rest of your family would like Bronco Game Days to be a social event involving friends and family, you discourage the practice to shield the innocents from your excessive game day “intensity.”

2. You secretly wonder if your local auto body shop actually has the “right” Bronco blue and orange for that special 1980’s auto you treasure and wonder if the new paint will clash with its red interior.

And the number one symptom you might have Bronco fever is…………

1. Three Words……..Bronco Toilet Seat!

If you have a symptom we haven’t covered here, please comment! It is vitally important that people become aware of this condition, before it takes them unknowingly. Already thousands have been affected! We’ll update this at a later time. Spread the word about Bronco Fever!

FLU VACCINE SHORTAGE (IS THIS YEAR’S “FLU SEASON” CONTRIVED?)

imagesThe novel H1N1 virus first appeared in April. According to the Center for Disease Control, a pandemic – global disease outbreak – of H1N1 flu is under way. Because H1N1 is a new influenza virus there is little public immunity, so the number of those infected is projected to be high. The prediction is that 40 percent of the U.S. population will be infected with the virus over the next two years. One of the biggest differences from seasonal flu is that adults older than 64 years do not seem to be at an increased risk of H1N1 complications. In seasonal flu about 90 percent of deaths are in the older population, with H1N1 the majority of deaths up to this point have occurred in individuals under the age of 50.

Mass TV, radio and newspaper ads are encouraging people to go to their local City Market, Safeway, etc for flu shots only when you arrive you see a piece of paper written in black or blue marker stating: OUT OF FLU VACCINE.

So is the 2009 flu season real or contrived?

Dr. Joel Lehman of the Union Hospital Emergency Department says, “Although there is the possibility of having complications from the H1N1 virus, serious illness from flu is not a new thing. Every year we see many patients in the ER with problems from seasonal flu. In fact last year there were 36,000 deaths in the United States from influenza. A lot of those could be avoided by getting vaccinated. I recommend that people take advantage of the vaccine,” said Lehman.  He continued sayin g that although the H1N1 vaccine is not yet available it is projected to be ready for disbursement by October.”

“People need to be aware that the seasonal flu vaccine is different from the H1N1 vaccine. You will need two separate vaccines in order t o be protected from both viruses.”

Pam Dummermuth from Community Health and Wellness at Union Hospital says that their mantra for flu prevention is hand washing. “I cannot stress enough the importance of good quality hand washing and common sense. Wash hands often and thoroughly,” she said. “Avoid contact with those who are sick. If you personally are sick, stay home.”

The flu is very serious.  Every year, more than 200,000 people are hospitalized because of flu complications.  About 36,000 people die annually from the flu.

Symptoms of the flu include:

  • flufever (usually high)
  • headache
  • extreme tiredness
  • dry cough
  • sore throat
  • muscle aches
  • runny or stuffy nose
  • stomach symptoms (nausea, vomiting, diarrhea)

More serious complications of the flu are more common in certain groups of people.  These serious complications include:

  • bacterial pneumonia
  • ear infections
  • sinus infections
  • dehydration

Persons who are more likely to develop these serious complications include:

  • children aged 6 months to 5 years
  • people 50 years of age and older
  • people with chronic medical conditions, such as
  • heart disease
  • lung disease (including asthma)
  • diabetes
  • weak immune systemsimages-1

The single best way to fight the flu is to get a flu shot every year.  The flu shot is a vaccine that contains dead influenza viruses.  The flu shot cannot cause the flu because the flu viruses in the vaccine are dead.  Rather, the vaccine causes our immune systems to make antibodies against the flu virus. After receiving a flu shot, a person’s immune system is better prepared to fight off the virus, and thus reduce the chance of becoming ill.

October or November is usually the best time to get a flu shot.

For more information from the CDC visit www.cdc.gov

Medical professionals and the CDC recommend that in addition to getting a vaccine, individuals take the following everyday actions in order to prevent the spread of seasonal flu and the novel H1N1 virus.
Cover your nose or mouth with a tissue when you cough or sneeze. Dispose of the tissue after use.
• Wash hands often with soap and water, especially after you cough or sneeze. Alcohol based hand cleaners are also effective.
• Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth. Germs spread this way.
• Try to avoid close contact with sick people.
• If you are sick with flu-like symptoms, keep away from others. You can spread the virus up to seven days after being symptom free.
• Clean frequently touched surfaces. Studies show that the influenza virus can survive for 2 to 8 hours after being deposited on a surface such as a desk or a door- knob.

THE AMAZING APPLE KEEPS COMING UP WITH MORE MYSTIFYING PRODUCTS TO BLOW YOUR MIND. (Or how I learned to swallow the worm and love the Apple)

The amazing new I-Macoverview_hero1_20091020

Watching the new video from Apple on its new I-Mac by Jony Ive, Senior Vice-President of Design you quickly realize how much thought and care Apple puts into all its products. This is what makes Apple superior over all non-Apple or PC hardware like Toshiba, Sony, Dell and HP. What makes Apple a superior company to the Windows-based competition is Apple’s overall operating philosophy which seems to be that they work out all the bugs before …. they sell you an Apple product. Windows based computers sell you a product before working out all the bugs which they then have to give customers a “patch” down the road or a series of patches.

Another thing Apple has done in the past two-years to attract even more customers is:

1. lower prices

2. provide a variety of laptops/computers at a variety of prices instead of just two models like when I bought my Macbook Pro in 2006. It just came in white. A year later they added black and now have a one-piece aluminum shell for its Airbook.

Windows launched its new operating system last week, Windows 7- reviews are so/so. Most loyal Windows customers are still using XP Pro with the majority of Windows customers disgusted with the Vista operating system, a Windows 95 jazzed up to seem user-friendly but ended up causing more crashes and technical problems for Windows customers.

Apple, on the other hand, keeps getting better and better with its new operating systems. The new “Snow Leopard” is a “smart” computer which learns from the user which are the most visited sites, the most listened to I-Tunes songs, etc.

For the price I paid for my Macbook Pro in 2006- today I could buy Apple’s top-of-the-line 17-inch Macbook Pro with three-times the features.

Way to go Apple!


YOU’RE NOT GETTING OLDER YOU’RE DEFINITELY GETTING BETTER BABY

1679576624_8889086927hot-list-courtney-cox-2Back when I was a kid, I remember a TV commercial for hair color that told women, “Youre not getting older. Youre getting better.” Of course, as the ad suggested, women needed a little help in the form of hair color, plastic surgery, tummy tucks, or the truckload of excercise equipment sold on late night TV. Recent photo’s of some of Hollywood’s sex-kittens show that they didn’t need hair color, tummy tucks, plastic surgery or the ton of excercise equipment which finds its way to the annual garage sales. Andie McDowell, Courtney Cox and Cindy Crawford are back and they’re hotter than ever. All of them seem to balance children, husbands, sex lives and a fulfilling career which seems to say to women that you can have it all.

Cindy Crawford, famous for the trademark mole on her face, hails from Dekalb, Illinois and home of Northern Illinois University, recently launched a new line of furniture under the “Cindy Crawford Home Collection” name. This collection is manufactured by HM Richards Inc., and is sold through many retailers including Art Van Furniture and Rooms To Go. She assisted in the creation of the line by directing the designers to include certain features, colors, or styles that fit the needs of families or reflected her own tastes. She also has a furniture line with Raymour & Flanigan and will launch another home goods line with J. C. Penney in late 2009.

Courtney Cox best known for her role as Monica Geller on the sitcom, Friends. Courteney has also starred in Dirt and the Scream series, and has guest-starred in Scrubs. is currently starring in Cougar Town.10102722

Andie McDowell achieved stardom due to the box office success of the 1993 comedy by Harold Ramis, Groundhog Day, and Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994), opposite Hugh Grant (who admitted afterwards to being intimidated by both MacDowell and her then-husband). Groundhog Day and FWAAF remain MacDowell’s biggest box office hits. MacDowell appears in print and television advertisements for the cosmetic and haircare company L’Oréal.


HALLOWEEN 2009

THE MONSTER MASH BY BOBBY “BORIS” PICKETT

In night when colors all to black are cast,Jack-o'-Lantern
Distinction lost, or gone down with the light;
The eye a watch to inward senses placed,
Not seeing, yet still having powers of sight,
Gives vain alarums to the inward sense,
Where fear stirred up with witty tyranny,
Confounds all powers, and thorough self-offense,
Doth forge and raise impossibility:
Such as in thick depriving darknesses,
Proper reflections of the error be,
And images of self-confusednesses,
Which hurt imaginations only see;
And from this nothing seen, tells news of devils,
Which but expressions be of inward evils.

~Sonnet 100
Lord Brooke Fulke Greville (1633)

madhatter-139HottestCostumes.com has published the results of it’s survey of the top costumes for Halloween 2009. Each year the website contacts retailers of costumes to get a pulse of what are the hottest costumes for that year.

The 2009 results displayed a trend toward traditional costumes. While this was not totally unexpected due to the typically lower cost versus costumes that are licensed from recent movie blockbusters. There were still several movie character costumes that made the top ten. This was especially true in the mens and boys costume categories.

Kristen Grace, Affiliate Marketing Manager of BuyCostumes.com stated “Given the fact that Halloween falls on a Saturday this year means adult ‘party-going’ customersrorschach1 will likely buy one or even two costumes! We expect our adult customers to spend just as much on Halloween as last year.” when queried about expected sales due to the current down economy. “Responses similar to Kristens’ lead us to believe that even with consumers feeling a financial pinch, they are looking forward to the inexpensive escapism that Halloween provides” stated Steven Stackman owner of Specialty Marketing Service, the operator of www.HottestCostumes.com and www.BestCostumeContest.com a site for consumers to upload their favorite costume pictures and compete to win prizes.

The complete list of the 10 hottest costumes for girls, women, boys and men has been published at www.HottestCostumes.com along with prices and online retailer availability.

hauntedhouse_headershort

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

KH

HOW TO WIN THE NOBEL PEACE PRIZE WITHOUT REALLY TRYINGNobel-Peace-Prize-medal-002

The “do nothing” president incapable of making decisions has won the Nobel Peace Prize as announced today by the Norwegian Nobel Committee. The committee said it honored Obama for his “extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples.”

images-1“Saturday Night Live” formed in the crucible of the mid-1970s, when Watergate brought respect for politicians to all-time lows, had Fred Armisen portraying Barack Obama last weekend in a talked-about sketch Saturday night on “Saturday Night Live.” It was a powerful combination — after 34 years, “SNL” and politics can still strike sparks among political observers. Armisen, as President Obama, chided “those on the right” for saying that he was “turning this great country into something that resembles the Soviet Union or Nazi Germany. “Not true, said Armisen as Obama. “When you look at my record,” he said, “it’s very clear what I’ve done so far — and that is nothing.”

Obama Address

And now, it appears that the Nobel Peace Prize Committee awards the Nobel Peace prize for doing, “nothing,” nada! for almost a year. Perhaps doing nothing brings about “peace.” It took Obama 4-months to pick out a dog.

“His diplomacy is founded in the concept that those who are to lead the world must do so on the basis of values and attitudes that are shared by the majority of the world’s population,” the committee said of Obama.

Obama’s diplomacy is founded in doing ‘nothing” except making a great speech. Let’s hope that doing “nothing” has not become the pre-requisite to winning the worlds most prestigious award.

THE EXTORTIONIST’S AMONG USDavid Letterman

When I was in college, extortionist or blackmailers were arrested by the FBI and thrown in jail. This being the by- product of the Lindberg kidnapping. Today, extortionists are running around free trying to extort money out of everyone from late-night talk-show host David Letterman, John Travolta and others. A stolen “passionate embrace” between David Letterman and former assistant Stephanie Birkitt fueled a jealous rage within alleged extortionist Robert “Joe” Halderman, according to a friend and former co-worker. Halderman had attempted to extort Letterman for $2 million, saying they have tape recorded conversations to prove it.

For his part, Letterman has addressed the scandal with his typical brand of seriousness and self-deprecating wit. He has used his talk show to apologize to his wife and to his staffers and to poke fun at his situation.

“I would give anything to be hiking on the Appalachian Trail,” he joked, in a reference to South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford, whose dramatic extramarital affair had been a previous prime target for Letterman.

John-Travolta.-001Two well-known Bahamian citizens and a paramedic are being quizzed by the police in a 20-million-dollar extortion plot targeting John Travolta following the death of his 16-year-old son. Lightbourne was one of the paramedics who tried to revive Jett and is said to have taken a picture of the 16-year-old with his cell phone. The devastated father was said to have become a victim of the extortion attempt over the death of his son Jett, who died from a seizure during a family holiday in the Bahamas on January 2. The actor and his wife Kelly Preston had alleged that two blackmailers threatened to publish a photo of the teenager as he lay struggling for his life unless they were paid “millions of dollars.” John Travolta’s two blackmailers are said to have been caught on tape making an extortion deal with the star’s lawyer over documents connected to the death of his son Jett. According to new evidence obtained by People magazine, paramedic Tarino Lightbourn and his lawyer, Pleasant Bridgewater, who have pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to commit extortion, could end up behind bars. Videotape recorded secretly by the Royal Bahamas Police show Lightbourn and Bridgewater attempting to secure a multi-million payment from Travolta for the return of a form the star signed just before his son was pronounced dead. A month after the alleged negotiation, Travolta met with Bahamas police officials to file a complaint that led to the current Nassau trial, which began earlier this week. John Travolta flew to the Bahamas yesterday as he prepared to be the first witness in an extortion case linked to the death of his 16-year-old son Jett. It is rumoured to be the star’s first visit to the island since his son’s death in January, and he is set to give evidence against a paramedic and his attorney, who tried to extort $25m from him for a document about the incident.

THE GHETTO MENTALITY

$300,000 Off!- Elk River Ranch

NOW GREATLY REDUCED!

2the photo ad taped to the window of the downtown real-estate office announced. The last few years, realtors have been trying to seduce the “uber-rich” to buy property up here in Colorado’s ski country with little success.

The reason for their failure? Colorado’s ski-country has become a “ghetto” with city, county and resort managers all displaying a “ghetto mentality.” Summit County, located just due west of Loveland Pass,  on Colorado’s Rocky Mountain Divide, some 70 miles west of Denver includes the ski areas of Loveland Pass, A-Basin, Keystone, Breckenridge, and Copper Mountain. Summit County used to be a great place to live: with a phenomenal view,  quaint ski resorts, and outdoor opportunities galore. But there was a  downside. As more and more people were  drawn to Summit County for its amenities, housing prices skyrocketed, and jobs and wages failed to keep pace. The result is one of the largest gaps between income and housing costs in the mountain west. That means real poverty for some, and severe economic challenges for many others.

In the 1980’s, the “ski experience” was the area’s number #1 priority. In the 90’s as Canadian companies bought out Colorado’s ailing ski companies, “real-estate” and “development” became the number #1 priority with the “ski experience” becoming a dismal number #2. A ghetto mentality overtook all of the city, county and resort managers. The lazy city managers have been content to live off the fat “tax” revenue of the factory-outlet stores instead of creating something truly special here. There was so much potential here before the lazy, greedy, inept city councils decided to let strip-malls, fast foods and factory outlet stores who pay nearly slave wages take over the entire county. Three-years ago the town of Silverthorne announced they were creating a “downtown” with Town Hall etc. locals were so excited until the project was completed and it turned out to be all hype- the new downtown turned out to be just another strip mall with a mattress store. The newly built Silverthorne Rec Center with indoor water-park,  charges such high admission, the working poor cannot afford membership and at last printing, the Rec Center does not provide scholarships.

s-outletPOVERTY WITH A VIEW

The property managers, too lazy to even check on their own properties, have been content to live off the fat “rent” dollars of the Mexicans who are living two families to a tw0-bedroom condo and allowing an entire subdivision to be taken over by Mexicans, Africans or poor whites and become a “ghetto.” When the property becomes too run down, the lazy property managers simply sell the property which becomes someone else problem but still a ghetto. One block away from the million-dollar Mc’Mansions which dot the Raven Gold Course, there lies a run-down trailer park. The “uber-rich” drive by the trailer park and say, “there’s no way in hell I am going to spend this kind of money with a ghetto just a block away. Last week, the inept Silverthorne City Council bought Smiths Ranch, adjacent to the Raven Golf Course for 3.5-million-dollars to be turned into “affordable housing.” I.e- ten years down the road, another ghetto. The uber-rich see the ghetto communities in Silverth0rne, Dillon Valley East, Wildernest,  Farmers Corner’s (which has a trailer park at the entrance to  the new Summit County High School) and French Creek in Breckenridge, they see the “free” bus system packed with Mexicans and realize that the entire county is just a ghetto. The uber-rich, those with money to bu into really nice areas would rather spend their money up north in Steamboat Springs, Vail, Aspen, Telluride. Ski resorts that do not have a “ghetto-metality.”

The lazy resort managers have become so content with hiring “rich Brazilians” who show up for six-weeks in January to work basically for free or a “free ski pass” started cutting wages 2 years ago. Since 2007, local ski resorts have cut hourly wages $2.50 an hour. Down from $11 hour to $8.50/$9.50 with little or no employee housing. Local area employees refuse to work for such low wages with or without housing when average rents for a one-bedroom is $1000 month and roommate situations start at $750 month. Last month, President Obama changed the law concerning issuance of H2 Visas basically saying that if resorts hire foreign workers, (from anywhere) they have to reimburse workers round-trip air transportation. Chinese workers here this summer, paid $2000 RT air from China. Vail Resorts, which is a cheap employer, is not going to pay this kind of money up front. 10 Chinese workers would cost them $20,000 up front. And the resorts, counting on being able to hire a number of locals willing to work cheap are going to be caught short this season, finding themselves unable to hire enough workers to open all their facilities, restaurants, bars, ski hills, etc. Resorts have cut their own throats. Intrawest, which owns Copper Mountain just sold the property to CNI Investments have been tight-lipped.about details of the transfer.

The past decade,city managers have allowed  downtown Dillon to become a ghetto. As businesses pulled out, they were replaced by thrift stores, run down second hand furniture stores. Recently city officials hired a top-notch architect who came up with beautifully detailed renderings of a new downtown with coffee shops, art galleries, outdoor patio seating etc. The problem is, the only way city officials are going to get rid of the Mexicans, the thrift store and the myriad of social-service agencies frequenting the downtown is by exercising “EMINENT DOMAIN” and an ugly and lengthy court battle.

So the uber-rich are rediscovering Telluride, Steamboat Springs, Crested Butte and other “Uber” ski areas that have not become a ghetto.

FRUGALISTA’Sarticle-1033903-01E6902B00000578-422_468x609

Arbiters of good usage resigned to being called “word police are again being assaulted by Target’s over-use of a new word  in its TV ads aimed toward women.

Frugalista, defined as “a person who lives a frugal lifestyle but stays fashionable and healthy by swapping clothes, buying secondhand, growing own produce, etc.

This could become the nom de guerre of the “recession warrior.”
The adjective frugal is rooted in the Latin for “fruits,” which in the 16th century some found relatively cheap. The word was at first applied to the careful apportionment of food, but Shakespeare in his 1598 “Merry Wives of Windsor” used it as a metaphor to mean “sparingly supplied; thrifty” of anything, as, “I was then Frugall of my mirth.”

The term “frugalista” is apparently quite popular, such that the word has even been defined by the Oxford English Dictionary. There are a bunch of bloggers who write about “frugal living” who refer to themselves as “frugalistas.”

According to Target’s new TV ad: “Frugalistas know how to out-dress, not out-spend.”

Too bad they don’t know how to speak or use the English language properly.

The “word-police” or wordinistas  beg all those who murder the English Language for cutsey corporate marketing purposes to please stop now!

KH

Obama: We can reverse climate change

Obama always gives a great speech but more and more, as with climate change and health-care-plan, his speeches are mostly lip service.P0300

Science and technology have morphed at such an exponential rate for so long that it may be beyond our ability to regulate or control.

Climate change, according to which expert you listen to, which study, is either “irreversible” or the opposite, that we have had minimal impact on climate change over the last century even with all our gas guzzling automobiles, coal burning plants, etc. The dilemma comes down to the glass is half full/half empty syndrome. The scientific community itself is divided over whether the earth is in the midst of “global warming” or entering the cycle of a new “ice age.”

One thing is for sure, Al Gore belongs to the Liars Club along with Rush Limbaugh and other’s. He promoted a “fear agenda” in promoting “global warming” to line his pockets with millions of “green” dollars. In fact, I suspect this whole “green movement” is just a scam to line the pockets of those who own “green businesses” or promoting “green technologies.”

Now it’s common knowledge that the majority of American citizens have joined world citizens in having their ecological consciousness raised since the 1960’s. Most people in the world know what “recycling” is. Most Americans celebrate Earth Day and Plant A Tree Day. A great many separate their trash into paper or plastic. Government regulation have forced Americans to buy water-saving toilets and now the Obama administration has mandated that the fleet wide Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standard will rise to 35.5 miles per gallon by 2016, accelerating the timetable for federal standards set in a 2007 energy law (PL 110-140), which would have required that standard to be met by 2020. The current standard is 27.5 miles per gallon. The regulations cover model years 2012 to 2016, meaning auto manufacturers will have to immediately reconfigure their product lines in order to comply with the federal requirements.

earth_day-12676Many Americans are doing what they can to contribute to a “greener” America by recycling, planting trees, monitoring electric and water consumption but do we face a crisis as Obama claims? I think not. In an excerpt from Obama’s speech to the United nations Obama claims:

The threat from climate change is serious, it is urgent, and it is growing. Our generation’s response to this challenge will be judged by history, for if we fail to meet it — boldly, swiftly, and together — we risk consigning future generations to an irreversible catastrophe. No nation, however large or small, wealthy or poor, can escape the impact of climate change. Rising sea levels threaten every coastline. More powerful storms and floods threaten every continent. More frequent drought and crop failures breed hunger and conflict in places where hunger and conflict already thrive. On shrinking islands, families are already being forced to flee their homes as climate refugees. The security and stability of each nation and all peoples — our prosperity, our health, our safety — are in jeopardy. And the time we have to reverse this tide is running out.

Sounds like a great speech right? That;s what Obama does. He is a great orator. Probably the best since Bill Clinton or Abe Lincoln. But great orators can be full of shit. According to the majority of world experts on climate change, climate change is cyclical. Up to this point, climate change can be explained as natural phenomenon. Experts know that every 100-years, the climate patterns shift.

A major new scientific study concludes the impact of carbon dioxide emissions on worldwide temperatures is largely irrelevant, prompting one veteran meteorologist to quip, “You can go outside and spit and have the same effect as doubling carbon dioxide.”


Meteorologist Reid Bryson

That comment comes from Reid Bryson, founding chairman of the Department of Meteorology at the University of Wisconsin, who said the temperature of the earth is increasing, but that it’s got nothing to do with what man is doing.

“Of course it’s going up. It has gone up since the early 1800s, before the Industrial Revolution, because we’re coming out of the Little Ice Age, not because we’re putting more carbon dioxide into the air.”

The project, called “Heat Capacity, Time Constant, and Sensitivity of Earth’s Climate System,” was authored by Brookhaven National lab scientist Stephen Schwartz.

“Effectively, this (new study) means that the global economy will spend trillions of dollars trying to avoid a warming of (about) 1.0 K by 2100 A.D.,” Wilson wrote in a note to the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works Sunday. He was referring to the massive expenditures that would be required under such treaties as the Kyoto Protocol.

And who benefits by promoting world-wide fears about global warming or climate change? Lying phonies like Al Gore and owners, promoters of “Green technologies” who are beginning to not only stuff their pockets with billions of dollars but lobbying governments around the world to pass legislation designed to enrich lying phonies like Al Gore and owners of green technologies. Of course, we all want to live healthy, use products that do minimal damage to our planet earth. But di we want to be lied to, manipulated and forced into having to “live green” by lying pills like Al Gore? Do we really want the “green police” who will arrest people for not recycling, or using “green products?” Do we want to begin arresting people who choose to not mow their lawns? Do we want to pass laws telling us we can only drive or water our lawns on alternate days and be arrested or fined for violating these “Eco Laws?”algoretruth

I am not a big supporter of past president George W. Bush but Bush refused to sign the Kyoto Protocol because he knew it was a “Big lie” and that America would end up spending millions/trillions  avoid a warming of (about) 1.0 K by 2100 A.D.”

Gore made – and stars in – a film about purported global warming, “An Inconvenient Truth,” that won an Oscar. It has become mandatory for students in many high schools and colleges.

However, the studies assembled by Inhofe’s team said that’s not necessarily so, according to the scientists. Al Gore not only told an “inconvenient lie” but forced his “lie” upon millions of high-school students and college students who now believe the lie. Inconveniently, Gore forgot to mention the millions he pocketed off his inconvenient lie. The inconvenient truth is this folks:

“If we were to stop manufacturing CO2 tomorrow, we wouldn’t see the effects of that for generations.”

Generations. Former Harvard physicist Lubos Motl added that those promoting the fear of man-made climate changes are “playing the children’s game to scare each other.” Joel Schwartz, of the American Enterprise Institute, said, “there’s hardly any additional warming ‘in the pipeline’ from previous greenhouse gas emissions.” The environmentalists’ climate hysteria, and the political pretext for the energy-restriction policies that have become so popular with the world’s environmental regulators, elected officials, and corporations is just a “BIG LIE!”

United Nations scientist, Jim Renwick, recently conceded that climate models,  “do not account for the variability in nature, and so are not reliable.” And Conklin noted the U.S. National Climate Data Center has compiled data that shouldn’t be used, because its reporting points are located on hot black asphalt, next to trash burn barrels and even attached to hot chimneys, a methodology that is “seriously flawed.”

Al Gore won the “best documentary” Oscar for his disaster film “An Inconvenient Truth.” The news media beat the drum of “climate catastrophe” daily, all but ignoring scientists who say the threat is overblown or nonexistent. And across America, school children are frightened to death with tales of rising oceans, monster tornadoes, droughts and millions dying – all because of man-made global warming. However, hidden just beneath the surface of the world’s latest environmental craze is a stunningly different reality, Al Gore is a liar who manipulated not only Americans but citizens worldwide to line his pockets with CASH.

U.S. Sen. James Inhofe has pointed out, that “for more than 100 years, journalists have quoted scientists predicting the destruction of civilization by, in alternation, either runaway heat or a new Ice Age.”

Today, to cover all their bases, much of the press is changing its terminology from “global warming” to “climate change” or “climate catastrophe.” That way they’re covered either way: If the world gets colder, global warming is still at fault.

IT’S A LIE!

NorthKoreaMissileLaunch.previewBarring some meteorological catastrophe, more than likely the world will blow itself up long before the damaging effects of climate change are ever felt. With insane leaders in N. Korea, Iran and China developing nuclear weapons and shooting off missiles, Believe me, Obama needs to spend his energies focusing on “dismantlement” by either peaceful or non-peaceful means than he does making agreat speech to the UN. We all know Obama is a great speech maker and we all know Obama is full of “hot air” most of the time.

As “Deep Throat” famously told Washington Post “Watergate” reporter Bob Woodward, “Follow the money.”

Whistleblower shows how all the main players – from politicians and scientists to big corporations and the United Nations – benefit from instilling fear into billions of human beings over the unproven theory of man-made global warming. Indeed, just three weeks after the U.N. ratcheted up international fears over global warming, a panel of 18 scientists from 11 countries has now reported to the U.N. that the only thing that can stop catastrophic climate change is a global tax – on greenhouse gas emissions.MarketingEvil

That’s right. Global problems, real or conjured up, require global governmental solutions. As Whistleblower explains, environmentalism is nothing less than the global elitists’ replacement ideology for communism/socialism and we all know that Obama has a “socialist” agenda, not only with “Climate Change” but health-care, and Wall Street.” Is Obama just turning out to be a grey-shade of Al Gore?

Global warming will be one of the most powerfully coercive weapons in the globalists’ arsenal for the foreseeable future,” said David Kupelian, WND managing editor and author of “The Marketing of Evil.” “It’s important that everyone understands the game being played.

KH

Lies (And the Lying Liars Who Tell Them)

Remember that old childhood ditty that went:

Liar, liar, pants on fire/ Hangin’ on a telephone wire!”

434px-Lies_and_the_lying_liars

The health care debate has been hijacked by angry people who have health insurance, don’t want their apple-cart upset, and thusly have resorted to spreading out-and-out lies about the current attempt at reform. And the health-care debate has been hijacked by United Health Care of Minnesota and other insurance companies who have been “price=gouging” for years and posting 155-percent profits in the last second quarter.

But the debate is more than just a debate over necessary, often vital insurance benefits- the debate is about the debate and control- and the winners will define how such political debate is conducted in this country the next eight-years.

58272460The class-less republicans have fired the first volley when bulbous loudmouthed windbag Rush Limbaugh announced publicly that he would do everything in his power to see that young whippersnapper candidate Obama would fail. Last night during the Presidents speech to Congress, and during a nationally televised event with millions of Americans watching, Rep. Joe Wilson, Republican of South Carolina, yelled “You lie!” when Obama said no illegal immigrants would receive benefits under his plan.

“These guys don’t care about you,” Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin said of the town hall protesters. “They care about YouTube.”

“We can spot a ringer,” Durbin said.

Reid acknowledged that Democrats faced questions about their health care reform push, but he said the party was gradually working through and making progress in what he described as a difficult legislative process.

“People have concerns about it. Rightfully so. They should have concerns about it. We all have concerns about it,” he said. “But even if people have concerns about it, they shouldn’t stand in the way of a process that is one that is deliberative and trying to arrive at a product that we can all be proud of.”

The war of words or the war over the framework of future debate is on and both sides have taken the gloves off. It’s a bare knuckles, knock down drag out fight now with the winners controlling how public debate is conducted in America.

IN other words, if the liars win with their practice of fear-mogering- that’s how public debate will conducted the next 8 years and both sides will be doing it- fearmongering, scaring the bejeebers out of Sr, Citizens and average working Americans.

Name calling, finger pointing, fear mongering, outright lying  will not stop the same sorts of people who dreamt up “death panels” for insisting otherwise as they try to fire-bomb health-care reform, Nitwits like Alaskan;s former governor Sarah Palin whose daughter had a baby out-of-wedlock, whose husband was having adulterous affairs on her and who herself was involved in shady, questionable financial dealings involving state contracts before she resigned as Alaska’s nitwit talking, moose-shooting governor.

Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right is a satirical book on American politics by comedian, political commentator and now Senator Al Franken, published in 2003 by Dutton. The book’s subtitle is a parody of Fox News’ tagline “Fair and Balanced.” Fox sued Franken over the use of the phrase in a short-lived lawsuit, Lies is one of several books published in 2003 written by American liberals challenging the viewpoints of conservatives such as Sean Hannity and Ann Coulter. These books by Franken and fellow authors such as Joe Conason, Michael Moore and Jim Hightower were described by columnist Molly Ivins as the “great liberal backlash of 2003.”

In Lies, Franken divides American media into two groups: the mainstream media, which attempts to be objective, and the right-wing media, which does not. “The mainstream media”, Franken wrote, “does not have a liberal bias, ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, The New York Times, The Washington Post, TIME, Newsweek, and the rest at least try to be fair.” Franken notes that, while the mainstream media do have biases toward sensationalism, the easy story, and soft news, the right wing media, including Fox News, The Washington Times, and the editorial page of The Wall Street Journal, “are not interested in conveying the truth.” He argues that they exist to further the cause of American conservatism by advancing stories and themes that work to the benefit of conservatives and to the detriment of liberals.[3]

Franken seeks to debunk the claim that the mainstream American media are liberally biased. Franken believes that the claim of media “liberal bias” is a myth used by conservative politicians. Propagating this myth, Franken asserts, serves three functions. First, it creates reluctance among mainstream media outlets to cover issues that conservatives don’t want them to, for fear that they will be accused of having a liberal bias. Second, it allows conservatives to deny or dismiss reports in the mainstream media, regardless of whether they are true, because they have discredited the source already. Third, attacking the media can be effective at increasing conservative voter turnout.
Franken on book tour

The book criticizes several conservative authors and pundits by pointing out factual inaccuracies and deceptive statements he says they have made. Franken criticizes Ann Coulter on a number of points related to what Franken alleges as abuses or violations of journalistic ethics in her book Slander. In addition to accusing her of lying, Franken accuses Coulter of deliberately misusing citations in order to further a misleading political agenda. Franken also criticizes former CBS reporter Bernard Goldberg for what he claims is selective decontextualized quoting and other dishonest material in his book Bias: A CBS Insider Exposes How the Media Distort the News. Franken recounts an incident on Phil Donahue’s talk show on MSNBC when he confronted Goldberg about a misleading quote attributed to NBC anchor and commentator John Chancellor.

The book also criticizes Bill O’Reilly, with whom Al Franken has a public feud. Franken accuses O’Reilly of being a serial and pathological liar, recounting multiple controversies relating to O’Reilly, including O’Reilly’s inaccurate statements regarding Peabody awards, his heated interview with Jeremy Glick, and his boycott of Pepsi for hiring rap artist Ludacris. Franken pokes fun at O’Reilly for moralizing about the sexually explicit and violent themes of Ludacris’ songs despite having himself written a book, Those Who Trespass, which contains violent and sexual imagery and profanity. Franken also recounts his heated confrontation with O’Reilly at BookExpo America 2003, seen on C-SPAN.

Liars Club logoTHE LIARS CLUB

imgadSo lets take a look at the lying liars and the lies they tell starting with Rep. Joe Wilson: “Rep. Wilson’s words were an insult to the president of the United States and an embarrassment to the U.S. House of Representatives,” McCollum said in a statement. “He crossed a line of protocol and decency that may be acceptable for angry ‘teabaggers’ at a rally, but is completely unacceptable for a member of Congress in the House chambers. Rep. Joe Wilson is a manipulative liar and one cannot nor should not believe his insincere apology to the president. Come on! Wilson knows that the prez’s speech to Congress is a nationally televised event. He knew his outburst would cause controversy. With the controversy Wilson hopes to control the flow of the debate on Health Care. His refusal to apologize to his fellow members of Congress, whom he severely embarrassed, goes to show his insincerity. Later, in a soundbite excusing his poor behavior, he said he believed he had “civility.” Another lie.  Rep. Joe Wilson is a manipulative liar who should be censured if not taken out back by the few remaining members of Congress who still believe in America and used as a punching bag. Arrogant  Liars like Wilson know there are no consequences for their lying, their traitorous speech,  or their rude, arrogant behavior. Years ago, when J. Edgar Hoover ruled America with an iron-fist- Wilson would have had a fatal accident. Today. liars like Wilson hide behind the 1st amendment and the law.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid launched his harshest attack on the Republican Party in months, claiming the GOP is “being run by a talk show host.” They’re taking their cues from talk show hosts, Internet rumor mongers, and insurance rackets.”

“I just think, as I’ve said before, it’s not often that you try to blow yourself up, but that’s obviously what they’re trying to do with all this vexatious stuff they’re doing with these meetings, the birthers. It’s a party being run by a talk show host,” Reid said.

Glenn Beck on CBS News (AP)

Glenn Beck’s tough week

The commentator was mocked like a nerd, accused of frog cooking, and made fun of on “SNL.”

Angry Republican liars like Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Bill O’Reilly Are Killing Republicans and the Republican Party.

Rush Limbaugh had this to say about the passing of Senator Ted Kennedy, one of the greatest politicians of our lifetime: Rush Limbaugh of WABC, who begaimg-bs-top---grove-glenn-beck_000019434805n by noting Kennedy’s reputation as “the lion of the Senate” and added, “We were his prey.”

Recovering alcoholic, staunch libertarian and—according to detractors—occasional wacko, Glenn Beck has become a bright star at Fox News since he launched his show two months ago and quickly doubled the ratings in the “Fair and Balanced” cable network’s sluggish 5 p.m. slot. Part raging populist, part “rodeo clown” (his own description), Beck regularly scorches President Barack Obama (whom he has accused of trying to remake America into a totalitarian state), has wondered if the government is plotting to use the Federal Emergency Management Agency to operate concentration camps for the politically incorrect, and is already the third most-watched cable-news personality, after Bill O’Reilly and Sean Hannity. This is a guy who one year ago was in a suicidal state with his out of control alcoholism and drug addiction and he has the audacity to berate the president of the United States? A fricking drug addict? Said Beck:

“I got to the point where you said that if someone had brought me a handgun into the hospital room, I would’ve blown my brains out. “

nn_kosinski_limbaugh_060429.300wRush Limbaugh is another drug addict. He was indicted by the Feds when his housekeeper, whom he has since fired, was apprehended trying to buy Oxy-contin for Rush without a prescription. A deal Limbaugh  struck with Tampa Bay authorities over a prescription drug charge allowed Limbaugh to walk away largely unscathed. Many claim this drug addicted lunatic is the unofficial head of the Republican Party. The party, that lying Rep. Joe Wilson belongs to. Is the Republican Party becoming the party of liars and drug addicts? It would seem so.

If the lying and the hatred doesn’t stop- people will take up guns again and assassinations of politicians and notables will start all over again in this country like in the 1960’s with the Kennedy brother’s. Martin Luther King, Malcom X and racial killings by the KKK in America’s deepest south.

Mr “Sensitivity, Sean Hannity’s weekly show on KCSB was canceled after less than a year by station managers upset with his remarks about gays and lesbians. This was after two shows featuring the book The AIDS Coverup: The Real and Alarming Facts about AIDS by Gene Antonio; among other remarks, Hannity told a lesbian caller:

“I feel sorry for your child.” sean-hannity

Most people first heard of Sean Hannity when he made frequent appearances as a guest host for Rush Limbaugh. More militant, more religious, and without any “baggage” that has dogged Limbaugh (like drug use, questions about military service, and multiple marriages). Hannity is one of the most militant war-mongerer in the public spotlight. Not only was he overwhelmingly in favor of the war in Afghanistan, not only is he supportive of the current war in Iraq, not only does he encourage an endless war against terrorism – he  espouses in a virtual declaration,  going to war against China, Iran, Syria, and North Korea. Hannity is a master apologist for the Republican Party. He continually rails against “left wing elites”"liberals”, “Democrats” , the “Democratic Party” , the “liberal elite” , the “liberal establishment” , the “left-wing establishment” , the “left” , “liberal opposition” , “liberal detractors”, and “liberal government leaders.”

Dave Heckel: I Came Out Of Rehad Because Sean Hannity’s A Big Fat Liar

001787_id1787w360h240_jmkbo5-1There are many other members of the media “Liars Club,” but because of the number of liars and the power they wield, the power of the talk-show hosts, the blogs, in recent polls, Americans Distrust the Media. Several new polls reveal widening gap between what the media reports and what people actually believe. 86 percent of Americans agree (strongly or somewhat) that the news media attempts to influence public policies. Over half of all survey respondents, 59.8 percent, agreed (strongly or somewhat) that negative media coverage damages prospects for success in Iraq because it encourages terrorists, and about half, 49.1 percent, agreed (strongly or somewhat) that things are likely going better for the U.S. than the U.S. media portrays.” The same could be said of the economy from a year ago when the majority of Americans believed September 2008 that the “sky was falling.” In a poll conducted by Pew Research center: just 29 percent of Americans surveyed believe the media gets the facts right, and a scant 18 percent think news organizations are truly objective. A Pew Research Center study indicates that Americans’ trust of the media is the lowest it’s been since at least 1985. After years of conservatives and Republicans leading the press attack pack in terms of accuracy and bias, now the other side of the political aisle is joining that chorus. Pew results show 59 percent of Democrats now think that press reports are often inaccurate, and 67 percent say the media chooses sides on issues more often than not. Television remains the dominant source for national and international news for those surveyed, but the Internet now places second above newspapers and radio.

Liars begin by imposing upon others, but end deceiving themselves.”

KH

GROCERY STORE WARS

Remember your last trip to the grocery store?

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There you were looking around and the price tags reading 4 for $5.00, buy 3 get 3 free, etc which left you so confused you thought you needed a calculator to figure out how much the price of an item was? The greedy grocery store corporations like KROGER, SAFEWAY, JEWEL and others don’t want you to know how much an item costs. They want you to be confused so you will spend more money in their stores than you intended to and so that you will be so confused you don;t realize that the greedy-green grocers are “price-gouging.”

They get away with price-gouging by a technigue I have come to call, “creative pricing.”

Last week Safeway had on special Cocal Cola 2-litre bottles. Buy three-get three free. Can’t they just say “Buy one- get one free?” If a grocery is listed as 5 for $10 can;t the price sticker just say the item is $2 each with your Safeway card? In the past 3 months I have seen just about every variation of the “buy one get one free:”

buy three-get three free

buy two images-2get one free

you get the picture. Seems greedy grocers like KROGER and SAFEWAY have gone out and hired crafty bean counters to come up with slick, clever pricing to keep the average customer confused.

Here’s my question: Why do you need a Safeway card to get these discounts? If they’re going to put something on sale- why can;t they just put an item on sale? Why do you have to have the grocers card? It’s ridlous because every grocer accepts the competitors grocery card for the discount. My safeway card works at Kroger  (City Market, King Soopers) and my Kroger card works at Safeway. The grocery card to get the discount is a ridiciulous game the greedy grocer plays to make the consumer think he is getting a deal when in fact, the grocer like Kroger and Safeway have just jacked the price of an item up before putting it on sale, or the sale item is an error on the part of the grocery management. Somebody ordered too many hot dogs and not the store faces either putting them on a buy one get one free sale or throwing out the entire extra allotment.

sticker shock at the grocery store is going to be with us for some time. Food prices predicted to rise 4-5 percent this year

grocery-shopping-at-the-mayfair-market-in-los-angeles-february-23-2009-pic23003On a recent trip to the store I left with four small bags of basic groceries for nearly $100! One pack of Oscar Meyer hot dogs was $5 last winter at the Jewel in Arlington Heights, a suburb of Chicago. The same package of dogs here at my Colorado mountain grocer is around $279. How can some grocery chains justify selling hot dogs for $5 a pack when others sell them for half that price? It’s price gouging.

The Department of Agriculture is predicting a 4 to 5 percent rise in food prices this year. Now consumers are searching out bargains at the grocery store – certainly an about-face from the previous norm of relying on convenience foods. The search for a bargain may seem to force shoppers to look less at healthier choices and more at the bottom line in search of bargains.

Benefit your health and your pocketbook- start shopping for groceries at the “Super Walmarts.” The Super-Walmarts deal in quantity- they buy a shitload of product whcih is why they keep their prices to a bare minimum. If they buy a cargo ship of hiotdogs and don;t sell them for a dollar a package- they’re not going to make much money on the product and they;re going to be throwing out an awful lot ofmproduct. As it is- even with Walmart’s low grocery prices and continuous sales- Walkart still throws out a  ton of product. In addition to shopping at the Super Walmarts, think about joing a coop club like Sams Club and other’s. A recent trip to Sams Club- a stack of  ten tombstone pizzas sold for $10. That’s a dollar apiece folks. Beats having to order a pizze and paying Pizza Hut $17-27-dollars for a large pizza lus delivery.  Other low priced shopping chains nationwide are ALDI, and the various dollar stores like DEALS. DEALS has frozen pizzas like Tombstone, fresh gallon of milk at half the price of your local grocery store.

When faced with similar nasty pricing, New York State passed an anti-milk-price-gouging law in 1991.

Free market advocates have long opposed price gouging laws on the grounds that such laws interfere with market forces and ultimately lead to shortages.  But I’m now rethinking this position. It is getting increasingly difficult to ignore the facts: Prices have increased by almost 42.6% over the past year.  Most Americans have little choice but to pay the higher prices due to the lack of practical substitute products.  and the greedy grocers like KROGER (City Market, King Soopers) SAFEWAY, ALBERTSONS and tothers know that they have a captive audience.

From April 2006 to April 2009, grocery prices have risen 3.9%. Over the last 5 years, food prices have increased 12.2% nationwide. Among the items whose prices have risen the fastest are eggs, milk, bread and breakfast cereal. This morning, I went to my local grocery store with the intention of buying and trying new Chocolate Chex breakfast cereal. I stood in the cereal isle with my head hung in disgust. The price for a box was over $5.00. I left the store with nothing… nothing but sadness and a renewed vigor to fight this injustice. Every time I stand in my grocery store with a feeling of disgust, millions of mothers stand in similar stores with feelings of despair. Grocery prices outpaced the national inflation rate by 1.3% last year and there is no foreseeable end to this trend. When breakfast is in danger, America is in danger.

KW-high-street-1950s-lgWhen I was a boy growing up on the North Side of Chicago (Andersonville),in the neighborhoods  there were still little stores where the family lived behind the store or above the store. My favorite little grocery store was where you could see the family eating lunch in the back….someone would come to the front to wait on you. They baked fresh jelly donuts every day and sold them to the schoolkids who had to pass by the store. Mmmmm! All the stores were individually owned and unique–if you wanted a chain store you’d go downtown Chicago, to State Street,  for the department stores like Marshall Fields, Woolworths, Sears etc. Today’s youth, with the explosion of “strip-malls,” don’t notice it now that they see Starbucks, Corner Bakery, BK, Taco Bell everywhere. Why is it that every new strip mall they build today has a Noodle Bowl, a dry cleaners, 7-11 and a Starbucks? I feel lucky to have grown up when all the store owners and my parents were on a first-name basis with the butcher or the baker and there was a good ‘fit’ between what the community wanted and what the stores sold.

Unlike today……..

Check this list of tips for ideas to benefit your health and your pocketbook in your trips down the grocery store aisles:

GroceryShoppingList* Make a list and stick to it. With a list, you are less likely to buy on impulse. You’ll also save by avoiding extra gas-guzzling trips back to the store when you’ve forgotten something you need. I keep a running list of what I need. I go over the weekly grocery ads when they come out, and with my running list, it’s quick and easy to finalize what I need.

* Shop the specials. Canned goods have a long shelf life.

* Buy on sale and stock up. If you have room in your freezer to store extra food, over-wrap items to keep air out and extend the life and protect the quality of things you get at a deal.
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* Buy seasonal vegetables and fruits. Buy only what you’ll use – fresh produce has a short shelf life. Be creative with your produce if it’s nearing the end of its shelf life. If the bananas get too ripe, for example, make banana bread. We lose money when we have to toss food because it was left too long and ends up in the garbage.

* Avoid shopping when you’re hungry. You’ll likely wind up putting “extras” in your grocery cart and eventually on your waist line if you get a snack attack. If you aren’t sure you spend much on snacks, try keeping a tally of all the snack foods you buy in one week. It may surprise you how much you are spending.

* Shop alone. Leave the kids and other family members at home. Too many “gotta haves” can drive up the total grocery bill in a hurry.* Use coupons for items you typically buy. You can find coupons in newspaper ads and on-line, too. I keep my list on the back of an envelope and tuck the coupons inside where they’re easy to retrieve at check out. If the grocery store you frequent has double or triple coupon days, take advantage of it.* If you don’t already have a store discount card, sign up.* Plan meals ahead and try planning your meals around sale items. Not only does this help with making the grocery list, but it also helps you plan leftovers for lunches, which saves money over going out to lunch. Leftovers also can be used for a quick dinner when your time is limited and you may want to grab fast food instead. Knowing in advance you can count on leftovers also keeps you from overbuying foods which have a limited shelf life. Remember to check expiration dates.* Cgrocery-store-lg-main_Fullhoose less processed food and cook from scratch more often. Cooking from scratch is better from both your health and budget. Processed food is often high in sodium, fat and calories. A recent study showed that more than half of consumers are buying fewer prepared meals and cooking more often from scratch.

* Buy food in bulk when it’s cost effective. You can do some simple math to determine the unit pricing, and some stores list unit prices on the shelf tag along with the overall item price. It’s cheaper to buy larger quantities of some foods. If you want smaller packages of food for convenience, repackage them at home in smaller bags. But check your prices carefully; sometimes the bigger size isn’t a bargain and the cost of several smaller bags or boxes may actually be less.

* Consider store brands. Name brands are found at eye-level-prime real estate in the grocery aisle. Look high and low for store brands – on the lower and higher shelves – often for less money.

Otherwise, you’re at the mercy of the Darth Vadar’s  and Snidley Whiplash’s at the corporate grocery chains and their “creative pricing” or “price gouging.”

KH

THE END OF SUMMER

Another One Rides The Bus

yellow-aspens1One sure sign that summer is over here in the high Rockies is the day the kids start school. The kids started school this week to choruses from locals of, “Thank God!” The Summit County High School Principal is urging his teachers to ease into the homework after last years catastrophe. Faced with his first algebra test, Tim’s brain spontaneously combusted. The local high school has made great strides the past two years hiring outstanding teachers from around the country and can at laong last and proudly call themselves “Summit High” not “High Summit.” Kids used to go to school “high” than go to “high school.” We still have our share of “stoners” up here but now that we have an alternative school whose hours are 3-5 pm, the same hours that the “stoners used to get into trouble with the cops, there are less problems in this Rocky Mountain High.

CoveBearNPSgrizzlycanAnother sure sign of fall/winter is when the coyotes and black bears come down low and dumpster dive at the local fast foods (KFC, Taco Bell, Subway etc). Yesterday in Vail, Colorado a black bear broke into a brand new Subaru Forrester, ate the steering wheel, defecated on the passenger seat, deployed the air bags. Boy was he pissed when the Eagle County Sheriff’s showed up to let him out. Seems the black bears up here have learned how to open unlocked car doors and break into locked condos in Vail. Many a homeowner has come home recently to find Papa Bear has raided the refrigerator and has made himself at home on the sofa watching TV. Seems that’s another trick they have learned. The latest condo owner returning home engaged in a heavy cell-phone conversation was home 15-minutes before he noticed the intruder and ran out of the home screaming. I bet the bear had a big grin on his face.

These last few days, as the Seniors (Gapers) pour into the “High-Rockies,” to see the fall colors, the foliage has turned red and gold and the Aspens are just beginning to show their “true colors.” So, this month the “High Rockies” are hosting grumpy seniors all over the place. October- we host obnoxious hunters in camouflage all over the place. At least it’s quiet here now and todays weather was the most beautiful day we’ve had all summer, 72-degree’s, sunny with clear blue skies and a few puffy white clouds and a slight breeze.

Indian Summer is always my favorite time of year in the “High Rockies.” Soon the mountains will be alive with leaderhosen instead of spandex wearing bikers, German beer overflowing at the beer kegs and the sounds of Om-pa-pa music as every resort celebrates Octoberfest. Not in October (snows too much) but in September. Why not just change the name to Septemberfest? Go figure. At last years Copper Mountain Octoberfest- they sold 600-pounds of barbecued Ox-meat. The black bears roaming freely though the subdivisions should beware lest the resorts start serving up BBQ bear-meat on a stick.

THE END OF A POLITICAL DYNASTY

The Impossible Dream – from Man of La Mancha (Ted Kennedy’s favorite song)kennedys2_1469359c

No other political family in America has dealt with so many untimely deaths. President John F. Kennedy was shot in Dallas in 1963, Robert F. Kennedy killed in LA five years later, the senator’s nephew, John Kennedy Jr., died in a 1999 plane crash – all before reaching the age of 50. These kinds of things would have crushed any ordinary person, Still burying Eunice Kennedy Shriver, (founder of the Special Olympics) Senator Edward Kennedy died late Tuesday of brain cancer. 15-months ago, Kennedy announced he had brain cancer. Last August, the nation was stunned when Edward Kennedy walked out onto the stage of the Democratic National Convention and gave the best speech of the convention.

TED KENNEDY: Historic Speech @ Denver Convention

gal.kennedy0827.gi

Edward M. Kennedy was the third longest-serving member of the United States Senate in American history. Despite the many scandals that plagues Hhim throughout his life (his role in the death of Mary Jo Kopechne at Chappaquiddick, allegations that he watched his nephew (William Kennedy Smith) rape a girl on the front lawn of the Kennedy family mansion) and his continued alcoholism, Ted Kennedy held his Senate seat for more than four decades. He authored or argued for legislation that ensured a variety of civil rights, increased the minimum wage in 1981, made access to health care easier for the indigent, and funded Meals on Wheels for fixed-income seniors. His other successes include reducing the voting age from 21 to 18, and Title IX, which gave women’s athletics much better funding. Widely held as the “standard-bearer for liberalism”, his legacy is that his era has been dominated by conservatives (Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, George W. Bush) and moderates (Jimmy Carter, George H.W. Bush, and Bill Clinton).

With the death of the last Kennedy brother- it would seem that his death means the end of the Kennedy political dynasty. John Kennedy Jr is gone, most of the nephews have had numerous brushes with the law, convictions that prevent them from running for public office. The dream may not be dead,  the Kennedy family ancestors will always enjoy  a unique place in American public life, but the time for someone else to carry the flame has arrived. Someone who doesn’t have the name: KENNEDY.

“For me, a few hours ago, this campaign came to an end. For all those whose cares have been our        concern, the work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives, and the dream shall never die.”~Edward M. Kennedy

THE END OF THE CASH FOR CLUNKERS PROGRAM

Click and Clack’s (The Tappett Brother’s) As The Wrench Turns

cash clunkers green photo

The dust stirred up by Cash for Clunkers has finally settled: the $3 billion government program closed up shop weeks, if not months, ahead of schedule due to its extraordinary popularity. In its wake, it spawned another rebate program, Obama called it a “success beyond anyone’s imagination” and it gave the auto companies their best sales months in recent memory. But there are still serious doubts about its merits. There’s still a big mess of auto parts to clean up, emissions have not been significantly lowered, and the economy may not have benefited much at all. ‘Clunkers’ was touted as being good for the economy, and good for the environment. But was it actually good for anything? Other than middle class consumers, of course–that’s the one group the program seemed to undoubtedly benefit. People who already owned cars, and were likely in the market for another certainly enjoyed the $3,500-4,500 rebate, and the incentive surely got people to buy cars sooner rather than later. But the success of just about every other aspect of the program remains up for debate.Some 500,000 new cars were sold, and 500,000 polluting ‘clunkers’ were taken off the streets. The environmental benefits, as has been noted , are dubious at best.


THE END OF OBAMA-CARE

dr-obama

Old and Fat People Song (Obama-care song)

Obama’s Health Care Plan is dead. The Congressional recess saw to that. When Congress re-convenes in the fall, and the health-care plan voted down, Obama is looking at being  a “Lame-Duck” / one-term president. Obama’s enemies (Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Hugh Downs and others) who from the start have wished nothing but failure for this president, are patting each other on the back and congratulating themselves on their loud-mouthed flatulence. For the past month, Obama has been back-pedaling away from “The Public Option.”

As I blogged on July 26, 2009 (The Health Care Stall):

Last week as Obama was trying to keep the “Blue-dogs” on task to get his health-care bill put together, United Health Care of Minnesota announced they had record profits of 155-percent in the second quarter alone while raising premiums on United customers. Can you say, “Greedy corporate pigs?” It’s price gouging. Instead of Obama and the blue-dogs wasting taxpayers time on a health-care bill that is never going to be passed, the Democrats would be better off going after insurance companies like United Health care and Aetna Insurance for price gouging and other fraud. United former CEO Bill McGuire is sitting atop stock options valued at $1.6 billion.

Cigna HealthCare, Aetna,  WellPoint  and United Health all posted obscene profits at a time when America’s economy is supposedly in free-fall, recession teetering on depression.

Conservative Media Making Up Details Of Health Reform Bill

Here’s the plain truth folks. Few politicians in Washington give a damn about America or Americans. What they care about are their high-powered job in Congress and the many perks it brings, invitations to dinner at the White House, their South American trollop, mistress and playing politics or ruining people for sport, who’s in- who’s out, Red state vs. Blue State, Liberals vs. Neo-Conservatives. Who’s got the power- who has not. It’s all a game to them. The interests the politicians truly represent are the high-priced lobbyists, insurance companies like United Health Care. Representing the wealthy special-interests who throw them a large bone, golfing junkets, mingling with the “Blue-blood” crowd and their many charity balls and other events.

This is why people run for Congress- not to represent the working poor who are losing their jobs, losing their health-care. The game plan is always the same. Harry Reid trots out to announce they cannot possibly meet Obama’s timetable that they need more time, until after the annual Congressional recess, by then they have had time to consult with their GOP party members to come up with the long list of excuses why they cannot possibly come up with a health-care bill. GOP and Dems argue back and forth for 6 months, we hear all the sound-bites and talking points on every talk-show in America and then the bill dies. No health-care. No relief for already desperate overwhelmed Americans. But the “Great-Game” continues. The lies continue for another 8-years.

The GOP who complain OBama is trying to rush this thing and that they need to take the time to do it right- fail to mention that government and every President since Nixon has been trying to come up with a health-care plan since the 1970’s. It’s been 39-years. Like how much time do they need?

NOTE TO OBAMA: Forget trying to force through a health care plan that in the end will die. Direct the FBI to arrest health-care CEO’s like McGuire and others who are “price gouging. Go after the health-care companies with the ferociousness that the FBI went after Kenneth Lay and Enron.

The FBI put so much pressure on Lay the man died of a heart attack before he could ever be brought to trial. And if the gov;t is going to come up with an alternative health-care. I notice the conservatives in Europe love their “socialized health-care. national health plan- model it on the one being used in Europe- the one of a single-payee. They take it out of your paycheck. If you lose your job- you don;t lose your insurance.

But as of right now- with the Congressional recess in August- the health-care bill is dead. Maybe just as well. There are those in the GOP who just cannot stand that America has a “Black” president. Jim DeMint for one is using the failure to come up with a health-care plan as Obama’s Waterloo. I say exile DeMint to Elba and provide him a South American trollop like Gov Sanford but don’t ever let him step foot in Congress again.

THE END OF ANALOG TV/RADIO

I Lost On Jeopardy- Wierd Al Yankovich indianhead

Let me tell you what you didn’t win: you don’t get to come back tomorrow , you don’t get a lousy copy of our home game, you made yourself look like a jerk in front of millions of people- you’re a complete “Loser.

Lawmakers gave broadcasters until June 15, 2009, to end their traditional analog transmissions. The so-called “hard date” was included in a sweeping budget bill.The bill also would provide $3 billion to help millions of Americans buy digital-to-analog converter boxes for their older television sets — so those consumers will continue to receive a signal once the switch is made permanent. Somewhere around 70 million television sets now connected to rabbit ears or roof-top antennas will suddenly and forever go blank, unless their owners purchase a special converter box.

HMED_AnalogTV.hlargeIt all started back in the Eighties, when the Japanese shocked American consumer electronics companies with trade-show displays of high definition television sets that delivered razor-sharp images and stunning audio.  Everyone from Congress to the Wall Street Journal raised outcries: America’s favorite technology was being taken over by the then-fearsome Japan Inc.  As a result, a group of American companies formed the “Grand Alliance” that leapfrogged the Japanese technology by inventing digital HDTV. Thus, early on, HDTV invoked not just pretty pictures, but national pride and economic development. (Ironically, Zenith, the most all-American commercial participant in the Grand Alliance, is now South Korean-owned.) One drawback to the U.S. version of HDTV was that to make it work, all broadcast television (not just high-definition) would have to convert to digital, meaning that every American television set manufactured since 1946 would be rendered obsolete. To ease the transition, Congress generously gave all television broadcasters additional channel space so that they could keep broadcasting their analog signals while they installed and launched their digital channels. The deal was that they would give up their old channels when the transition was done. That part worked: Over 1400 broadcasters now transmit in digital as well as analog, reaching 99 percent of the U.S. television market.

The really big question: What will happen to all those old-fashioned television sets we’re still buying when the analog transmitters go off the air? To continue to receive free broadcast television via antenna, you’ll have to buy a digital converter box; cost estimates range from $100 or so in 2006 down to $50 by 2008. (Those converters won’t turn older sets into fancy high-definition sets; they will only restore conventional TV service, in digital format. The picture quality will be fairly comparable to today’s analog version, although there will be some improvements for people who use antennas — no “snow” or “ghosting.” On the other hand, when digital signals are weak, there is often no picture at all.)1984bb

In addition,  your local police force, fire-department, public safety workers  are lobbying for an early analog cut-off.  The reason is simple: when the cut-off happens, TV channels 52 – 69 will no longer be needed, freeing up broadcasting spectrum for other purposes.  Public safety workers have been promised four of these channels — a commitment even more pressing in the wake of the 9/11 Commission’s finding that the nation’s first responder communications systems need a major upgrade.

Now, that most new TV’s are not only  (HDTV) high-def as well as Internet ready which do not work with analog antenna’s, why would anyone want to keep their old analog sets anyway? Therein lies the rub. The poor cannot afford the price of these new $5000 digital TV sets nor can they afford to shell out the $100 bucks a month for Comcast Cable service. And where will the millions of old analog TV sets go? To the local dump? Seems to me the government- before they started promising rebates to help people buy the new converter boxes, should have set up a national recycle service for people wanting to dump their old TV sets. As Bullwinkle J, Moose always used to say: Eenie meenie chili beanie, the spirits are about to speak.

FINALLY, THE END TO A REALLY DISMAL SUMMER MOVIE SEASON (2009)

500 Days Of Summer

transformers2What the $&%# has happened to our blockbuster summer movie season? Can anybody explain to me why we no longer have the “big” movie over the 4th of July weekend? Really … is there any difference if Harry Potter is released July 19th or over 4th July weekend when we’re all looking for something to do with the kids who are driving us CRAZY!!!! Remember when Indepence Day (the movie) actually debuted over Independence day weekend? Most blockbuster movies are released way too early, middle of May and by 4th of July, there isn;t a blockbuster movie in the theaters. The movie distributors need to fix this. There needs to be a major blockbuster movie every 4th of July weekend.

Has anyone seen anything more idiotic than the plot of the new Time Traveler’s Wife movie? Do they sit around smoking crack at the screenplay writing sessions? I think the wriers of Time Traveler’s Wife had just watched Somewhere in Time while being stoned out of their minds. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YkKue_MEnkk. Somewhere In Time was a medicore movie with a lame time-travel plot but it had a great cast (Christopher Reeves and Jane Seymour) and an outstanding musical score by John Barry (Dances With Wolves). Here’s a few quick thoughts on the dismal summer movie season of 2009. Thank-god it’s over. Now, maybe; we can start looking forward to some Oscar-calibre movies again.

1. The Room
A movie so bad it’s good and quickly developing a cult following:

2. Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (Ice Age 3)

Haven’t we exhausted the dinosaur theme by now? Enough dinosaurs already. Michael Crichton is dead and gone and no one can top Jurassic Park.

3.  Public Enemies
Another “walk-through” by Johnny Depp. If he could make Jack Sparrow larger than life- then why couldn’t he make larger than life Dillinger come to life? Think I’ll re-rent “From Hell.”

4. Up
The first 5 minutes of this movie are so depressing like why would I want to watch the rest of it and leave the theater wanting to blow my brains out? Up was really a “downer.” bastards_poster

5. Inglorious Bastards
So bad it should have been titled. Inglorious Ripoff. I have never seen a worse Brad Pitt/Quentin Taratino movie.

6. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
I agree with the film critics like Roger Ebert who called this movie, “Loud, obnoxious and loud.”

7. The Ugly Truth
Haven’t we seen this plot over and over and over and over and ……? Done to death. The ugly truth here is that there is Nnthing new here in the overuse of one-liners.

8. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Excellent adolescent tale of loss of innocence but I felt HP6 was 1/2 hour too short. Lots of book details left out which I feel will not be made up in HP7 (Deathly Hallows) Considering it was Dumbledore’s last adventure, the screenplay could have been more flushed out.

9. G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra
All these plots are starting to blur together. At one point I was confused with League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen. And wasn’t GI Joe a one man ope

ration with little emphasis on “teamwork?” That was Joe’s machismo. Dismal at best. What a waste of Dennis Quaid’s talent.

10. The Time Traveler’s Wife
The whole Time Traveler thing has been exhausted and a love affair with a sic-year-old girl borders on child molestation, particulary with the Jaycee Lee Dugand kidnapping re-emerging in the press the last week. It creeped me out.

11. Star Trek

kz end of summer

Though they beefed up the trailers from the very first one’s suggesting a “Gay Agenda” between Spock and Kirk- this movie continues to boldly go nowhere. From the first inter-racial kiss to another time-travel paradox- everything here has been copied from earlier Star Trek TV episodes. Nothing new here except for decent central casting of characters

When summer gathers up her robes of glory,
And, like a dream, glides away.

~ Sarah Helen Whitman

KH





If I see Meg Ryan in one more cutesy comedy about a woman who gets dumped by their husband/boyfriend, finds themself, wins back the affections of the spouse who dumped them, I think I’m gonna barf.

Now, I like Meg Ryan. She’s cute perky, fun to watch but the material they give her is the same lame stuff that Hollywood has been doing for years. Woman gets dumped by boyfriend or husband, woman finds herself by becoming a fashion designer and having a runway fashion show where she scores a big contract with Saks, woman gets back with boyfriend/husband who has a newfound respect for her now that she’s found herself, in the meantime, she bonds with her estranged daughter/son, and girlfriends.

Oh please ….!

There are a million twists on this same basic plot but the story is all the same whether Meg Ryan is doing it, Susan Sarandon, Julia Roberts, Jennifer Lopez or Bette Midler. Please Hollywood writer’s …. enough already!

The Women (2008) an updated version of George Cukor’s 1939 version with Joan Crawford and Rosalind Russell was fresh for a 1939 sympathetic, women-centered narrative. (featuring only women in the movie- no men anywhere.) Today, Hollywood tried to “cutsey” it up and if we hadn’t seen the same plot a thousand times the last twenty-years, it might have been interesting. But the Diane English version with Meg Ryan and Annette Bening just made me want to barf! Nothing but Stereotypes. Is this how Hollywood really sees America?

Maybe if the writers put down the cocaine and actually went out into America like Jack Kerouac did 50-years-ago, (Jack Kerouac – Books – New York Times) they might discover the real America, the one you and I see everyday, the America we actually live in, work in, play in. Not the America where all the people on screen live in large, roomy houses where they all have a St. Bernard, a large backyard, and drive luxury SUV’s, where all the kids have cell-phones, I-Pods, dress like Hannah Montana. Real Girls don;t dress like that. Leastways not the real girls I see in the wealthy town I live in. They wear blue-jeans, KEDS, plastic bangles on their wrists because mom won’t let them wear expensive jewelry. And the real women whose boyfriend or husband dump them, “find themselves” by getting real jobs- a factory job, WalMart, Starbucks, bagging groceries at the supermarket, all the while having to sucking up to 20-something spoiled-brat managers. Real women who get dumped by their husbands have to move into a run-down apartment in a crime-ridden neighborhood because that’s all they can afford after their husband screws them in the alimony settlement. In Hollywod they move back in with mom and dad- (another overdone comedy idea). In real life, mom has lost dad to cancer and is struggling financially, or mom and dad are in a home with Alzheimer’s.

Real women rarely find themselves by becoming fashion designers, building small collections and being discovered By SAKS, or becoming a Mary-Kay Tycoon, (such Hollywood nonsense!) It may happen to one in a million women. Jennifer Lopez came close to portraying a “working mom” in Maid In Manhattan (2002) but then the Hollywood fantasies took over and she ends up with the rich guy after posing as a hotel guest, stealing a wealthy hotel guests’ outfit to wear. In real-life she would have been both fired and criminally prosecuted.

Why is it that Hollywood lives in a bubble? So much so that their vision of the world we live in is all the same in every comedy they make? From Hancock to The Women, every comedy portrays Hollywood’s version of America and Americans, wealthy, predominately well-to-do because that’s what they are in Hollywood. When Goldie Hawn lied, manipulated, and moved into a house that was not hers in Housesitter, (1992), funny movie but again in real-life, she would have been arrested for breaking and entering, trespassing, identity-theft and other criminal charges. I cant bear to watch anymore Hollywood comedies because their vision of America is not the America I live in. I guess no one would go to see a movie about a “real woman” bagging groceries or folding clothes at WalMart.

And when Hollywood does make movies about real people like The Promotion, it’s too depressing to watch.

KH

When Hugh Hefner launched Playboy Magazine December, 1953, he took his biggest gamble by lending his furniture for $600, raising $8,000 from 45 investors — including $1,000 from his mother. The first issue, published in December, 1953, featured Marilyn Monroe on the cover, as well as in nude photographs inside. Hugh was hip, trendy, cool, happening and definitely cutting-edge. Playboy would become the template for dozens of copycat publications including Penthouse and Larry Flynt’s Hustler.

It was the sixtie’s baby and it was groovy ….

James Bond, fast women, fast cars, cutting-edge technology, Playboy Clubs and Playboy Magazine were part of the scene. Hugh lived the life that every red-blooded American boy fantasized about. We wanted to be James Bond and Hugh Hefner.

Today, at age 88, as Hugh Hefner prances around the California Playboy Mansion in his PJ’s with the Playboy girls ( why are they mostly blonde by the way?) featured in the TV-reality-show, The Girls Next Door- Hugh comes off as creepy, a perverted, dirty-old-man. Even in this photo of sexy Pamela Anderson presenting Hugh a piece of cake, Pam comes off as sexy, hip, trendy, happening while Hugh just looks like a dirty old pervert.

Hugh’s big mistake was not in grooming one of today’s hot males to take his place,  (the word is “Protege,”) but letting his only child, a daughter; run the Playboy empire. At age 56, even Christie Hefner, Chairman of Playboy Enterprises comes off as a little creepy. The majority of American women really do not get into porn- and to have a 56-year-old, grandma running a mens porn magazine is a little creepy don’t you think?

Hugh has lost the opportunity to groom one of America’s rising studs to take his place. Someone like Heath Ledger, Brad Pitt. Ben Affleck.

Now he’s just a pitiful, dirty-old-pervert prancing around in PJ’s when he can’t even get it up at his advanced age and the women only desire his money and what he can do for them career-wise.

Hugh … it’s time to gracefully retire from public life. You’re beginning to “creep-out” America.

Like many of you, I receive a lot of SPAM mostly from people trying to sell me something I don’t want or need. Aluminum siding when I rent a condominium. Most of the SPAM is sexual in nature. Jeanie wants me to add her as a my-space friend (so I can check out her professional sex web-cam site). Most of the SPAM of late has been for penile enhancers. At first I used to chuckle at the ridiculousness of these claims. There were times when I would burst out laughing. Not because I’m uncomfortable, but because it is funny when a tele-market or spammer insinuates that you have a puddly and informs you that you can grow your puddly to enormous proportions. For a price, of course. And that only their product,  (no one else’s), can accomplish this miraculous feat.

That was years ago when I only received one or two of these fraudulent ads. Lately, even though my SPAM filters are in place, (and I highly recommend everyone set up their personal SPAM filters), Lately, my Junk-Mail box is full of at least a hundred of these ads. Setting up my SPAM filter allows me to delete all of them at the click of one button. Still, the voluminous amount of these penile enhancer junk-mails are beginning to annoy me.

SURPRISE HER WITH A BIGGER PENIS!

the ads all claim. You know this would be a real surprise. After months of taking their product, the first time we are in the mood to have sex, I whip it out and it’s three-feet long. That would really surprise her and I imagine her eyes would look very much like the ones in this photo.  The ads promise:  If your wife or your girlfriend thinks your penis is not big enough then you can surprise her with one inch bigger size in just a couple of months. For best results (up to 3 inches longer penis) you need to undergo the full course of taking the penis enlargement supplement (usually between six and nine months).

Feller’s, I got news for you, if your wife or your girlfriend thinks your penis is not big enough then you have a real problem. Maybe the problem is not the size of your equipment, maybe the problem is the size of your intimacy (your woman or your relationship). Maybe you need to either find another woman, one who appreciates you or you need to work at your relationship. If the problem is so severe that you need to seek professional help, you have to re-examine option A again, (find another woman) or determine if the woman you have is a keeper and then invest the time and money in professional counseling. But merely, increasing the size of your manhood is not going to solve the problem, if the problem could be solved that way. It can’t. It’s a scam! It’s fraud!

The average size of a man’s penis is 5 1/2 to 6 inches. That’s it fellers. If you are bigger than consider yourself well-endowed and fortunate. But for millions of men world-wide, 5 1/2 to 6 inches. That’s it.

I noticed in one ad (in the before and after photos) the penis was not larger, it was the same, the photo had been zoomed. Neat optical trick to sell products but an optical illusion is not going to save your relationship.

Women giggle about “size does not matter” secretly hoping for a lover who falls above the normal range (well-endowed) but inwardly all women know that it’s not the size- it’s how you use it. And not just how you use the equipment, how you use your other equipment, heart, mind and most importantly, your ears.

Any sex-therapist from Dr. Laura to Dr. Ruth will tell you that the key to great sex is great communication.

So feller’s, the next time your woman makes an issue of the size of your equipment, don’t fall for these marketing scams and the Pamela Andersen mentality in believing that it’s the size of your penis that  matters, pay attention to what she’s really telling you. She’s telling you that you have communication issues, that you don’t listen to her or talk to her enough. That’s what creates intimacy. Surprise her with the size of-your intimacy, caring, communication, not the size of your penis. If you are one of those few who suffer from a constant puddly- (you don’t have the equipment)- Hey! You can always get the equipment. There are sex toys you can buy to make up for your lack of girth. Become an expert at communicating with your woman first and use of one of these sex-toys second, and you will never hear her complain about the size of your equipment again.

I’m Dr. Hall and that’s all the time we have for today.

KH

Hell Boy II theme song (Rammstein – Mein Herz Brennt) The Dark Knight sure raised the bar for super-hero action/special effects movies just as Harry Potter raised the bar for children’s fantasy books. Over the next few years the movie-going public will see a proliferation of super-hero movies, all trying to “cash-in” on the success of Dark Knight.  Just as we did following the success of Spiderman. (Which may or may not have been the incentive for making the new round of Batman movies  that had already been done by Tim Burton).

Jack Nicholson’s Joker or Heath Ledger? Both were superb! Just different.

Most of the new super-hero movies will be God-awful.

They will resurrect every super-hero from Hell-Boy, Spawn, to Green Lantern and a renewed interest in America’s number-one super-hero, Superman; along with every super villan from The Joker to Lex Luther and Solomon Grundy. (Green Lantern).

We will see more sophisticated plots,  even more spectacular special- effects and villians as the special-effects and villians that have already been tired out by Dark Knight and others,  simply won’t excite us anymore. We will also read newspaper accounts about stunt-men being injured or killed in bringing us these new never before seen spectacular stunts for these new super-hero movies. The pressure to “cash-in” by Hollywood producers will ramp up the competition as well as stress-levels in Hollywood to have that big blockbuster movie of the summer. We used to have one or two blockbuster movies every summer (Independence Day)  now we seem to have a half dozen. Usually one movie breaks out of the pack like Iron Man and Dark Knight. Timing and release dates will be critical in Hollywood as well for success. An ill-timed release date has sent many a shipwrecked movie onto the rocks. (Deep Impact, Mars Attacks!, Volcano, The Forbidden Dance, Red Planet, Wyatt Earp and Valmont).

Hollywood- I would like to see new super-hero’s that we have not seen before.

Green Lantern is a good start. Marvel Comics, the creator of Spiderman gave us a plethora of super-hero’s and super-villans in the 1960’s and ’70’s. I had never read the Hell-Boy comics growing up as I was into Spidey and Green Lantern so I did enjoy the last two Hell-Boy movies. Ron Pearlman is a hoot and a holler. Everyone needs to watch the recent Golden Army movie just for the scene where Hell-Boy (Pearlman) and Dr. Abe Sapien (Doug Jones) get roaring drunk and start commiserating about their prospective love-lives while singing the Barry Manilow tune, “Can’t Smile Without You.“  It’s is up-roaringly hilarious. This is the kind of sophisticated writing I wish to see in any future super-hero movie. I wonder if Barry liked it.

Hollywood- I want to see good writing/good acting and not so many special-effects. You’ll remember Johnny Depp’s performance in Pirates Caribbean 3 was underscored by too many special effects.

So Hollywood … get busy and continue to give us the superb writing and acting that we, the viewers witnessed in Dark Knight while trying to keep the sense of humor as in Hellboy II: The Golden Army.

KILBURN HALL

It’s a well known axiom that people dig a comfortable rut for themselves which they follow day after day. Then one day, there’s a bear in the trail and it eats them. In politics, the voting public treads the path of least resistance because it’s safe, it’s comfortable, it’s familiar. The voting public fears change and the politicians that run for office every four-years know this, so they play on our fears. My opponent is to be feared, he’s black, a muslim, he’s a re-distributionist, he has terrorist ties. My opponent is 72 years old, has a heart condition, is senile, will give you eight-more years of George Bush’s failed policies. They play on our fears and so, every four-years, like clockwork, we vote for the lesser of two evils. or the lesser evil that we perceive.

The problem with voting this way is that the path of least resistance, is to step off a cliff.

On September 11, 2001, Al-Qaeda terrorists flew planes into the World Trade Towers, Pentagon and into a field in Pennsylvania. They created an atmosphere of absolute fear in America. The newly elected President, a falling down drunk in the secret-fraternity Skull and Bones, played up our fears, created a color-alert warning system, stepped up the occupation of Iraq and barely, barely, got himself reelected for another four-years. Americans voted the path of least resistance and we all stepped off that cliff together, holding hands.

I will be saying a prayer for America this November 4th. The choice we have this election is historic. It’s not about two shady politicians whom neither has convinced us as to their honesty or integrity, the choice we have this election is about closing our eyes and taking one large step forward into the future or remaining stuck in our comfortable rut waiting for the bear (China) to show up one day and eat us.

Obama may keep his promises of leading America into a more economically secure future, a more “green” future- then again he may get bogged down by his own party and may turn out to be just another mediocre President. John McCain would certainly keep us stuck in the past.

Elections are a lot like gambling. You rolls the dice- you takes your chances. That’s why they call it gambling. But every four-years when Americans are forced to roll the dice, elect the lesser of two evils and hope for the best, and are then delivered more lies, deceit, fabrications, the American voter becomes a little more disenfranchised until they don;t care anymore. When that happens to the public- as Europeans are quick to do, (throw in the towel) Europeans end up with Fascism, Communism, Socialism and other “ism’s” – that promise to do good but end up making a slave of the people.

This is America’s last chance to roll the dice, gamble, take a chance on stepping forward into the future. China is quickly becoming the world’s number-one superpower. Other countries like India, Iran, North Korea are all developing nuclear weapons. If America doesn’t get with the program, if America fails to lead, if we prefer to practice “isolationism” – then we will fall backward and wake up one day to find that the bear (China) has eaten us. America will, as most Japanese believe right now, be good for nothing other than sports and movies which they will continue to pirate from us.

So America this is it. On November 4th- Election Day – we all need to hold our breath, join hands, and step forward into an undetermined future for if we fail to do so, we might as all jump off that cliff for politics will never change in America but only provide us with one buffoon (like McCain)  after another until there won’t be much left of the country we once knew.

KH

Super Obama

I was walking home last night in the dark to see political campaign-signs dotting the lawns up and down my street and I realized that it’s a con. Every four-years, the politicians put Americans through the meat-grinder, repeat the same lies every four years. Politicians whose names we have never heard of make the same lame promises that somehow they manage to forget once they’re in office. Lozar is running for this, Peterson is running for that.

Every four years politicians create a climate  of fear and division in this country that only a Super-Obama can save us from. The polarized environment in this country that underlies my concerns still exists however. The United States has been divided. The country has been split into “left vs. right,” “red state vs. blue state,” “Republicans vs. Democrats.” All of this is false division. And who created this division? Who created the red state, the blue state? The politicians.

Why? For the money and personal power. Politicians would tear this country apart, turn neighbor against neighbor all so they can see their name (Lozar) on a campaign poster in front-yards all over the suburbs, read the article about themselves or  see their picture in the paper. Being a politician must be one massive ego trip.
Four years later however, we are left with the same broken system, the unkept promises, and the meat-grinder starts up all over again. The 72-year-old politician with the false smile and the sincere sounding, “My friends.” The folksy but ditsy running mate (By Golly!) with the worst environmental record in the state of Alaska. But gee, they smile, they throw out their soundbites and cleverly zing their opponents with their biting innuendo’s. “He’s my best friend  and I love him to death but he’s out of his ever loving mind.”  “Truth express missing a wheel there.” “Trying to nail down his tax plan is like nailing jello to the wall.” Gee, aren’t they clever?

Face it! Our political system in America is broken. Time to scrap it as our founding fathers did some 200-years-ago. It doesn’t work. It’s broken. It’s time to come up with a new system a works. A vote of confidence like the Canadians have. Putting Americans through this political meat-grinder every four years, creating this climate of fear ever four years is turning this nation into one giant looney-bin with the inmates running the asylum. It’s time to fix the problem not the blame. It’s time to recreate the American dream. It’s time to retire the words, “Partisanship, Mavericks, My Friends, Joe Six-pack and Joe-the-plumber.”

Have you ever asked yourself, ” Why every four-years?” Why not elect a President every six-years or eight- years? Politicians give us some lame-story about Roosevelt dying in office and how they want to prevent that but it’s big pile of steaming horse-manure my friends. We go to the polls  every  four-years because the politicians want us to go to the polls every four-years. They’d like it to be every two-years if we would let them. So, the political weenies we have never hear of like Lozar, Foster, Canary, Campbell, Kinsey, Lohmiller,  Moore and other’s  (like who gives a rats ass?)  who want to make $100-grand a year, get all those free junkets from lobbyists and have all that prestige and personal power have a shot at achieving their dim-witted political goals every four years. And heaven forbid a politician stays in office for life- we’ll just create a little scandal like Senator Stevens of Alaska to boot him out of office. Not a terribly big scandal which would imprison him for the remainder of his life or ruin his wife and family- just a little one to get him to step down so we can move in.

The tragedy is that Nov, 4th people go to the polls, look at the names on the ballots of these pinheads they have never heard of, close their eyes and pick one. Most likely we punch a democrat or republican candidate we have never heard of because that’s the political party affiliation of our choice.
We are one people, and once Americans can forget their differences, we can all start to fix our broken political system and  focus on the issues that truly matter – like Halloween. (see next blog)

I don’t know about you but I’m worn out and I wasn’t even running for office. After the hell of this tough primary race, we all need a break and Halloween, (which brings out the little child in all of us), is just the ticket. Even Halloween and gory-slasher films on TV don’t seem as scary to us these days as American politics.
KH

Ron Howard Obama ad (Funny or die)

I went to my favorite coffee hide-a-way in the Chicago suburbs last week, (Biggby Coffee) to get a cup of my favorite blend, (Michigan Cherry)  when I noticed the city had plastered these obnoxious neon-green stickers all over the front door with very official/threatening sounding language. “Anyone caught selling on these premises subject to Class A Misdemeanor.”

Obviously the franchisee, had a licensing problem with the city or got behind in  city taxes.

John McCain would give tax-breaks to big business/corporate America to keep them here in the state’s. He’s said so. Obama favors hitting on big-business, and helping small businesses like the Biggby franchise, “stay in business” by spreading the wealth around. McCain calls him a redistributionist. I ask- so what’s wrong with spreading the wealth around?

Ronald Regan was a quack politician and a third-rate actor. His trickle-down economic policies were total horsehit, favoring only the wealthy by deregulating everything. Think of an hour-glass filled with sand. The trickle-down-effect cannot reach you if you’re at the bottom of the sand heap, you have to be in the upper 1/3 of the sand to feel any trickle-down effect. The working-class in the ghetto never feel the effect of trickle-down economics. It’s a load of crap to deceive the working-class while the rich, wealthy upper-class laugh all the way to the bank.

John McCain believes in Regan economics and deregulation. In short, McCain is a quack who would continue to favor big business and the wealthy. If McCain is elected Nov, 4th- Americans are going to have to get used to bending over, spreading our butt cheeks and liking it.

It’s a visicious “Catch-22;” helping corporate America stay in the state’s and provide jobs or helping small business owners. Personally, I’m rooting for the small business owner. The tragedy of the last 25-years is that we’ve seen corporate America like WalMart move in and take over America, peddling Chinese junk, thwarting unionization of its workers, working the employees to death,  while paying them meager wages.

Can you imagine the freedom and happiness we would have in this country if the majority of Americans who wanted to open/run their own small business like the Biggby franchise owner, could?

Competition is a good thing. The more small businesses we have, the more specialty stores and services, the better, not worse,  customer service becomes. Instead, we are stuck with giant, cold/impersonal, behemoth, corporate monstrosities like WalMart, Target,  Home Depot, Super Value (Jewel) who jack up the prices to $5.49 for a pack of Oscar Meyer hotdogs, while treating their employees like dirt and paying them minimum wage with no health benefits.

So, I hope come Nov. 4 that Obama wins and sticks it to corporate America. I hope the unions take over the WalMarts, the Home Depots, the Jewel (Super Value) Kroger,  and all the corporate-owned and run retail, grocery-chains and others.

If you haven’t seen the Ron Howard ad for Obama I have posted it here. Ron Howard,  Andy Griffin, and Henry Winkler who do not normally take an official stance in elections, felt strongly enough that America is heading in the wrong direction that they felt compelled to speak out … or die. Funny stuff.

Please vote for change America on November 4. Vote for “real change.”  So I can go back and have a cup of coffee at my favorite coffee place and not have to bend over and spread-em for the likes of corporate America like Starbucks.

KH

The most powerful drug used by mankind is not crack, cocaine, valium, marijuana, heroin, or alcohol; it is the use and misuse of “words.”

“Words are, of course, the most powerful drug used by mankind.”
~Rudyard Kipling

There is a hair-design place in the western suburbs of Chicago that really sucks. Suk’s Hair Design that is. I kid you not. Can you imagine  commenting to a friend when she asks where you got your new  “do”  and you reply, “At  Suk’s.”

“It Suck’s?”

“No.  At Suk’s.”

Sounds like an Abbott and Costello routine. (Who’s on first).

As a retired journalist, author of nine books, and an active blogger, the meaning of words has always been very important. My eighth-grade English teacher, Mrs. Royer unwittingly gave me my life’s philosophy  from a mnemonic-device designed to help us learn to spell.

“It’s no lie to believe!”

Two door’s down from Suks is a psychic adviser who chose for the name of  her business simply, “Psychic.” Short and very to the point.

WORD: the smallest amount of something spoken or written. But then a word can be a noun, (be as good as one’s word, break one’s word, have a word with you).  Verb, (he words his request in a particularly ironic way).  Adjective, (a strongly worded letter of protest. That Jay is one dangerous character. “Word.”)  Adverb. (keep one’s word, put words in my mouth, a man of few words).

Then there are oxymoron’s, (words which combine two contradictory things, “jumbo-shrimp,” “deafening silence,”) cliché’s, (cliche is a phrase, expression, or idea that has been overused) To coin a phrase, “words are a dime a dozen.”

Then there are the truly confusing use of words like  portmanteau  which is used broadly to mean a blend of two (or more) words into nonsensical words like Frankenword, (blending “Frankenstein” and “word”). Author Lewis Carroll (Alice in Wonderland) was a great user of portmanteau. The usage of the word ‘portmanteau’ in this sense first appeared in Lewis Carroll’s book Through the Looking-Glass (1871) in which Humpty Dumpty explains to Alice the coinage of the unusual words in Jabberwocky. Humpty Dumpty’s theory, of two meanings packed into one word like a portmanteau, seems to me the right explanation for all.

For instance, take the two words “fuming” and “furious.” Make up your mind that you will say both words … you will say “frumious.” ‘slithy’ means ‘lithe and slimy’… You see it’s like a portmanteau—there are two meanings packed up into one word. “‘Mimsy’ is ‘flimsy and miserable’.

It can all get so confusing!

Down the street from the strip-mall is a ghetto-like apartment complex called Park Place. Which looks nothing like Park Place. In the 1940’s, they used to used the slang expression, “That’s very Park Place,” meaning; upscale, fashionable, trendy, exclusive. Today, most Americans only know the meaning of the phrase “Park Place” from the  Monopoly game.

In America, we have countless subdivisions named after trees where no such trees exist or were planted after the fact,  (Aspen Meadows, Pine Grove, Oak Hill)  or after bodies of water that don’t exist, (Mill Creek, Mill Pond).

You can bet a subdivision named “Tall Firs” won’t have many, if any, tall fir trees left or a sub-divison named after a body of water won’t have that body of water. So why do the developers misname them?  They give them a cutesy name simply to attract buyers but the name means nothing.

Today, words are thrown at us for marketing purpose’s, to manipulate us. Words are casually used and misused, but the words themselves have lost all meaning, except to humorists who catch the double-entendre, (a spoken phrase which can be understood in either of two ways, a play on words).

“A man walks into a bar and asks the barmaid for an entendre. She says, ‘Certainly sir, single or double?’ He says double and she replies, ‘OK then sir, yours is a large one.’”

(Entendre also being an alcoholic drink containing Champagne, Grenadine, Pineapple Juice, and Vodka).

Many commercials for Overstock.com feature double entendres, as an attractive woman talks about the “O” and “Big O”, which could refer to the website itself, but clearly call to mind the word “orgasm”, which is often called the  “Big O.”

When the words mean nothing, Americans stop paying attention.

One only need look at the phony political process every four years making the same repeated, phony promises. Americans tune out the “words.”

The power of words  create emotional appeals, fallacies, manipulations, disinformation, misdirection, propaganda, and Political Correctness, that defeat our common sense, twist our thinking and control our behavior.

In the days of the old-west, snake-oil salesman were armed only with the power of words to sell their phony products.  Oils from the Chinese water snake contained none, and were instead mixtures of camphor, some form of fat (often beef), and alcohol. The unsavory reputation of people selling snake oil began to gather steam as most people who bought the stuff found no benefit from using it.

Salesmen, politicians, journalists, those in the media always get their own way, get you to agree with their point of view, give them what they want, do what they ask and buy what they are selling through their trickery of words. They use the power of words in a dishonest way. These are enormous powers, largely because they are invisible. You’ve been persuaded, manipulated, and controlled without your knowing anything about it. And written words are even more powerful since they are often accepted, uncritically, as being true.

Ever wonder why lawyers and the justice system still use “latin” for legal terms? The traps set by the legal word-mongering often leave the normally intelligent citizen dumbfounded: They don;t want the average lay person to really know what they’re talking about.

Every field has their unique “speak” or “jargon” which only those in that particular field know what the words mean. Writing that contains technical terms not commonly intelligible or talk that is considered clumsy or circumlocutory is termed “jargon”. The term is applied to the cant of a class or to the peculiar vocabulary of a particular art or science, trade or profession.

{agonal, scoop-and-run, obiter dictum, Pro bono, corpus dilecti, Code Seven, (out for lunch) phonemic awareness,Points. CMO, CLTV Ratio,  CMBS, CRA, pull quote, concretable, plyboo, granny-flat. gerry-mandering, Blaxploitation}

I examined the tissue under the microscope and detected squamous epithelium with normal margins”, the doctor deposed. “The centre portion was markedly thickened and keratinization had increased. These papillary-like projections in some regions showed distinct calcification. The underlying fibrous connective-tissue stroma revealed no pathogenicity”
The Judge interjected: “In simple everyday language, Doctor, what did the plaintiff have?”
The doctor looked sheepishly at the judge and answered: “A wart”.

Journalists back in the day, of Samuel Clemens, Nelson Algren, Colonel McCormack,  used to use the power of words for truth. Words create impressions, images and expectations. They build psychological connections. They influence how we think. Since thoughts determine actions, there’s a powerful connection between the words we use and the results we get.

Some of the funniest comedians, Abbott and Costello, (Who’s On First) Lucille Ball, George Carlin (Seven Dirty Words” comedy routine was central to the 1978 U.S. Supreme Court case F.C.C. v. Pacifica Foundation, in which a narrow 5–4 decision by the justices affirmed the government’s power to regulate indecent material on the public airwaves.)  Monty Python, (Wink, wink, nudge, nudge) Eddie Murphy (F**k), SNL’s John Belushi/Dan Ackroyd, Johnny Carson/Jay Leno, Cheech and Chong  all use the power of words” in  comedy sketches to hilarious effect as do hundreds of political-cartoonists the last-century like Charles Addams (Addams family creator). “It’s so nice to have a “thing” around the house. (Thing was a hand with no body attached). Macabre, dark sense of humor.

One of my favorite song’s done by  John Prine and other’s is called, Let’s Talk Dirty in Hawaiian.

Lets talk dirty in hawaiian
Whisper in my ear
Kicka pooka mok a wa wahini
Are the words I long to hear
Lay your coconut on my tiki
What the hecka mooka mooka dear
Lets talk dirty in hawaiian
Say the words I long to hear

All of the great songwriter’s, Harry Chapin, Jim Croce, )Working at the Car-Wash Blues) Seals and Crofts, John Denver, Gordon Lightfoot, (Wreck of the Edmond Fitzgerald)  Dan Fogelberg, John Prine, Steve Goodman (Lincoln Park Pirates) used words to tell a story. Some refer to them as “Balladeer’s.”

Whatever words we utter should be chosen with care for people will hear them and be influenced by them for good or ill. ~Buddha

So  …….

“Gimme gimme oka doka make a wish and wanta polka
Words I understand hey!

Aloha,
Kilburn Hall

“I remember when rock was young
me and Susie had so much fun.”
~Elton John

For those about to rock, the AC/DC rock-n-roll train rolls on.  Unless, that is, you want to buy the Australian heavy metal group’s newest album, “Black Ice,” on iTunes, or anywhere but Wal-Mart when it drops in record stores on October 20th, 2008.

Call them old (they are– but the rock group known as AC/DC, alias the young brothers, Angus and Malcolm, are 53 and 55, while vocalist Brian Johnson is 61)  still won’t give up that schoolboy uniform.

Despite distasteful business practices and  crass-commercialism at its worst (AC/DC selling its new album “Black Ice” at only one retail chain- Wal-Mart) another reminder of just what is very, very, wrong in America, the blatant crass-commercialism, and Wal-Mart as usual, is stuck right in the very middle of it.

but hey kid, rock and roll, rock on …..  ooh my soul

As a child of the ’60’s, many of today’s bloggers and blog-readers are too young to remember that in the 1960’s and 1970’s- most rock songs were protests songs, in fact;  much of the rock-n-roll movement was a protest movement, (anti-government, make love – not war, burn your brassiere’s) people bought rock albums as a political statement not because slick marketing executives at Wal-Mart made a big media event out of it. In the 1960’s, if a crass commercial entity like Wal-Mart tried to sell a Door’s or Jimi Hendrix album- there would have been riots, protests, and marches, outside the front door of Wal-Mart not to mention this thing called Pot and LSD.

Today’s kids, or rather, consumer’s, have been brain-washed.

None of that matter to the folks at Wal-Mart cause the kids in black are back.

Wednesday, “Black Ice”  AC/DC’s first album in a dozen-years, debuted at No. #1 on the billboard albums chart, selling more than 780,000 copies in its first week , on Thursday. Wow! Not made for old men such as myself in their fifties. We still now how to rock Generation X-er’s.

Still looking for that blue jean, baby queen during the second night of its U.S. tour and the first of two sold-out shows here in Chicago, the quintet rocked as righteously and as mightily as any rock group ever could.

But hey kid,  rock n roll,   rock on …  ooh my soul

Some things just never get old or seem tired, and high atop this list of the best things in life is that simple, monolithic, four-on-the-floor AC/DC beat (bassist Cliff Williams and drummer Phil Rudd remain one of the most underrated rhythm sections in rock history)

I never knew me a better time and I guess I never will
Oh lawdy mama those Friday nights
When Suzie wore her dresses tight
And the crocodile rocking was out of sight

The AC/DC rock-n-roll train rolls right along despite a 12-year hiatus and having listened to the album or rather CD as they call “albums”  these days, all train wrecks-should be this much fun. I suppose Black Ice is as much a testament to AC/DC’s endurance as it is to the crass-commercialism and clever marketing by the folks at Wal-Mart who will soon make us all learn to speak Chinese. To make things happen in China, you have to know people. “Knowing” is what the Chinese mean by “guan xi” or “connections.” When you cultivate “guan xi” with people, you might get them to bend over backwards for you, let alone buy into your demands and style and no one has perfected the art of bullshit, er …      “guan xi” like the folks at Wal-Mart. But just as the folks at Wally-World made $7 million-dollars on Black Ice- you think Wal-Mart would let AC/DC perform in one of their stores? I’m guessing not.

but they’ll never kill the thrills we got
burning up to the crocodile rock
we really thought the crocodile rock would last

So hey kids, rock and roll, rock on … but remember not to become too brain-washed by Wal-Mart who will use AC/DC, Brittany Spears, Madonna, Michael Jackson, Lindsay Lohan or any other troubled teen, personality, or commercial entity, they can take advantage of to line the coffin of old Sam Walton who is probably lying there with a huge smile on his face.

KH

There is a song by Sting that says,

“After today … consider me gone.”

That’s what one the candidates will be saying Tuesday, Nov. 4th as America heads to the polls.  As John McCain and Barack Obama plunge through the final weekend in their final sprint for the White House, it’s a numbers game at this point. Only 100-hours more to go. Thank God!

I wasn’t even running for political office and I got to tell you- I’m worn out after this very intense, political year. The primary between Hillary and Obama was intense, unlike anything American voters have seen in the past. Between now and Tuesday you’ll see headlines such as these as the bean-counters, pollsters, and media armchair generals try to spin the numbers.

Here in Chicago, authorities are bracing for as many as a million people in downtown Grant Park Tuesday night to cheer on Barack Obama as election returns come in, a potential celebration and security headache.

Can The Republicans win? Depends on what news-source you listen to. Just as there are “red” and “blue” states there are also “red” and “blue” media sources. Here in Chicago at my former employer, The Chicago Sun-Times, black columnist Mary Mitchell is a “blue” news source, her counterpart columnist Michael Sneed is a “red” source. Both are the very best columnists in the business today, they just work opposite sides of the aisle. They’re probably the best of friends as well personally. Professionally they spar. It’s all part of the game. In politics, you can’t take anything personally as Hillary supporters found out the hard way at the DNC convention last August in Denver.

Gallup Daily: Obama 52%, McCain 42% Among Likely Voters

The hard work is done. Now, it’s just a numbers game. Both campaigns will kick back in their prospective campaign headquarters as the bean-counters crunch the numbers and confirm what most Americans already know. They just can’t make it official until the evening of Nov. 4th when the candidate with the least numbers steps up to the podium to make his concession speech.

Americans learned during the first Bush W. election that popular election results are nice, but they don’t win you elections. Just ask Al Gore who is still crying in his beer. Elections are won by electoral votes.

So, McCain can brag that he’s won Montana, North Dakota, even Sarah Palin can brag that she carried her home state of Alaska. Big deal. Each state has only 3 electoral votes. The big states needed to win are California with 55 electoral votes, Illinois with 21, New York with 31, and so forth. If you clink on the above link you’ll see that most of these states, (the one’s with the largest number of electoral votes) are all “blue” states. Obama mama’s.

That smiling guy walking down the street? Odds are he’s a Barack Obama backer. The grouchy looking one? He voted for McCain.

So, don’t listen to all the numbers crunchers, the bean-counters, media-pollsters, media arm chair quarter-backs or you’ll drive yourself crazy. Instead, kick back, hold up your glass and toast the obvious winner as America holds it’s breath and takes one giant and courageous step into our future together as Americans. And oh yeah,

DON’T FORGET TO VOTE!!!

You’ll see all kinds of wild poll results between now and Nov. 4th, but after Nov. 4th- one of the candidates will be singing that Sting song,

“history reeks of the wrongs we have done
After today, consider me gone.”

KH


shitI got this flyer in my daily paper from Subway.
A full-page photo ad for  Subway’s  new $5 Chicken Pizziola. I admit the photo with the melted Mozzarella cheese, chicken, pepperoni and tomato’s on a toasted  foot-long Italian Bread looked so good I had to try one. And the $5 price for a foot-long seemed reasonable. Here’s what I got for my $5 bucks- a slop sandwich. The Mexican behind the counter barely spoke English- the Mexican girl mopping the floor- spoke no English at all. The sandwich maker slopped Mostacholi sauce on it, barely put any chicken or pepperoni on it, sprinkled Parmesan cheese on it and forgot to add the Pepper-Jack or Mozzarella cheese or whatever it was supposed to get. It was the worst piece of slop I have ever been served. When I showed it to him and requested that he remake the sandwich., he became rude and insulting. I demanded my money back. It was either that or  climb over the counter and beat him to death with the sandwich.

Which brings quickly me to the point of this blog. The corporate fast-food empire in America is evil. They have had Americans bending over so long, spreading our butt-cheeks and liking it, that they think they can get away with whatever they want, whenever they want , and treat the customers however they want. McDonalds makes billions-of dollars every year. Last year McDonalds revenues reached a record high of $22.8 billion on global comparable sales of 6.8% and returned $5.7 billion to shareholders through shares repurchased and dividends paid. Yet. last week, McDonalds announced that they are no longer going to offer its customers free water. Other cutbacks include charging for extra dipping sauces for McNuggets  and mustard/ketchup packets, Now this is a company that made $22 billion dollars folks and they’re too cheap to offer  the customer a free glass of water? I am not going to spend $4 bucks for the four-piece frozen McNuggets and have to pay extra for an extra dipping-sauce. Now, they’re eliminating cheese from the double-cheeeseburger on the dollar menu. That imitation-cheese-slice will cost extra.

Cheap bastards.
Other fast-food chains are also doing the same.

Last time I went to McDonalds, I ordered a hamburger off the dollar menu. Here’ s what I got for my dollar. I had to lift the bun to find the meat patty, they slopped on a tablespoon of ketchup. there was one pickle slice and three small dices of onion. In-other-words, I got a slop sandwich for a dollar.
Fast food companies, rake in billions every year while hiring illegal aliens ,who they work like dogs, pay them practically nothing, the restaurants are dirty, bathrooms are filthy, the quality of the food product is deplorable and they treat their customers like crap. Most fast-food workers are rude and insulting, particularly if you ask them to remake a sandwich. or correct a mistake they made in the ordering or delivery of your product. They then add insult to injury, after you’ve paid $10 for a dollar-grease burger with cheese, fries and a coke by asking if you want to spend even more money by super-sizing that grease-burger, low-trans-fat fries that taste like pencil-lead and watered down Coke.

Forty-five-years ago a man by the name of Ray Kroc visited a San Bernardino burger joint. The quality of the food was awesome, the service fast and courteous, Kroc knew he would make a fortune spreading the idea of fast, courteous service nationwide. Kroc bought out the McDonnell brothers for $2.7 million, The rest was history.

otis1Today, McDonalds (having served over 99-billion) is not the same courteous, fast service that Kroc found in San Bernardino. They have become a faceless corporate monster whose lawyers swoop down on anyone who tries to name their new restaurant anything that sounds like McDonalds,  impugn the character of McDonalds (while the quality of their product has gone to the dogs), try to unionize its workers all the while treating its employees and customers with contempt. Taco Bell, Burger KIng, Wendy’s have all followed suit.

Why have these faceless corporate “evil empires flourished the last 25-years? They’ve been getting away with whatever they want and treating the customer however they want because we let them. Americans are too polite to “speak-up.” Americans have looked the other way for so long that the corporate food  pirates have gotten used to getting their own way. Plus, the fact that these corporations are so big that they can squash the little guy. Anyone who tries to open their own burger (Good Times, Checkers) Pizza (Pizza Hut) Taco (Taco Bell) or chicken (KFC) chain.

I don’ t do fast foods.

I don’t patronize them  for the reason that the last few times I have visited fast-foods my experience was atrocious both in the food quality and rudeness I received. The attitude of these fast food czars has become, “If you don’t like it go somewhere else.” Hey, they made $22-billion last year alone- they don’t need your business.  One less customer more or less is not going to put much of a dent in a $22-billion-dollar a year operation. And that attitude is horrible customer service. It shows just what contempt these corporate food stuffs really have for us, the consumer. 45-years ago, they actually wanted your business. You got a burger, fries and coke and change back from your dollar.

I am not going to spend $5 on a quarter-pounder, or Double Whopper, a greasy, heart-attach causing shit untitled1sandwich. For about the same price that these grease-pits charge for their “shit”sandwich, I I can go to a real bar, order a real burger on a real bun, (not like the bun at McDonalds and BK which falls apart when you pick it up in your hands). The bar also gives me a side of coleslaw and a cold dill pickle, I also get a smile from the bartender as he hands me my cold draft beer to wash it all down.
I am a great believer in small business not these evil corporate empires who don’t give a crap about the quality of-their product or your experience just about the amount of dividends they can return to their shareholders.
When Taco Bell first opened 20-some years ago in my suburb in 1977,  (the small store with the slanted terra-cotta roof), the quality of the food was great and you couldn ‘t beat the price. That’s why all the Mexicans ate there. This summer, I had the misfortune  to visit a Taco Smell. The refried beans were raw, the spanish-rice all dried out, the dollar beef-burrito was so runny it looked like diarrhea.   Even dogs eat better than this in America. I am just tired of paying $4 for a Gordita that is going to give me the shits an hour later.
Aren’t you?

Big Business, Corporate America,  think they’ re immune. They, like McDonalds, BK, Taco Bell, Wendy’s, KFC and all the other giant corporate fast-food chains think their brand-name is worldwide and that the company is so huge that they can coast on their past success. Which is why they do whatever they like, when they like, and treat their customer however rudely they like.  Americans are so used to putting up with it that we’ll keep paying for it and liking it. Or so they think.

But here’s the thing that a lot of corporate businesses are beginning to find out, competition is a good thing. Just bad for them. Competition forces these giant businesses to keep their prices low, keep the quality of their product high and maintain fast, courteous service or the consumers will take their business elsewhere. To the corner bar perhaps where I go for a beer and a burger.

232788tybx_w1Twenty-five-years ago ,Pizza Hut had the Pizza business locked up, today;  they have lots of competition with Domino’s, Uno’s, Papa Johns, California Pizza Kitchen, Wolfgang Puck’s, and other’s.
McDonalds competes with #2 BK, Checker’s, Good Times, and new burger chains start up every week. Subway goes head to head with Quizno’s and other deli chains, KFC dances with Pop-eye’s and other chicken chains. Taco Bell competes with Taco Johns and Del Taco who is quickly catching up.
So folks, as a consumer, you no longer have to bend over and take it from these faceless corporate fast-foods who care nothing about you but just want to separate you from your money.

The next time some insulting illegal alien serves you a $5-slop-sandwich while working for a corporation like Subway or McDonalds that makes billions of dollars a year, you don’t have to take it. You can speak up, demand your money back,  jump over the counter and beat the SOB to death with his own sandwich or- you can walk enormoushamburgernext door to the small business owner who has just started up a burger, deli, chicken, or taco stand and give them your business. Not only will you get your $5 worth with probably the best burger, taco, chicken, you have had in awhile but the courteous, fast service you receive will make you want to come back time and time again. That’s how the McDonnell brothers in San Bernardino did it to make almost $3 million-dollars. Too bad, the faceless bureaucrats at McDonalds have forgotten just how they go to 99-billion served.

So bend over Subway and McDonalds. It’s time you spread your demonstration_-_muslim_protester_points_his_toy_gun_at_ronald_mcdonaldbutt cheeks and liked it.

KH

The Rule Of Three

michael-crichton-sgg-0363892

jurassic_park_2Jurassic Park Theme

From the time I was a small boy, I would hear the public respond  to the death of a celebrity by saying, “It always happens in three’s.” Over the years, the theory for the most part seems to have held up. I have come to call it, “The Rule Of Three.”

As an author, I know that The “Rule Of Three” is not some new Dan Brown novel but a principle in English writing that suggests that things that come in threes are inherently funnier, more satisfying, or more effective than other numbers of things. The Rule of Three (also Three-fold Law or Law of Return) is a religious tenet held by some Wiccans. It states that whatever energy a person puts out into the world, be it positive or negative, will be returned to that person three times. If that is the case, then the three friends and mentor’s I lost this past week were giants among men and as such, their loss creates a gigantic void that will not soon be filled.

Over the years, as I became increasingly aware of this “death in three’s,” it seemed to me each time a celebrity died that all three deceased were employed in the same career field. Recently, Michael Crichton, Tony Hillerman, and Studs Terkel were all authors. When Katherine Hepburn died, it seemed to me that all three deceased were in the acting profession. When Mel Torme died in 1999, it seemed to me that all three deceased were employed as musicians.

Maybe God, up there in his heaven, feels a void from time to time or has need of three great talents in the same career field to entertain him so he takes them all at once. Maybe it’s just the Wiccan Rule of Three- whatever energy a person puts out into the world, be it positive or negative, will be returned to that person three times or conversely, when that  energy is taken out of this world- it is taken from us three times.

About his friend, Director Stephen Spielberg said this: Michael’s talent out-scaled even his own dinosaurs of ‘Jurassic Park.”  Spielberg,  directed the blockbuster movie version of Jurassic Park and its sequel, “The Lost World.”

Michael  Crichton (Jurassic Park), creator of ER and other TV series, died unexpectedly in Los Angeles, (November 4, 2008) after a courageous and private battle against cancer. He was 66. Crichton, a medical doctor turned novelist and filmmaker whose books have sold more than 150 million copies worldwide.

terkel-460_1097123c2Tony Hillerman (Thief of Time) died of heart-related problems at age 83. (listen to Catfish Muse)

Chicago legendary journalist Studs Terkel, died peacefully in his sleep of old age at age 96.

Studs Terkel, who died on October 31, 2008 at the age of 96, was a born story teller and a radio pro, even though, he said: “I don’t know how a tape recorder works!”

About writing and being an author, Michael Crichton once said:

“Books aren’t written – they’re rewritten. Including your own. It is one of the hardest things to accept, especially after the seventh rewrite hasn’t quite done it.”

1017hillerman2

All three were giants on this earth. They were my friends,

and my mentors and I will sorely miss them.

Thanks for all the Dinosaur’s and Kokopelli’s.

Kilburn Hallkokopelli-wildhair-32

R-E-S-P-E-C-T

R-E-S-P-E-C-T
Find out what it means to me
~Aretha Franklin
respect21

I admire Barack Obama. Let me tell you why. When you think of what the man has accomplished, not only is it historic, (since everyone is using that word lately) it’s just down right phenomenal. How many of us could achieve what Barack Obama has achieved the last two years? With all the challenges he has had to face? A black-man running for the highest office on the land, with the threat of white-supremacy, the thought of assasination hanging over his head. You know, it was a mere 38-years ago that then Governor of Alabama, George Wallace, was denying blacks entrance to an all-white school. The National Guard was called in. White Supremist wack-jobs (KKK) were killing black leaders all through the deep-South.  I needn’t remind Americans of the horrors of the civil-rights movement and the assassination of black leaders like Malcom X and Martin-Luther King. What a very long way we’ve come in such a short time. What Americans did at the polls Nov. 4th went beyond historic. Miracle is a word that comes to mind. A miracle on so many levels. A miracle that Americans could move beyond their prejudices to “do the right thing.”

As President-elect Obama said in his acceptance speech from Grant Park:

“If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible, who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time, who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer.”

obama27_16804595As Obama fielded phone-calls from  world leaders today, these world-leaders all saw the same thing that I did, that I hope, you all did, that America not only got a historic president, America got a courageous president.

Most people in America are giving the new president-elect the R-E-S-P-E-C-T he deserves.  Obama, “a good sport” kept quiet the day after his landslide victory to allow McCain and Palin time to make a graceful exit. That’s our president showing his opponents the R-E-S-P-E-C-T they deserve. It’s too bad McCain’s own campaign staff couldn’t show Sarah Palin, McCain’s running mate the R-E-S-P-E-C-T she deserves. Telling tales out of school that Palin didn’t know (Africa)  a continent from a country, about the $150,000 the RNC spent on clothes for her and her family because she was so “ill-prepared” when she got the call, is inappropriate, back-biting, and does all Americans a dis-service. We should be bigger than this.

Ok, so you disagree with her politics or lack of.  So you think she’s a moose-shooting lunatic. The fact is- the woman is Governor of Alaska, a former candidate for Vice-President, (the 2nd highest office in the land), and she lost …  as such she’s still deserving of that Aretha Franklin R-E-S-P-E-C-T.

As my childhood friend Snagglepuss always used to say;

“Exit …   Stage Left.”

Both McCain and Palin showed real self-R-E-S-P-E-C-T by making a quiet exit.

Palin’s handler’s were flooded with a ton of interview requests from the likes of a Barbara Walter’s (“Babs”) and others who would’ve pinned the blame for the demise of the Republican party on her. Wisely, she declined those interviews to return home and sleep in her own bed after nine months. Palin/McCain showed their new PREZ the respect he’s due by not engaging in unsportsmanlike conduct and finger pointing. They lost- they lost big- and it was florida_hanging_chad_recountall fair-and-square. No charges of voter fraud, no demand for a re-count like Al Gore who still can’t believe he lost eight-years later.

Note to AL: “AL- you lost pal!

Get over it.”

John McCain drove himself home, Palin and family flew into Alaska to be greeted by a storm of controversy- un-sportsman-like conduct by McCain’s people who helped prep her for her Vice-Presidential debate against Joe Biden. (Our new Vice-President). Naturally, Sarah is fighting back today and I say good for her and good for the Republican party. If anyone can help save the Republican party these days it is Sarah Palin. The Moose-shooting, hockey-mom, and friend of  Joe-sick-pack. This is the Republican base, (You know), Rush Limbaugh windbags-who think their slicker-than-snot but walk around in flannel shirts, burping and farting, getting America involved in an eight-year occupation of a country filled with nothing but sand solely on the basis of one “Axis-of-Evil” speech. (I refer to the movie W- 2008).bluesbrothers425jpeg

So Re-pubs, if you ever, ever, want another chance at controlling 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue again, you’d do well to brush up on your Aretha Franklin and start humming a few bars of:

“R-E-S-P-E-C-T
Find out what it means to me
and treat me right when I get home.”

I’m Kilburn Hall.

Obama’s nationobamanationcover2_130
has begun.

Join the
(Patriotic, Resilient, Conservative)
Resistance

The website ad blares.

Welcome to Obama’s nation…
The “transformational” figure who will “change the world” is now in charge, and he’s on a mission. Emboldened by an overwhelming electoral victory and a near-super-majority in Congress, President-elect. Obama and his allies are preparing to implement his liberal, “post-American” agenda. Simply put, what President-elect Obama and the Pelosi-Reid Congress have in store has the potential to rapidly move America to the socialist Left
.

The man just won the election not one week ago, will not take office until Jan. 20, 2009 and already the Neo-Cons and Neo-conservative grassroots organizations like Grassfire.org and others are already on the attack. They claim Obama wants to move America to the socialist left. I say- what’s wrong with that?

We tried it their way, the Neo-Conservative way, for eight years and it did not work. In fact, not only did it not work, it caused a meltdown in this country which will take an Obama administration eight-years to undo. Under the Neo-Cons and Grassfire,org-like groups, greedy bankers/lenders caused a banking meltdown with many major banks going out of business, a housing/lending crisis with credit being frozen in America, millions of Americans losing their homes to foreclosure, we’ve seen the meltdown of our Stock-Market not to mention markets around the world in-Japan,  and Europe. America has been bogged down not in a war- (we won the war in Irag in two-weeks time), America has been bogged down in an eight-year occupation, spending billions of needed dollars at home, needless loss of life of thousands of American GI’s in a country that has nothing but sand, sand …..

Not oil, not technology, not crops but filthy dirty rag-wearing terrorists that live in caves and subsist on a steady diet of rodents. It’s called Empire Building. The British tried it for a 100-years and it did not work, they were driven out of India, Africa, and every other country/continent they tried to occupy.

1 million citizens resisting… the ad claims.
I find it unlikely they have 1 million citizens with the election barely a week over. But if they do- who are these people? What are their names? Publish their names on the web or in newspapers so we can verify that these are legitimate citizens and not a figment of Grassfire,org’s imagaination.

Secondly- who is funding this 1-million person resistance? Publish the names of your donors again so we can verify that these are legitimate donors and not a figment of Grassfire,org’s vivid imagination.

But you know Grassfire.org will not publish the names of the 1-million so called resistance, because there are not 1 million people who resist an Obama administration (likely one hundred sore Neo_con losers who bungled McCains campaign and are now crying in their beer). Grassfire.org will not publish the names of the donors who are funding this “tripe” they call resistance because the names would be people like Richard Perle, Paul Wolfowitz, John/Cindy McCain,  Limbaugh, Cheney, Rummy, and other’s who have lost their power and now have to sit idly by on the sidelines the next eight-years planning and scheming their comeback like the little spiders they are.

Specifically, The faceless, scheming beaurocrats behind Grassfire,org state that they specifically resist:

1.Socialistic wealth redistribution including any and all tax increases and big-government welfare programs. Silencing conservatives through the Fairness Doctrine and other efforts that restrict free speech.

Did they not listen to Obama’s plan? If you make under $120,000 a year – you don;t got to worry about any tax increase folks. The people that are worried about any redistribution are the scheming little spiders sitting on top of the heap of gold, corporate America, and others who pay relatively little taxes due to a collection of legal loopholes, tax deductions, and who have moved their corporations to China who have no controls whatsoever. The super rich. These are the people who are worried and rightly so. Deregulation did not work. Trickle down economics is a scam! It can’t trickle down to you  if you’re at the bottom of the sand-pile. You have to be in the upper-third of the sandpit for  trickle-down economics to affect you. The Super rich do not want their wealth to “trickle-down” especially to me and you.

So, I say tax the rich. Tax the hell out of-them! Make them pay for the damage they have caused this country by lining their pockets the last eight-years, ignoring the little guy, ignoring the American worker. Go after Wal-Mart and squeeze them like they have squeezed Americans with their hiring of ex-CIA agents to spy on Wal-Mart employees, thwarting unionization of its workers, paying their workers as little as they have to, working them like a dog, intimidating their workers in meetings that strongly suggest you vote for McCain or you no longer have a job at Wal-Mart These bastards need to go,  (which is highly unlikely),  so lets regulate the hell out of them. And who are these conservatives who would be silenced by an Obama administration? Name names! But  (Grassfire.org)  won’t tell you the names of the scheming little spiders who stand to lose under eight years of a Democrat-party controlled Washington the way our founding fathers intended democracy should work.

2.Open border anarchy including amnesty for illegal aliens and promotion of multi-nation “unions”.

There is an old Mexican saying, “Space does not separate people so much as culture.”

I have a Mexican friend who came here in the 1970’s from Mexico legally. He and his wife learned to speak English, they took the test for citizenship and passed and became U.S. citizens legally. They played by the rules and they have been rewarded for their hard work and are now buying their second home. My friend has nothing but contempt for these illegal Mexican who come here illegally and spit in our face. By being here illegally and working under the table- they rob both countries, (America and Mexico) by not paying taxes in either country. Most illegals, after two-three years, take their earnings and move back to Mexico. I say these people are criminals not illegals and as criminals we should not deport them (so they can hop-the first Greyhound bus back to the states and begin working illegally all over again), we should treat them like criminals- put them in jail, make them work off the cost of their incarceration. Instead, these Neo-Cons under George W. built a “Berlin-Wall” like fence along our southern border. If the Berlin Wall did not stop Eastern-block-citizens from escaping to freedom- you think the Bush-Wall will really deter illegals from Mexico who wish to escape poverty-stricken conditions by escaping to America for the chance at a new life?
I say give them a work permit and let them work and live here legally for any company like McDonalds willing to hire them and pay them minimum wage and make them pay taxes on their income like all U.S. citizens do. Like you and I do. Let them find out how expensive it is to live in America- maybe they’ll be running back over the border once they start paying Cook County, Illinois taxes of 10.5-percent or higher.

3. Government-run health care that weakens our system and imposes more tax burdens on citizens.

Please! Obama is not going to give us government run health care or have his administration hand out condoms to grade-school children.  But Obama made a valid point in his last Presidential debate- every child in America should be insured. If you starve your child, beat your child, neglect your child, have sex with a child, these are all crimes. So, why is it not a crime to “not”  provide adequate medical care for all children? I say, prosecute those fringe-religious groups like Christian Scientists and others who deny children basic medical care and those irresponsible parents who will not make an attempt to insure their child to pay for basic medical costs. We live in the greatest country on earth. Living in America is a privilege- not a right. Basic medical care for small children should be a right not a privilege.

4. Weakening of our military through rapid pullback from Iraq, defending our troops and overall disarmament.

An Obama administration is not going to give us a Bill Murray (Stripes)  military. Don’t listen to the “fear-mongerers.” In fact, our military will become a leaner, smarter, fighting machine. Ground occupations, (the kind we fought in WWII and Korea) are obsolete. President Clinton was on the right track with his “fly-swatter” approach to terrorist-sponsored nations and I think an Obama administration would be wise to follow suit. America does not have the manpower nor the resources to become the world’s policeman. This is why we have the United Nations. Under George W, the U.N. became an irrelevant debating society. A smart President Obama would put sanctions on the United Nations, forcing them to do the job they should have been doing all along or kick their butts out of the U.S. Make them find another country for their headquarters’. Another country the U.N. can sponge off of while at the same time denouncing them as they have us.

5. Social liberalism including radical pro-abortion agenda, the end of marriage and the homosexual agenda. Liberal court activism that u
ndermines faith, family and liberties while expanding government control.
Total rubbish. A marriage is a union between two people -period!. Marriage guarantees certain rights, the right to visit your partner in the hospital, extend medical/insurance coverage, shared living arrangements and other joint legal arrangements entered into. Do gays love their partner less than hetero’s? The Neo-Cons and Grassfire.org would have you believe so. I say, extend the same rights to gay couples that straight couples have. For to not do so is discrimination, and harassment. The religious right, under King James Dobson,  creates a climate of fear, having straights bekieve that if we allow gay marriage the gays will run around buggering our small boys in the schoolyard. Total rubbish. Gay marriage simply would put an end to the power and control the scheming religious spiders like James Dobson, Pat Robertson, Bennie Hinn,  now enjoy not to mention a dent in their pocketbooks. I say that no one should be discrimiweek_of_the_neoconsnated against, harassed, beaten, or killed because of their sexual orientation nor denied the same inalienable rights as that of hetero’s.

6. Post-American globalism that diminishes our global role and threatens our national sovereignty.
Environmental extremism,  the CO2 tax, undermining coal and nuclear, and bans on
exploration.

Oh, like the globalism that has gone on the last eight years under the Bush administration and whack-jobs like Grassfire.org? Obama has promised the first true “green” administration in history demanding that Detroit turn-out 150,000 alternative-fueled automobiles a month. An Obama administration would sign the Kyoto accords, crackdown on illegal Japanese whaling, start drilling again so our Arab neighbors can’t take advantage of Americans anymore while sending their terrorists to fly planes into our Trade Towers. The 911 terrorists, Osama Bin Laden, were not Iraqi nor Afghani, Iranian, nor Syrian folks, they were Arab, Arab terrorists. The same Arabs who last summer charged every American $5 a gallon of gas, the crude drilled in Arab countries, shipped from Arab countries, and refined in America utilizing Arab workers. All funded and protected by the American CIA.

Under an Obama nation, Grassfire.org and their cronies at Enron who profited under a Bush administration are going to take a very palpable hit and that’s what this so called Grassfire.org Obama-resistance movement is really al about. It has nothing to do with politics folks- it’s just the old-fashioned shell-game. Make you so busy watching the right hand you don’t see what the left hand is doing.

The Grassfire.org Obama resistance (the Neo-Cons),  is about G-R-E-E-D. plain and simple. They’re the folks who are going to have to sit idly by on the sidelines watching as Democrats line their pockets for a change. Well, for the next eight-years anyway.

Change is a good thing as is redistribution of  wealth and political power from time to time. It’s called Yin and Yang. Through the shift from Neo-Conservatism to far-leftism, (Yin and Yang) balance is achieve.

It’s time to resist any Obama resistance and damn well time to start fighting back against Grassfire.org, Neo-Cons, Rush Limbaugh and other far-right conservative nut-jobs who would create a climate off fear in this country and get Americans to resist change, to resist what we know is the best path for us.

So join the (Patriotic, Resilient, Democrat) Resistance  The Obama Nation has begin.

Join with Obama, lets create a new America while resisting the same old tired, business-as-usual politics and climate of fear of Grassfire.org and the Neo-conservatives.

KH

journalists

“What’s the difference between a Journalism and a catfish? One’s a bottom-dwelling scumsucker, the other’s a fish.”

When I was growing up as a kid, the most deplorable of professions was that of an ambulance chasing lawyer. After Watergate, it was the politicians. Today, at the bottom of the food-chain it is “Journalists.” Are you old enough to remember when journalists actually reported the news without creating the news? In the James Bond film, Tomorrow Never Dies, Elliott Carver makes a wonderful antagonist, the head of a billion-dollar media-empire he creates tomorrow’s news today. The tool of his trade? Creating and promoting an atmosphere of fear. No one can suck the fun out of a room faster than CNN.

jim-jonesjpegAlmost thirty years ago to the day, (November 18, 1978) the tragedy of the Jonestown Massacre in Guyana still shocks the public, and Jim Jones continues to loom as America’s worst cult leader. Jones was the role model for whack-jobs to follow like Rev. Moon, David Khoresh and the Branch Divideans, (in which 76 Branch Davidians, 21 of whom were children, were killed in the ensuing blaze. Autopsies confirmed that many of the victims, (including David Khoresh),  died of single gunshot wounds to their heads, (murder-suicide pacts), Applewhite and his Heaven’s Gate Cult mass suicide in which 39 people died by mixing phenobarbitol with applesauce or pudding. Each of the cult members wearing black Nike sneakers, and eight of the male members of the cult had been castrated. All this because they thought the earth was being invaded by UFO’s. Wacko’s, nut-jobs, give us dirty laundry.

So why, after 30-years, when American government failed to learn their lesson at Jonestown is CNN regurgitating the horrible tragedy?

WE NEED DIRTY LAUNDRY!

kent_manahan5“We got the bubble-headed-bleach-blonde who
Comes on at five
She can tell you bout the plane crash with a gleam
In her eye
Its interesting when people die.”

Give us dirty laundry.”

What’s the point of regurgitating senseless tragedy merely because it is the 30th anniversary of something?  Does it make us better journalists, better citizens, does our government learn from the horrible tragedies of our past to prevent them in the present? Obviously not because America still continue’s to turn out David Khoresh’s,  Applewhite’s, Fundamentalist LDS leaders who still rape underage girls.

The parents of the victims at Guyana, many of whom are old or deceased have come to closure with the tragedy there and made peace with it. Why pull the scab off an old wound?  I say that we should allow the parents of the victims to have some peace about the tragedy. But, CNN has to have its ratings.  WE NEED DIRTY LAUNDRY!

Many, of the children from 1978,  (brothers and sisters of the victims, sons/daughters of the parents_ who died at Jonestown now have children and families of their own. They are hopefully older and a lot wiser and politically astute than America was back in its naivete of 1978. Do we really need to revisit the carnage with the video footage of stacked bodies on all the major networks?

cnn1CNN and the networks do not care about your pain!

Nor do network executives care about their own reporters many of whom, would rather not have to regurgitate the tragedy of Jonestown and turn it into a some sort of American Idol or Dancing With the Stars. This is the state of journalism as we find it in 2008, the Elliott Carvers of the “new media” who make Rupert Murdock look tame in comparison.

As a young journalist I learned quickly that, If it bleeds- it leads.”

We exercised restraint in what we reported and more importantly how we reported it. Today’s young infotainment twenty-something journalists (under pressure for ratings and looking to build careers) do not labor under such restraints or compassion. What made Dan Rather great was that he reported “live” from the rice-paddies of Vietnam about the blood, death, and carnage, all around him but he did it with such compassion that it brought tears to your eyes. How did our industry repay this great journalist, who is right up there with Edward R. Murrow, and Walter Cronkite?  His own network (CBS) set him up to fail, the young-twenty-somethings who control entire networks these days set him up to report a false story about George W. Bush’s military record with bogus documents for a “60 Minutes” report charging that President Bush received favorable treatment in the National Guard. Welcome to the dog-eat-dog world of journalism where ratings and getting ahead are the only thing that matter and to the victor go the spoils. I looked up the definition of journalists in the dictionary recently. This is what it said: “Bottom-dwelling scumsuckers.”

GIVE US DIRTY LAUNDRY!jonestown3

In the 1970s, Jones, the ever charming and charismatic Reverend gained attention and cultivated swift popularity amongst influential political leaders within his San Francisco community. That was his public face. In private, he was a gun-toting, drug-using tyrant who suffered from paranoia and a persecution-complex and who seduced most of the married women and young girls in his church. The 1970’s were a time when most Americans were not familiar with what a “cult” was or what constituted a “religious cult.” The overall positive but fake message Jones preached drew large numbers of congregants to his sermons. Even as he requested money in exchange for miracle healings and preached the need for a complete separation from society for anyone not a member of the Peoples Temple,  Jim Jones also did something almost unprecedented for a white religious leader. He advocated integration of his Church, and his black and white followers worshiped side-by-side at a time when racial tensions were still extremely high across the country. Tragically, they also died side-by-side in true black/white integration.

When authorities began looking into allegations that Jones  was engaged in a wide-ranging criminal enterprise which included welfare fraud, election fraud, child abuse, and extortion, instead of the FBI detaining him,  the government hiccuped allowing Jones to flee to French Guyana, a Banana-Republic that had no extradition with the U.S. at the time. Once there, under the protection of the Guyanese military, Jones and The People’s Temple purchased 3,800 acres of land to occujonestown2py in Guyana and  through long-distance phone calls and letters, convinced nearly one thousand  fanatical followers to up-root their lives and family and follow him down to the Peoples Temple Agricultural Project,  under the leadership or dictatorship of Jim Jones. On November 17, 1978, Congressman Leo Ryan traveled to Guyana to investigate the concerns of constituents, (parents and relatives of the cult-members), many of whom were believed to be held against their will and not allowed to leave. Ryan offered space on his DC-8 to any cult member wishing to leave. Jone’s security force along with the Guyanese military gunned down Ryan and everyone at the landing strip. Convinced the CIA would come after him (that paranoia-persecution complex again) on November 18, 1978,  Jim Jones and 908 Jonestown residents died on the compound. Most were coerced into drinking cyanide-laced kool-aid, an idea concocted by Jones. Others were shot while attempting to flee, and at least one resident, Jim Jones himself, committed suicide before the CIA was able to secure the compound.

Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.

In 1993, a religious cult, named the Branch Divideans had David Khoresh as their leader. They had a “compound” on the outskirts of town. Authorites received complaints about child abuse, the stockpiling of automatic-weapons, child rape, forced marriages, etc. The Davidians were recieving lots of government aid, food stamps, etc. So, the ATF (a new organization wanting to flex its might)  goes out there like an army to force this and that. The armed Davidians denied them entrance. It became a standoff.

After the disastrous events at Ruby Ridge, The FBI  wanted to wait it out. But attorney-general Janet Reno, (on the ropes after the Elian Gonzalez fiasco), decided to prove her might.  The ATF  decides to invade using a riot tank.  There has been a lot of controversy about how it went down, some say the government started the fire in the huge main house to smoke them out, others say the Davidians themselves started the fire to commit suicide. Most didn’t come out, they died in the fire or committed suicide in there. All 903 of them, men women, small children.080428_texas_polygamist_sect1

Jim Jones, People’s Temple, the mass-suicide at the  Peoples Temple Agricultural Project,  The Branch Davidians at Waco Tx, Applewhite and Heaven’s Gate Cult, Rev. Moon  remain fascinating case-studies for social scientists and psychologists for years to come as they seek to answer the all consuming question on everyone’s mind,

How could society have let this happen?

Could it happen again? Is it happening again?

The events at Waco, TX. with the Branch Davidians, Applewhite and Heaven’s Gate Cult, Elian Gonzalez, Ruby Ridge, the recent government mistep in Texas with the kidnapping and detaining of Fundamentalist LDS Church kids. (The Texas Supreme Court ruled there was no constitutional grounds for the raid based on the basis of an anonymous phone call. They’re in the process of returning the children to their mothers).

Don Henley is rock-critically correct with his song Dirty Laundry as is Harp, Vibe, Spin, and Rolling Stone magazines. The American media has become incapable of policing itself.

The country is really standing on a cliff when it comes to media concentration. When you go over that cliff you are going to be fundamentally changing what this country is about, and not for the better.”
– Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR

Folks, American journalists went over that cliff along time ago. Those remaining journalists like Anderson Cooper who think they matter or that they’re really making a difference are mere walking-zombies. The real journalism being done today is by bloggers like Matt Drudge (The Drudge Report) Arianna Huffington, myself and other’s. Don’t get sucked in by network journalism and FOX NEWS, who “kick em when they’re up- kick em when they’re down.” Take the time to become a blogger, read blogs. With more than 14 million blogs in existence this year and another 80,000 being created each day, there is limitless information available to the average reader to help you make a more informed decision.

news06Personally, I’m sick to death of watching cute news couples like “Randy and Nancy”  or Nerissa and Drew Sugars, or some other cutesy husband/wife news team or the obligatory bubble-headed bleach-blonde anchor with her perfect hair and designer jewelry reporting on the senseless tragedies as if it was some sort of cutesy entertainment story.

We can do the innuendo
We can dance and sing
When its said and done we havent told you a thing
We all know that crap is king

I don’t really need to find out whats going on, I don’t really want to know just how far its gone.  Just leave well enough alone, and leave the families of the victims of whatever horrendous tragedy alone.
Eat your dirty laundry!

Kilburn Hallmban2475l1

One of the names in consideration this week to fill the secretary of-state position in the new Obama administration is Hillary Clinton. I’m keeping my fingers crossed.

Knowing Hillary, as we know her, she would make Madeline Albright look like that girl scout in The Addams Family movie who tried to sell Wednesday Addams some girl-scout cookies. Hillary Clinton as Secretary Of State is a great choice- for America- just not for Hillary’s political ambitions. As Secretary Of State- Hillary would be a tough old broad.

She would walk sbishopstitanic033oftly and carry a big stick.

Most Secretary of State’s from Colin Powell on back to Henry Kissinger do not fare well politically. They usually end up making their living on the lecture circuit talking about the mistakes their administration (not they personally) made with foreign policy. The Secretary Of State position the last thirty-years has become the whipping boy, the doormat, to flawed Presidential administration policies and shifting world demographics, economics, and balance of power.

In Ben Franklin’s day, Secretary of State was an honored and revered position, akin to being the President of the United States. You were hosted by countries that actually requested your presence like France.  (No Freedom fries in those days). Banquets were given in our honor, keys to the city, with a Statue Of Liberty dumped on our doorstep.

In modern times,  Secretary of States,  (like Madeline Albright and  Condoleza Rice) and others who have shown such elementary disregard for foreign public opinion the last 30=years, most times have to duck out the back door before people start throwing garbage. Should Benjamin Franklin, arguably America’s greatest diplomat,  witness the harm Albright and “Condi” have done to America’s relations with the rest of the world (and America’s public diplomacy) he would roll over in his grave.

One of reasons the really qualified politicians turn down the position of Secretary Of State when offered them – it’s political suicide.

If Hillary has any political aspirations for running for the Oval Office in 2012- it would be political suicide for her to accept such a position that could blow up in her face. Should Iran start lobbing missiles at Israel- she can kiss her political career goodbye. Should the Iraq/Afghanistan conflict escalate  and become truly bloody again (as the six months following our invasion of Iraq)- kiss it goodbye Hillary.

Should the world economic/stock markets totally collapse and Japan and Europe suffer a severe recession/depression- kiss it goodbye Hillary.

Should Obama’s well intended foreign policy turn into shit hitting the proverbial worldwide fan- kiss it goodbye Hillary. You won’t be in the position to say, “I told you so” in 2012 for you have now become part of the Obama problem and no longer representing a solution.

Surely, Hillary’s political advisers must be telling her this. Surely they have been telling her that becoming the next Secretary Of State is political suicide and that should it all blow up in her face she has no chance in hell of any future political designs.untitled2

Face it, her husbands foreign policy was called, “The Flyswatter technique.” (Lob a few missile into Arab countries when the terrorists/freedom fighters act up) Take out a school or factory by mistake. Under Bill Clinton we had Black-hawk Down- (that tragedy in Mogadishu caused by Bill’s total contempt for our own military while respecting he rights of terrorists who were trying to kill us). Mr. Bill also gave us the bombing of the USS Cole- the newest and most state-of-the-art destroyer in the U.S. Fleet,  with a hole blown  in it mr-bill-ohh-nooo-magnet-c11751410jpegthe size of a barn simply because he wouldn’t give the officers on deck bullets for their service revolvers.
Oh No … Mr. Bill!

There they were, gathered at George Washington University,  five people who had made history and shaped American foreign policy for nearly four decades. Vietnam and détente. Hot war with Iraq and Cold War with the Soviet Union. Mideast peace-conferences and arms control. Kosovo and Iran. Rwanda and Iraq.
The fall of the Berlin Wall and the scourge of drought, poverty and AIDS in the developing world. Five former American Secretaries of State. The conversation was remarkable for its candor, depth and realism. But the advice the five former Secretary of States were offering President Obama’s pick for the office was this: “Get over it. Get real. Be smart.”

This coming from the five people who have been responsible for America’s safety the last 30-years? I have a five-year-old neighbor boy who could give better political advice.

How could President Obama and whoever he picks do any worse than these idiots?

Madeleine Albright suggests a nuclear confrontation with Iran (like that is gonna work. The only way to win that game is not to play). James Baker wants to increase the military even more. More men in the field when American families want their loved ones to come home.  All that these former politco minds can offer American’s is this:

“Engage the whole world.”

Attack soundbites. That’s it?  Nothing about a Benjamin Franklin or Abraham Lincoln detente, just blow up the whole world?  Smart advice when Russia has recently invaded Georgia, Putin is caving  to the KGB hardliners who want to bring back the Cold War, China’s spying and human-rights abuse against its own people are at atrocious levels, North Korea just closed the border with South Korea, Chavez (that South American wacko)  wants all neighboring countries to join him in a war against the U.S. By all means Henry Kissinger, James Baker, Warren Christopher, Madeleine Albright, Colin Powell, lets engage the whole world and watch WWIII destroy the entire planet.

_____________________________________________________

Fortunately for America-

President Obama “gets it.” He wants to sit the wacko’s like Arman-a-dinner-jacket and Castro down at the table for a little detente poker. You can’t make peace with your enemies if you don’t talk to them Obama says. Makes great sense to me unlike the five retired politcio whack-jobs who would wish to watch the world burn. It’s not their beat anymore and they can make even more money on the lecture circuit critizing an Obama administration and making un-wanted/un-needed suggestions. I get so tired of Jimmy Carter shooting his mouth off. He was  horrible President, his foreign policy was this- Americans were held hostage in Iran for a year. So, why does he shoot his mouth off and offer to fix every political crisis that comes along the last 20-years? Stay at home Jimmy- build your houses for Habitat for Humanity where you can actually do more good for Americans.

My hope for Secretary of State is Hillary.  However, I think she’s too smart to fall into that trap.

Whomever President Obama picks for his Secretary Of State,  I hope he/she will, as In Ben Franklins day, restore the Secretary of State post to a once more honored and revered position.      I would rather see our new Secretary Of State wining and dining our enemies at state dinners than ducking out the back way with Molotov cocktails being slung after them or Al-Qaeda making that warbling sound they do with their throats while waving rifles in the air. We’ve seen enough images like this to last a lifetime.

Ben Franklin said it best:  Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both.”

You can’t make peace with your enemy if you don’t talk to them.

KH


The art of James Bond, 007, was this:

he longed for the foreplay and the cigarette afterward and we, the reading public and movie-fans, longed for his longing.

I was severely disappointed with the latest Bond release (Number 24 in the long list of Bond films) Quantum Of Solace not just aflemingwithgun_1541s an author of a Bond novel, RED INDIANS but as a James Bond fan. Ian Fleming, the creator of Bond never intended that 007 become a “terminator” or two-dimensional cardboard cut-out action figure. Violence was always an annoyance for Bond which distracted him from his passions in life, (girls, cars, Baccarat), and his number one passion, the Vodka Martini, shaken not stirred. No twist of lemon  or Mojito as was added by Pierce Brosnan, just a simple Vodka Martini.

Four years ago,  Bond fans revolted when it was announced that Daniel Craig would be taking over the part from Pierce Brosnan, who played Bond like sex-on-a-stick. That was not the essence of the real Bond either, 007 was not a runway model, though Brosnan could do the double-entendre. Craig is a buffoon in a Tom Ford suit. He cannot do nuance  or smooth like Sean Connery, tongue-in-cheek like Roger Moore or double-entendre like Pierce Brosnan. In fact, Daniel Craig is best as James Bond when he speaks as little as possible. Now, how are you going to bed down the villians girlfriend to extract information from a Pussy Galore if you can’t do the tongue-in-cheek, the double-entendre, the practiced art of the metaphor?

conan1What Craig does best is skull bashing. Might as well have cast him as Conan and given him a sword. (Oh wait, they tried that, he turned down the role of Captain America).  As if that was any more of a cardboard action figure than the Bond he plays in Quantum.

Garrett Young please … no more Bond pictures like this last one or you’ll lose all your die-hard Bond fans if you haven’ t already.

For me, the Bond franchise died when George Lazenby decided not to return for a second film following, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service. George was great as James Bond, he could do smooth, suave, the practiced art of the double-entendre and he could do the action as well as any of them. Lazenby just didn’t have the fan base that Roger Moore had coming off The Saint (TV series) so Cubby Broccoli gave him the axe just as recent producers axed Pierce Brosnan because of his age. Have they ever considered how old James Bond would be these days? He would be chasing women in a geriatric ward and his Vodka Matini’s, (shaken but not stirred),  would most likely be Prune Juice. Had Lazenby had the time, he would have settled into the role and perhaps surpassed Sean Connery as the Bond favorite of all time.

Depending on when you were born, you have a different favorite Bond. Most of us, products of the sixties, irrevocably see Sean Connery as our favorite. Lazenby my second favorite with Brosnan a c close third. Those who came of age in the seventies, will always think of Roger Moore as their favorite with Generation X’ers- it is Timothy Dalton who was not half bad in The Living Daylights.

Quantum of Solace  (title which Bond affecionado’s like myself get but whose title confused today’s movie-goers) was the sequel to Casino Royale, the book that first introduced the world to James Bond. Born of an ornithology book about BIrds of the West Indies, Bond was seduced by an agent working for a criminal organization called Quantum whose head was the elusive Mr. White. Bond falls in love with the agent (Vesper Lynd)  sent to set him up  who is killed by Quantum. The sequel refers to the fact that getting revenge for Vesper Lynd’s murder leaves Bond with just a quantum or “minute fraction” of solace (satisfaction). “A quantum of solace.” Get it?

There is no Q,  (played rather brilliantly by former Monty Python founder John Cleese), no Moneypenny or the sexual double-entendre. Bond doesn’t even try to bed down the luscious Camille whch leads me to believe that the producers are turning Bond into a homosexual or effeminent lout. What next? A half-black, half hispanic, gay, transvestite, non-smoking, non-drinking, politically correct James Bond? Take me out and shoot me now.

http://www.scatteredgenius.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/01/drevil.jpgAs far as an evil villain, there is no diabolical Dr. Evil (Mike Meyer) and his usual accoutrement of henchmen. We get a warehouse, some dock workers and a hotel out in the middle of a desert that blows up with few quests staying in it other than the bad guys. Who stays at places like this anyway? Even when Bond strands Mr, Green out in the desert with no water but just a can of motor-oil to drink, we think what a horrible way to go out. We like this Bond with his unique sense of justice. Then we find out from M (played brilliantly by Judi Dench) that Mr. Green is shot three times in the head and the can of motor oil left untouched. Why do the producers do that? Give Bond a villainous heart and then soft-soap the violence to the public. We want Bond to be villainous of heart- just not all the skull bashing. We want Green to die of thirst with only motor-oil to drink in his last moments. (Green was trying to corner the water supply of some third-world country) the motor-oil an ironic metaphor.

The poor script, acting, plot,  and unabashed skull-bashing made me want to gag!

It’s time for a return to the lost art of Bond or for James Bond to retire gracefully once and for all with his dignity and balls intact.

Any further mucking about with the character by producers or lame acting of Daniel Craig will further serve to kill the franchise. Like Playboy, Hugh Hefner, Walther PBK, Aston Martini, Vodka Martini (shaken not stirred), James Bond, 007, is an icon and as such, there are some icons you just don’t tamper with.

Either return Bond to his elevated perch or kill the bastard off in a diabolical way that Blofeld would be proud of and have done with it once and for all. But no more mucking about with a blonde-haired, inferred homsosexual gnome in an ill-fitting Tom Ford suit who can’t speak more than one or two syllables of intelligent dialogue.

As 007 himself would advise:

You Only Live Twice

“We’ve had some interesting times together – I’ll be sorry to go”

(Bond, just before he dies).

KILBURN HALL

author of Red Indians (A James Bond 007 thriller)red-indians-alt2

zack-and-miri-make-a-porno

Since 1994 with the release of the movie, Natural Born Killers, Hollywood has faced an engma. How do you portray violence and sex without showing violence and sex? It’s a Catch-22. The controversy surrounding release of Natural Born Killers is similar to the controversy surrounding release of the recent film, Zack and Miri Make A Porno.

Platonic friends since grade-school, roommates Zack and Miri look to solve their respective cash-flow problems by making an adult film together. As the cameras roll, however, the duo begin to sense that they may have more feelings for each other than they previously thought.

Pretty simple comedy idea from the people who brought you the 40-Year-Old-Virgin. So why is 40-Year-Old Virgin funny and Zack and Miri Make A Porno controversial? The movie trailer poster was banned in the US by the MPAA for it’s content.  The bothersome title made getting ads for the movie difficult in some places.

zack-and-miri-make-a-porno-1st-poster“Zack and Miri Make a Porno” has been rejected because of the five-letter word that ends the title, said Gary Faber, head of marketing for the Weinstein Co., which is releasing the film.”

Those refusing to carry ads numbered about 15 newspapers and several TV stations and cable channels. Commercials for Zack and Miri during a Los Angeles Dodgers games on Fox Sports was dropped at the team’s request after some viewers complained.

Like who would complain?

We all like sex don’t we? Particularly after living through the 1960’s  and the Kennedy adminsitration where the “babes”  were running out the back door of the White House as fast as Jackie O was walking in the front door? Aah … there’s the rub.

We don’t all like sex. Some of us use “sex” to manipulate others into doing what we want, into giving us the political power or religious dictatorship over others that we crave. Our self-anointed religious saviors like King James Dobson and Jerry Falwell who are often caught in embarasing moments with their pants down around their ankles with a transvestite hooker and many of our Catholic Priests with Alterboys.

The reason that “sex” or even the mention of the word “porn” is controversial is that Americans like their sex behind closed doors. And we like “death” behind closed doors. We don’t like our “sex” lives or sex acts or “death” on public display. We feel uncomfortable discussing it around the dinner table at Thanksgiving. Our uncomfortableness is what keeps the Russian Mafia with its billion-dollar-a-year “Porn” industry on the web in business with its millions of sex webcam sites like Jasmin.com, Liveprivates.com, Cam4.com, Imlive.com, and others.

We are so umcomfortable about having our “sex” in public that sixteen-year-old popstars like Jamie Spears and the daughter of Vice-Presidential candidate Sarah Palin are pregnant out of wedlock. Americans like “to do it” we just don’t like to talk about it. Therein lies the problem. Americans love “to do it” but we feel uncomfortable talking about it. Well, someone has to talk about it. Someone who is not a quack like Dr. Ruth or Dr. Laura. Someone other than the Hispanic gangbanger looking to bang your daughter.

What makes 40-Year-Old-Virgin a funny comedy and Zack and Miri a controversy? One word.

“Intimation.” (a slight suggestion or vague understanding).

Steve Carrell (40-Year-Old Virgin) “intimates” sex never providing graphic details. Even the sex scenes are intimated. In Zack and Miri the sex is graphic and it is raunchy. There is the blonde porno actress who is constipated delivering a hershey-kiss on screen, there is the porn star Bubbles demonstrating for millions of movie-going fans just how she earned her nickname before strapping on a dildo and giving it to her man doggy-style.

falwell_robertsonThe devil is in the details and religious whack-jobs like James Dobson, Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson are foaming at the mouth. They live for soundbite moments like this.

As with the controversy of Natural Born Killers which was deemed “too violent” by the MPAA how does Hollywood have an open and honest conversation about “sex,” “porn” or “graphic violence” without actually showing any “sex,” “porn” or “graphic violence?”

The honest answer is they can’t.

Personally, I loved the movie. I thought Zack and Miri was hillarious and more genuine than the disingenuous 40-Year-Old-Virgin. Who is a virgin at age 40? And who are we fooling by suggesting someone could still be a virgin at age 40? Even our 13-year-olds know we are lying. So how can we have an honest conversation with our kids about responsible sex when we make comedy’s that lie to them? Or comedy’s that lie to ourselves?thehousebunny

Sex in most of todays comedy’s and films is a device, a gimick, a lie, something to move along the plot or storyline. Not something genuine. Take the recent comedy, House Bunny about a Playmate that is kicked out of the mansion and has to fend for herself. Perfect opportunity about a frank and honest discussion of the lifestyle choice of a pornstar or woman who chooses to be one of Hef’s playmates, what really goes on at the mansion, the glamorous lifestyle that results as being one of Hef’s accessories and the disappointing crash and burn when that glamourous lifestyle ends. Instead we get a stereotypical comedy about a playmate with the IQ of a frog. Today’s Playmates are not the dumb blonde bunnies of the 1960’s, (If they ever were). they are sharp, cold, calculating business-women who use Hef (as much if not more) than the retired old pervert or his Playboy Enterprises can use them.

Instead what we get in comedy’s like House Bunny is the stereotypical comedy about the dumb bunny whose only talents lie in her fashion sense and beauty makeup tips.

Please! Pass me the paper-bag now because I think I’m gonna throw up.

Zack and Miri might be one of the more honest comedies made about the reality of sex and the distinction between sex and making love. (Note to parents: if you haven’t checked your teenage daughter’s room lately, chances are she has a porn website of her own and doing things on live webcam which would make Bubbles in Zack and Miri Make A Porn look like a Catholic school-girl).

It is disingenuous for Hollywood to keep making the same, lame, tired-out, “lies”  (about sex or violence)  which refer to sex as merely a device to move the plot along and not engage the movie-going public in an honest and frank discussion about sex or violence. Yet, when they try to have these open, honest and frank discussions, like with Zack and Miri  Make A Porn or Natural Born Killer’s, they are slammed by their own MPAA as too controversial and used as a bully-pulpit for preachers like Falwell, Dobson, and other’s whose only desire is to make us feel guilty about it all so as to continue to line their own pockets.

Zack and Miri Make A Porno is a good start towards having this open and honest discussion about sex just as Dark Knight (the recent Batman flick) was a good start towards having an honest and open discussion about terrorism and the use of violence.

If you’re a movie fan looking for such open and honest discussion, I highly recommend both these films and like Zack would say:rosie-hot-sm-odonnell-view-lesbian-cop-leather-jimmy-kimmel-mama

Zack: EVERYBODY wants to see ANYBODY f**k. I hate Rosie O’Donell, but if somebody said “I got a tape of Rosie O’Donell getting f****d “stupid” I’d be like, “Why the F**K aren’t we watching that right now?”

KH

dataWalMart’s recent Christmas TV ad is set to the classic Christmas Carol, The Carol of the Bells, as Wal-Mart associates flicker their checkout lane lights in time with the music.  At the end, they say they will open all lanes to accommodate more “Christmas shopping.”  Additionally, when shopping there at Halloween, I saw a large sign outside their garden center displaying the words, “Christmas Central.”

That’s right. WalMart is using the C-word again. A radical departure from 2005, when WalMart banned its employees from saying, Merry Christmas,” unless it had been said to them first. Not everyone celebrates Christmas and WalMart didn’t want to offend anyone.” (lest it cut into their sales revenues). Heaven forbid, customers might be offended by having a minimum-wage earning cashier who’s scared of losing her job wish them a Merry Christmas” and take their business to Target.

“Isn’t it a bit hypocritical to sell and make lots of money off of any item that has to do with religious significance and not acknowledge the religious significance? Like “Christmas” signifying Christ. The Christ in Christmas?

Christmas Made In China

Lee Scott, CEO of Wal-Mart and the higher ups decided it wasn’t politically correct to wish someone a Merry Christmas” or recognize the religious significance of the holiday for all the cheap knockoff Chinese junk they sell. Might as well wish Wal-Mart customers the following Chinese proverb:

The weasel comes to give New Year’s greeting to the chickens; no good intention in mind.

wal_mart_china_worker1The giant U.S, big-box retailer Wal-Mart changed its greeting in 2005 from “Merry Christmas!” to “Happy Holidays!” Naturally,  it drew complaints- from WalMart’s “Christian” shoppers. The Catholics came to the rescue, a boycott was duly summoned, WalMart relented, and heads rolled for anyone not using the officially approved WalMart phrase, “Happy Holidays.” (which is WalMart’s way of saying, “Bah Humbug!”)

Although reminders of Christmas were all around last year, you’d be hard pressed to find the word “Christmas” in any store signs, displays, and advertisements. Only a handful of stores at the malls included the word Christmas in their storefront displays. Bath & Body Works had the words “Celebrate the perfect “Christmas” on their store window, while Finish Line had the words “All I want for Christmas” at the top of a gigantic wish list. Last  year most retailers  omitted Christmas from their displays and advertising to make shoppers of all faiths feel welcome in their stores.

This year, 2008, with the horrible economy and  money being tight, retailers are bending their own rules and using the word “Christmas,” at least once in their ads. Does that mean the alleged war on “Christmas” is over?

Hardly. (postponed would be a better word)

Retailers in a bad economy have to bend over and kiss a little consumer butt if Black Friday is to put them in the “black” once more so  consumers will be hearing the word “Christmas” at least once in ads. But the word “Christmas” is a manipulation being used by the Scrooge’s that run WalMart and the “big-box-stores” instead of  “Bah Humbug!”  The female voice doing the Carol Of The Bells WalMart TV ad, says the word “Christmas” like someone was holding a gun to her head.

walmart-1Though the retailers use the word  (Christmas) instead of  “happy holidays” they don’t mean it as anything  other than a device to get you in the door to separate you from your money.

But “Save money, live better, and Bah Humbug! Implying that, “We just want your money fools!”

After the events with WalMart the past few years, I was shocked to hear them saying let alone using  the word, “Christmas.” Guess the economy is so bad this year, money so tight that WalMart doesn’t want to offend wealthy Christians lest its wealthy Christian customers put a dent in their sales revenue.

Nice hypocritical company that WalMart. Nice to know that they value your money more than your beliefs or their own religious beliefs.

I plead with all that believe in the spirit and reason for Christmas, even if not in the strictest religious of reasons, to say to every WalMart employee you see in the store,

“Merry Christmas from your future union who has your best interests at heart.”

If you  have the nerve, stand at their front door and wish everyone that comes through,  “Merry Christmas from the union.” You could make a game out of it with your friends. Go to different stores and time that store to see how long it takes the poh-lice to show up. Shortest time wins … err loses. (for you)

WalMart hates the idea of a union. Being forced to treat their employees as human beings and not use intimidation and extortion to keep employees in line.untitled

I think it was more honest when WalMart said Bah Humbug! err … “happy holidays.” At least we knew where they really stood.

With only 30-days to Christmas, already I am so sick of Christmas I just want it to be over with.  I am sick of Christmas because all that Christmas has become to retailers is a manipulation,  a device,  just like Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, and Easter. Though they mouth the words, there is no sincerity behind them. You feel like the Grinch is giving you his calculating stare.

Just once, I would like to see Walmart and the other retailers really show the Christmas spirit by not laying people off, paying a “liveable” wage,  becoming more involved in the community they serve by doing community outreach. Why can’t Wal-Mart employees visit all the shut-ins in their community, delivering (as Christmas presents) all the the cheap Chinese knockoff junk they make a volume profit on?  Or, serve soup in the soup kitchens to the thousands of homeless this year? Target does it! Why can’t WalMart employees sing carols in the front of the store? Hand out free little bags of candy to the kids? Why can’t WalMart put a Santa in the store’s? I have never seen a Santa in WalMart stores have you?

The Bottom line is this-

giant “big-boxers” only care about their bottom line and its management, about year-end bonuses. They will do anything, say anything, bend any which way the wind blows to get you to spend money in their stores.

Personally, I’m getting into the true spirit of Christmas by boycotting WalMart and not stepping foot in a big box store this year. I will spend my money at the little ma-and-pa stores the shop around the corner, which are truly desperate for my business so they might be around next Christmas.

So, Merry Christmas Lee Scott, and Happy Unions!

KH

America’s foreign policy is in shambles.

mahal1_516x350_16981aAs Americans headed over country and through the woods to grandmother’s house enjoying its most American of holidays, “Thanksgiving,” American foreign policy mumbled as terrorists calling themselves the Deccan Mujahideen stormed luxury hotels, restaurants, and hospitals in Mumbai, India rounding up Americans and British tourists for execution and spraying commuters with bullets at the Chhatrapati Train Station. The media dubbed the incident, “India’s 911.” The death-toll so far stands at 82 with 120 wounded and Indian Army snipers man rooftops battling gunmen to retake control of that city. The U.S. has issued a travel ban to India through December 31st. The visciousness of the attack left most Indian people stunned. It was cold, calculated, and deadly, the images on the front pages of major newspapers- appalling. The attack on India’s financial capital had all the earmarks of al-Qaida, (simultaneous assaults in iconic buildings meant to kill scores of Westerner’s).

Many of the Middle-Eastern countries are beginning to realize now what George W. has been telling them all along about terrorists. They have no “rules.” And that quickly brings me to the point of this blog. America is a nation of laws, of rules. We have a moral compass to guide us. We are the “nice guys.” Terrorists have no rules. Former Secretary of State, Warren Christopher,  kept telling President Clinton, “the only way to get rid of terrorists is to terrorize the terrorists.” Become as viscious, bloody, and brutal as they are.

6a00d83452f0f169e200e54f2a0a3b8834-800wiTherein lies the problem. America, with its moral compass cannot bring itself to act like barbarians and so when it comes to Al-Qaeda, Mujahideen and other terrorist groups who commit barberous acts, when we go head to head with them in any ground action- we will lose, despite all our modern-day technology. Whatever ground action we take simply escalates the level of violence. In the recent Dark Knight movie, the police want to beat the crap out of the Joker until they realize that he would enjoy it too much. Which raises the question: how do you deal with someone who just wants to watch the world burn? Someone instills violence in others and enjoys the violence perpetuated on him without it creating an armageddon?

It’s a no win situation. The only way to win is not to play that game and for the news media not … to give the terrorists the publicity they crave. The media needs to start seeing terrorists as the thugs they are, criminals, scumbags, dirtballs, and not play up to them as glorified freedom fighters. The only cause terrorists believe in is anarchy and death. The Taoists believe that anger begets more anger, violence begets more violence- terrorists believe in “Jihad.”

The recent massacre in Mubai shocked a world who believed George W. that America had put an end to terrorism. Apparently not. Terrorism wasn’t thwarted by our 5-year occupation of Iraq, merely postponed;  and is back in full force now that we have a presidency in transition. The terrorists are testing our new presidents resolve before he has even been sworn into office. What does this say about their resolve to commit barberous acts.

George W. may have been right in going after the terrorists, but wrong in getting side-tracked by false intelligence and WMD’s and invading Iraq where we have now been stuck for the last five-years. The real war against terrorism has been in Afghanistan all along and America helped create it. We created the Mujahideen when Congressman Charlie Wilson (Wilson’s War starring Ton Hanks) financed arms for the Mujahideen to defeat our then supposed enemy (Russia) in Afghanistan. Charlie Wilson before leaving office, begged the powers to be to build schools, roadways, hospitals. America instead cut and ran leaving a  void which was filled by Osama bin Laden, Taliban, Al-Qaeda and Mujahideen. Charlie Wilson was right.

charlie-wilsons-war“The part that I’ll take to my grave with guilt is that . . . I didn’t stay the course and stay there and push and drive the other members of Congress nuts pushing for a mini-Marshall Plan,” he said. “And I let myself be frustrated and discouraged by the fact that (the Afghan) leadership was so fragmented that we were unable to do the things we needed to do, like clear the mines, like furnish them millions of tons of fertilizer to be able to replant the crops.”

10100758George W.  has opened Pandora’s Box and there is no closing it again if America continues to operate “Old-School”  and  engage terrorists on their terms with ground action and occupation the bloodshed, violence,  roadside bombs, the kidnapping and herding of tourists into stairwells for execution will continue. The terrorists know America plays by the “rules” – they have no such rules. In the end, we cannot possibly hope to win an occupation of Iraq or Afghanistan by force but our troops will be overrun as they were in Vietnam. Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.  America cannot continue its “Cowboy” diplomacy,  (our “go it alone” foreign policy) while snubbing our noses at our best friends and allies like France, Germany, Britain. We cannot do everything by ourselves we need help. Even help in new found friends and allies like former President Ronald Regan forged with Gorbachev and Russia which have been recently put on hold by Bush’s insistence to build a missile-defense-system in Europe, a defense system that Bush wants but that the Russians do not want or feel they need.

Now that terrorism is out of the box,, the only way to combat and  defeat it  is a combined world-wide effort including countries in the process like Russia, India, Pakistan and Iran who now are becoming targets themselves. This is what they get  for years of looking the other way while terrorists sought sanctuary .America’s new foreign policy must be “inclusion” not division. Not “cowboy” diplomacy which didn’t even work much for the cowboys in the days of the old west. Hanging badguys from the nearest tree didn’t discourage organized crime syndicates like “The Cowboys” or “Red Sash Gang”  in Tombstone.

With the round-up and execution of foreign tourists in Mubai, India’s financial district, the government and Army of India are now faced with a choice. To step up and join the fight against these terrorists or continue to look the other way and do nothing.

line-in-sand1The line in the sand has been drawn. George W, drew that line  for all Americans and every country in the world who would give terrorists sanctuary. There is no going back now. Pandora’s Box has been opened, the forces of terrorism have been unleashed. George W. is gone now in a few weeks, he won’t  have to shoulder the burden of a failed terrorist policy in the MIddle East,  future Presidents like Obama  have inherited that burden. It’s unfortunate because Obama could have been a great President. If his administration can’t figure out a way to include countries like India and Pakistan in the war against the terrorists and rally our allies like France, Germany, Spain,and other’s- the cause is lost. America will pull out of Iraq and Afghanistan, the region will fall back into anarchy  under  control of the war-lords, Iran will develop nuclear capabilites which threaten the stability of its neighbors like India and Pakistan who already have nuclear capabilities. The result will be catastrophic.

obama10eI feel confident an Obama adminstration will pursue a vigourous foreign policy based on public debate and inclusion, (a sit-down-at-the-table tough talk)  not “cowboy” diplomacy ground troops, and division. America must convince India, Pakistan, Iran,  and Syria that it is in their best interest to join the fight against  terrorists.. Only then, with their comittment, troops, and determined cooperation, can we hope to wipe out al-Qaida, Mujahideen and other terrorist groups who now threaten the stability of the entire world.

Otherwise, Mumbai will become the rallying cry of terrorists everywhere and Americans will not be safe even here in the states. Our subways, railways, airlines, and our largest shopping malls will all become targets for bombers.

The biggest mistake of the Bush adminstration was its  “cowboy,” go-it-alone diplomacy instead of pursuing the policy of negotiation and missile-deterrents (also known as the Fly-Swatter techinque) implemented by the Clinton administration where America was beginning to see slow but steady progress.

obama_clinton_1114572cAs Secretary Of State, hopefully Hillary Clinton will put America back on the right path diplomatically and not create a shadow government with her husband Bill. America must restore our alliances which have served us so well the past 100 years. We must  talk-tough with our enemies, practice “inclusion” not division, and head off the wacko’s like Chavez in South America who have now convinced Russia to provide them with the means to create a nuclear program.flag1

America is the last super-power. The last shining example for the rest of the world to follow. If we fail- the world fails. The recent presidential election of 2008 demonstrates to the world that Americans can put our century-old prejudices behind us, hold hands united, and take one step forward into the future instead of remaining stuck in the past. Now, if we can just get the rest of the world to do the same, view terrorists as the Deccan Mujahideen like the criminals they are and not glorify them as heroic freedom fighters, deny them sanctuary, freeze their bank accounts, conduct vigourous border crossing checks, the terrorists will find there are few places to hide.

But there can be no more mumbling by world governments as Mumbai burns.

KH

THE BUSH LEGACY

baby-bush

Every President leaves a legacy. George Washington, founder of our nation left us democracy. Thomas Jefferson left us the Declaration of Independence,  Lincoln freed the slaves, Teddy Roosevelt created our national parks, Franklin D. Roosevelt, the Nobel Peace prize and a determination to defeat the Nazi’s, Nixon ended the Vietnam conflict and opened trade with China, Regan tore down the Berlin Wall while ending communism and George W. ???

In a few weeks, the 43rd-President of these United States will turn over the reigns to President Barack Obama. There will be a new round-table. As with all outgoing President’s, George W. is concerned about his legacy, which will be known as “The Bush Legacy.” George W, is hoping history will see him as a president who liberated millions of Iraqis and Afghans, who worked towards peace and who never sold his soul for political ends. 33481

I however, think history will view him as a reckless President who opened Pandora’s Box, unleashing a form of terrorism on the world that we cannot put back in the box. One who pushed his “Cowboy” go-it-alone diplomacy which alienated some of America’s oldest friends and allies, and infuriated old enemies like Russia and latin America.

George W. would also like to be seen as the President who relieved HIV/AIDS and malaria on places like the continent of Africa; but truth be known, HIV has swallowed up 2/3rd’s of that continent with America not being able to get the rest of the world community on board its relief efforts financially. Bush would also like to say that he helped elderly people get prescription drugs and Medicare as a part of a basic package but the elderly are more confused about Medicare and prescription drugs than ever before with increased government regulation and red-tape.

About the only claim to success that Bush can claim is the removal of Saddam Hussein, one of the most evil dictators in history. But then, it was America, the CIA and George Bush Sr. that put Saddam in power in the first place.

Frankly, I’m glad to see George W, stepping back into the shadows. He stepped on too many toes, rubbed too many people the wrong way, stirred up animosity the world-over against the U.S. and its citizens (which is why terrorists were singling out U.S. citizens for execution in Mumbai). Under Clinton, the world loved America- under Bush, the world hates us and seeks our destruction. So, it is time for him to go back into the shadows from whence he came.

In his defense, though the CIA had warnings of a coordinated attack on America, they lacked the specifics (where, when, how). There is no way George W. or his administration could have prevented 911. Osama bin-Laden had been planning the attack on America during the Clinton administration. George W, did however restore dignity to America’s military unlike the contempt Bill Clinton had for our military. But Bush’s “Cowboy” go-it-alone diplomacy, his five-year occupation of Iraq, his insistence to build a missile-defense system in Europe which angered the Russians who have been feeling impotent of late, his “axis-of-evil” speech have not inspired world-leaders to band together to defeat terrorists or terrorism but instead only seem to inspire the terrorists themselves in their drive and comitment to thwart U.S. empire-building and single out and kill Americans;  any Americans, civilian or military.

Bush opened Pandora’s Box, unleashing world-wide terrorism and the brutality the likes of which have never before been seen on earth. In Mumbai, 197 were rounded up and executed by the Deccan Mujahideen. Today in Nigeria, sporadic bursts of gunfire rattled the central Nigerian city of Jos as security forces tried to prevent more clashes between Muslim and Christian gangs in which hundreds of people have been killed. Somali pirating has become so bad in the Persian Gulf that many of the supertankers refuse to use the Suez Canal after Somali Pirates hijacked the world’s largest supertanker the Sirius Star.

Terrorism, after 911 and the successful attack on America has become  premeditated, politically motivated violence perpetrated against noncombatant targets by subnational groups or clandestine agents. Groups like al-Qaida, Deccan Muhajideen, Taliban, and others with links to organizations outside the country they operate in, who get their training, funding, and affiliation, without the knowledge of the authorities who provide law enforcement in those countries. Brut force, will not halt the spread of worldwide terrorism, violence only seems to increase the level of the terrorists brutality. The only way to defeat this systemic cancerous growth of terrorism is by a concerted world-wide effort. The incoming Obama administration is smart enough to recognize that America cannot be the world’s policeman and that in order to achieve this worldwide cooperation, we need to enlist the help of allies and other countries, to win back worldwide respect by sitting people down at the table and getting them to talk to us, including our enemies. You can’t fight your enemy if you can’t find them.

Only history knows how the Bush administration will be judged and what, if any, will be the “Bush Legacy.” But the Bush Legacy will not be what he hopes it will be. If anything, I think history will see that the Bush years took America and the world a huge step backward, escalating the level of violence around the world and almost wrecking the world economy.

Iraq, of course, remains the main argument that Bush and his few remaining supporters use to justify his legacy. Didn’t Bush get rid of Saddam Hussein? George W. Bush actually believes the Iraq war was a success and is “very pleased” with what is happening there. George W.’s war on terror has only seemed to increase terror around the world as copycat terrorist groups emmulate the success of al-Qaidi. Instead of Afghanistan becoming safer after the Taliban, it has become an even more dangerous place as remaining terrorists go out of their way to commit barbaric beheadings and other crimes against women and Americans. Mrs. Bush said that women in Iraq are safer now since the American occupation yet the attacks against women there, (throwing acid in their face) have escalated since the Americans arrived.

One of the American guards at Guantanamo Bay (Camp Gitmo) was quoted as saying, “if they didn’t hate America when they came here, they sure will after what we’ve done to them here.”

It’s a good thing Bush is leaving.

The saber rattling has increased with  a palsied intensity the last eight years while our closest friends and allies have tried to quietly tell us that America is only increasing the violence around the world. America, plain and simply, needs a “time-out.”

bush-walking-flightFirst came Afghanistan, Americans  wondered,  when the Ruskies spent years there to no avail why we were able to overthrow the Taliban so quickly. Then came the two-week war in Iraq. Bush in his flight suit strutting his stuff and here five and a half years later, American GI’s are still in surge mode. The president only has a few weeks left with India and Pakistan melting down fast and Iran still “touch and don’t go.”

George W.’s overly-aggressive response to 9-11 eventually sent liberals and Democrats over the edge. While Afghanistan was mostly supported, his invasion and occupation of Iraq sealed his doom. America has had few allies in this endeavor, and now faces an even greater number of enemies around the world. Proclaiming himself a “compassionate conservative”, George W. did nothing to reduce the size of government and cut government spending, he deregulated to the point where greedy lenders and investors have brought down not only our economy but the world economy to the point of a global melt-down.

So what will George W. Bush’s legacy be? Simply this.

It will be that he foolishly believed that bringing democracy to a region that had never experienced it would remove the terrorist threat in the long term. You cannot give democracy to anyone. They have to want it for themselves and be willing to fight for it as our founding fathers did in 1776. Secondly, that you cannot defeat terrorists by brute force but that brute force only emboldens them.

windsor-bill-2003-pietrip-arizona-cowboy-at-sunset-arizona-office-of-tourism-200In the long term, these lessons might be a great legacy should Americans chose to learn from them and never forget them. But at the cost of almost ruining the American way of life, losing the respect and friendship of our oldest allies, earning the hatred and murderous contempt of terrorists around the world and giving them the “Jihad” they always wanted and an excuse to kill Westerner’s, it might have been lessons the world could have done without.

KH



cecile_cecile_sofly

Yuh nuh see how mi fat in a mi jeans,
kitty kat just phat a buffy – nuh any bowy can handle mi speed,”

Bad Gal Ce’Cile “ from her latest hit single ‘So Fly’

The old adage used to be that “sex sells.”  Ads laced with sexual imagery of women geared toward men to buy Budweiser, expensive cologne, cigarettes, and alcohol products.  Images of sexy men to get women to buy those needed cleaning products sold by a sexy bald-headed Mr. Clean, along with perfume, cigarettes, condoms and fashion.

Many young people are surprised that sex in advertising has been around the block once or twice believing it to reflect the sexual revolution of the 1960s and 70s. Farrah Fawcett was a sex-in-advertising icon in the 1970s. The use of “sex” in advertising to sell a product however has been around as long as there have been advertisers. Where in the 1960’s, (with the strict FCC),  sex in advertising was an innocent form of flirtation, today’s FCC seems to have relaxed the rules to the point where the sex being hinted at is kinky and quite perverse with sado-masochism, bondage, and other forms of titilation being hinted at.

The “does sex sell?” question is actually pretty simple. The answer is “yes, it does.” However, only to a point.

chase-sanborn-spank-456a-0117081In the last forty-years, companies have embraced sex in advertising with some really fun, successful, sexy and/or annoying results. But they’re not depending on their sexy ads to pay the bills. While a nice rack might get a spike in traffic or sales, they’re not the most reliable meal ticket. Good looking models that demonstrate weight-loss products promise to make you look better (the benefit of that is being more attractive to others, especially to the opposite sex) is a good use of sex in advertising. Ramping up the sexual content to the point that people are thinking about sex rather than the product, then the sex overwhelms the product message. That has been the problem lately for advertisers trying to use sex to get our attention. They have to ramp up the sex because after  40-years of sex in advertising, it’s harder and harder to get our attention. We’ve become desensitized.

Sex in advertising can also be a lame cop-out used by marketers who lack imagination to create more compelling work that will sustain itself beyond the initial titillation and as such, will continue to be used in advertising because it’s a quick and easy solution which doesn’t require much thought and can garner the immediate attention some marketers need for their promotional efforts. The question being asked lately by those in the industry is just how much is enough? How much is too much? When do the advertisers cross the line of public decency?

missclairol91The public has long tolerated the use of the sexual double-entendre in advertising on radio and TV thinking it cute and adult. Young children for example, do not get the meaning of “The Big O” used for the “Big O” website or other sexual double entendre’s. An all-time classic use of innuendo was Clairol’s “Does she or doesn’t she?” The overt meaning is obvious: “Does she color her hair or not?” However, a covert meaning could be does she or does she not have sex. Even the rest of the headline, “Only her hairdresser knows for sure.

“There was a young man named McNair, Whose cologne did defile the air. Women with him were brusk, Until he tried Jovan Musk, And now he gets more than his share.”~Jovan sponsored limerick contest in 1979.

imagesTwo ads for Noxema in the 1970’s are excellent examples of sexual double entendre and innuendo. In one spot, Fawcett sings the jingle, “Great balls of cum… fort.” Another features Joe Nameth playfully lamenting, “I’m going to get creamed,” as Fawcett lathers his face with Noxema shaving cream. “You’ve got a great pair of hands.”

“Can you keep it up for a week?” The Vegetarian Society asks encouraging non-vegetarians to try shunning meat for seven days.

In the ad for Nissan, Kim Catrall is heard telling a car salesman: “Why didn’t you tell me it was so big, I just mhfemwasn’t prepared for it. The all-new Nissan Tiida makes you feel really, really, really good inside.” And after her test ride, the star goes on to comment: “Ah! That was amazing. Absolutely fabulous! I mean the great body and the way you moved it.”

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Sexual content in fragrance advertising is manifest in the usual ways: as models showing skin-chests and breasts, open shirts, tight-fitting clothing-and as dalliances involving touching, kissing, embracing, and voyeurism. These outward forms of sexual content are often woven into the explicit and implicit sexual promises  to make the wearer more sexually attractive, more likely to engage in sexual behavior, or simply “feel” more sexy for one’s own enjoyment.

There’s a danger people could become, and perhaps already have, desensitized to sex in advertising as a method for motivating behavior, (the slippery road for Axe commercials). Changes in advertising are, of course, changing as society changes.  Women in today’s society are much more liberated in their sexual mores than they have been in millennia past. Advertising, realizing this change in women’s perception of sex and sexual activity, is beginning to alter its approach to sex as a selling tool to women.080128-wendys-hsml-2pwidec

You know those weird Wendy’s ads with guys wearing the red pigtailed wig and people doing odd things? The ad company loved them. They said they were funny even though the commercials gave off a weird “transvestite” vibe. Wendy’s scrapped the concept because they weren’t making people buy burgers. Old Dave would be turning in his grave if he saw the company he started go the way of “transvestism.”

Too much sex. Too much funny. Same thing. And why do advertisers do this? Because they think everyone else is as bored with their product as they are.

The sadomasochistic, kinky pickup scene the ad company sold Microsoft recently starring Jerry Seinfeld and Bill Gates is also being scrapped. Two guys meet in a shoe store. The one guys offers a churro to the other—an obvious phallic symbol, possibly a code word. The guy refuses. So the guy with the churro starts to massage the other guy’s foot, and asks about what he’s feeling. The guy who relented at first says a definite code word: “leather.” The two look furtively at each other for an uncomfortably long time. They scene is just short of a wink taking place. One mentions “showering” with clothes on. The next thing you know the twosome, now each holding rigid churros, walk off together. One asks the other to adjust his underwear as a “sign.” Mysteriously the advertising campaign stopped, changed directions, and Seinfeld was no more.

2The increasing use of sado-masochism in TV ads is becoming disturbing. Take the Altoid-Sours TV ad. In a blind taste-test, the taster only likes the mint after the sexy blonde female tester slaps him with a black leather glove.

What is particualry distrubing is that our young people who are just learning about sex and how to form natural realtionships are exposed to all these unnatural choices which disrupt their normal sexual development. Should I be homosexual or lesbian? Should I be into S/M? They see it on TV, in TV ads, and so they think these examples must be the norm. To what extent does advertising create people’s image of the human body and sex? The trend of portraying sado-masochism shocks feminists but at the same time, advertising works with fantasies, advertising starts trends, like the recent wave of “fashion pornography.”

Most people aren’t shocked when they see very sex-oriented advertising and that should give us some cause for concern, particualry when it comes to the messages we are sedning our kids. People have seen women on TV wearing nothing but a bra and panties for 20 years. If we dont; speak up, our children interpret this as our acceptance or approval of the message which implies to a teenager that its okay to do this. Which is why you have teen pop idols driving drunk, exhibiting their nudity in public, posting private sex tapes to the internet for millions around the world to view. Where did they get the idea that this behavior was acceptable? From television and the movies. From Madison Avenue with its too sexy ads for Victoria’s Secret and from Hollywood portraying teenage sex and nudkate_moss_stairs_narrowweb__300x40001ity in movies. We’ve seen the end result, spoiled, pompous little diva-sluts like Paris Hilton, Britany Spears, Lindsay Lohan, Miley Cyrus and other’s.

Creating an ultra-thin ideal of the body, as personified by top model Kate Moss has certainly had a big influence on anorexic teenagers. The depiction of homosexuals, is a major revolution. Surveys show people aren’t in the least shocked by the presence of homosexuals in advertising images. All this has helped to win acceptance for the idea that a man has the right to take care of his body and choose his own sexual lifestyle. Some could argue then that advertising today has become more than just an ad to sell a product, it is  a political statement. In the 1980’s, a time of increased VIV/AIDS scare, the headline for a Coty Emeraude perfume ad read: “I love only one man. I wear only one fragrance.” Talk about mixing advertising and political-correctness.

The matter of constitutional freedom of speech as applied to advertising has raised serious questions concerning control of sex and decency in advertising. Are there any taboos left in the way the human body is depicted and what should be taboo? The last taboos, thankfully, are pedophilia and zoophilia. I don’t think we want to see that in a TV ad for Wendy’s, pink wig or not.

KH

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“I’ll be your Christmas past present and future baby
My yesterday every day tomorrow too
Underneath the mistletoe
Let me show what I know
I’ll be your Christmas past,  present, and future
.”

Christmas Past, Present, Future
Album : “School’s Out Christmas” CD, 2002
(Al Kasha Ron Dante Paul Murray)
Ashlee Simpson

rockwell-christmasI was trucking through Jewel the other night ( a grocery-store chain in Chicagoland) when I heard Bing Crosby booming out a Christmas classic (Ba-Ba-ba-Boom) followed by crooners Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra. They sounded like they were stuck in a time-warp, some Norman Rockwell Christmas somewhere that no longer exists. “Dated” is the word they use in the industry. Though their material was hip, hop, happening in their time- today they sound like the tunes you hear sung at old folks homes.

As we head into Christmas and think about Dickens, A Christmas Carol, and Ebeneezer Scrooge being visited by three ghosts, (ghost of Christmas past, present and future) it dawned on me that every year, we to, are visited by the ghosts of Christmas past,

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present,  and future-singers in the form of Christmas Carols or songs being played non-stop betwen October 31st and Christmas day.

Every year, they trot out the same lame Christmas songs we have heard for half-a-century, It’s starting to feel “contrived.” There’s Burl Ives singing, Have a Holly Jolly Christmas or Frosty the Snowman (the two biggest hits he ever had), Bing Crosby doing the Ba-Ba-Ba-Boom, “I’m dreaming of a white Christmas,” as I begin to nod off while Dean Martin croons Christmas Blues on another station and Elvis strums Blue Christmas on a Gibson sun-burst guitar on yet another.

karen_carpenter_intro1Isn’t it interesting how Karen Carpenter’s career is reborn every Christmas with her song Merry Christmas Darling? Other ghosts of Christmas past singers include John Lennon’s Happy Christmas, and then there are what can o

nly be described as the “wierd” or most annoying Christmas songs. These were novelty songs that played well the first few times but after the 5,000th playing of Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer- we just want to scream or pull our hair out.

The ghosts of Christmas present are unfortunately well known to us. There’s Madonna beltong out her version of Santa Baby  (voted one of the top-ten worst Christmas songs of all time) Bon Jovie doing their version of Back Door Santa making it sound very “gay” the Valley-Girl crowd (Ashely, Brittany, Christina, and other’s) doing their take on a Christmas classic and usually singing the ass off it.

Finally we have the ghosts of Christmas future-singers, like Gloria Estefan whose song, Christmas in Your Eyes is destined to go on to become one of the most popular Christmas songs of all time surpassing Bing Crosby’s White Christmas, or Nat King Cole’s version of Mel Torme’s, The Christmas Song.

Some people don’t like Christmas songs because they find them too familiar or overly sentimental. But I have been reminded that some people don’t like Christmas songs because they don’t like Christmas. I sympathize. It does seem so arbitrary to just pick a month and then say we’re all supposed to be happy and get along with everybody. If your life isn’t like that the other 11 months of the year, then Christmas ain’t gonna do it for you. The message of the season may not be that it’s a wonderful life. It may be that life sucks — believe me, sometimes it royally sucks — but we carry on anyway. We rise above. We carve out that little hollow in the snow and curl up for warmth in a cold, cold world and Christmas songs, the good, the bad and the annoying help us get through the process every year.

To honor the festiveness of the holidays I present to you, oh blog-readers, my version of the best and worst of Christmas singers past, present and future.

_361952_torme300Ghosts of Christmas past-singers Best:

1. White Christmas by Bing Crosby

2. The Christmas Song sung by Nat King Cole

3. Christmas Blues by Dean Martin.

4. Have Yourself a Very Merry Little Christmas by Judy Garland

5. Happy Christmas by John Lennon

6. Blue Christmas by the King (Elvis Presley)

elvis-leather-headNo one does Blue Christmas like Elvis and he  looked oh sooooooooo good in that black leather jacket strumming that Gibson sun-burst guitar.

7. Merry Christmas Darling by Karen Carpenter

8. Peace On Earth/Peace On Earth – Bing Crosby + David Bowie

This makes the list just because it was such an odd but wonderful pairing – spaceman Bowie and old timer Bing, the voice of Christmas. The odd couple teamed up to record this hit in the late 1970s for a TV Crosby Christmas Special and Bowie swears to this day he has no recollection of the performance. Still, Christmas magic all the same – Par-um-pah-pum-pum!

9. Feliz Navidad by Jose Feliciano

10. You’re A Mean One Mr. Grinch

originally done for the 1966 cartoon special How the Grinch Stole Christmas. The lyrics were written by Dr. Seuss, the music was written by Albert Hague, and the lyrics were performed by Thurl Ravenscroft.

Because Ravenscroft was not credited in the closing credits of the special, it is often mistakenly attributed to Boris Karloff, who served as narrator and speaking voice of the Grinch in the special.

11. Someday At Christmas by Stevie Wonder

Spinner’s 12 Best Christmas Songs:
“I Want an Alien for Christmas,” Fountains of Wayne
“Pretty Paper,” Willie Nelson
“Candy Cane Children,” White Stripes
“Christmas Is the Time to Say I Love You,” Billy Squier
“Someday at Christmas,” Stevie Wonder
“Christmas (Baby Please Come Home),” U2
“Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree,” Brenda Lee
“Santa Claus Go Straight to the Ghetto,” James Brown
“River,” Joni Mitchell
“Blue Christmas,” Elvis Presley
“Happy Xmas (War Is Over),” John Lennon and Yoko Ono
“Christmas in Hollis,” Run DMC


Ghost of Christmas Past-singers worst:61b24fy0xzl_sl500_aa280_

1. Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer by Elmo & Patsy (so bad it’s good)

This song might have been funny when it was written 25 years ago, but in today’s world, this is about as humorous as the average episode of “The Wiggles.” Even worse, it spawned an animated special, a number of spin-off songs, a ringtone and one truly dumb music video.

2.  The Christmas Song by Alvin and the Chipmunks

3. Barking Jingle Bells by Don Charles/The Singing Dogs

4. anybody singing Santa Baby

5. anybody singing a “cutsey” version of Jingle Bells

6. Snoopy’s Christmas by  The Royal Guardsmen

7. anybody singing I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus

8. Please, Daddy (Don’t Get Drunk This Christmas)’
John Denver (1975)

john-denver-200-120507The late Rocky Mountain troubadour sometimes introduced this song as a funny little ditty that took on more serious overtones over time. It’s hard to see what could have been funny about a seven-year-old pleading with Daddy not to pass out under the tree. Not when you consider that Denver had two DUI arrests before his death in 1997.

9. Run Rudolph Run (Chuck Berry)

Whizzing like a shooting star the R & B has been featured in countless number of really bad Christmas Movies like Home Alone 2.

10. Dominick The Donkey (The Italian Christmas Donkey)
by Monte, Lou

Even if I was Italian and in the mob and the Godfather’s kid wrote this song, this would still be a really awful Christmas song.

11. Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree” by Brenda Lee
Yes, I know that this song is considered a classic by many music fans. But there is something about Lee’s piercing vocals and 1950’s delivery that has always managed to give me a headache.

12. Wonderful Christmastime” by Paul McCartney
McCartney’s post-Beatles discography falls into two basic categories. There are the really great tunes, such as “Band On The Run” and “Jet.” And then there are the goofball, maudlin songs that often make me suspect those rumors about McCartney being replaced by a look-alike back in the 1970’s just might be true. While this song was a modest hit when it was released, it gets played a lot on the radio every year. And it’s managed to get more annoying as the years pass, primarily because the cheesy synthesizers and looping vocals make it more appropriate for playing at a roller skating rink than at a Christmas party.

13.  ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas by Liberace with George Liberace & His Orchestra

14. Jingle Bells by Looney Tunes Sing-a-Long

15. Santa Claus Is Comin to Town by Bruce Springsteen


Spinner’s 12 Worst Christmas Songs:
“Santa Baby,” Madonna
“Wonderful Christmastime,” Paul McCartney
“Christmastime,” Smashing Pumpkins
” Days of Christmas,” Destiny Child
“Santa Claus Is Coming to Town,” Bruce Springsteen
. “Christmas Conga,” Cyndi Lauper
“Santa’s Beard,” Beach Boys
“Merry Christmas With Love,” Clay Aiken
“Merry Christmas (I Don’t Wanna Fight Tonight),” The Ramones
. “Oi to the World,” No Doubt
“Please, Daddy (Don’t Get Drunk This Christmas),” John Denver
. “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” Band Aid



ashleesimpson1Ghosts of Christmas present-singers best:

1. Ave Maria by Kenny G or any Christmas song by Kenny G especially Auld Lane Syne (Faith). Kenny plays the hell out of that song.cdcover

2.  The entire A Charlie Brown Christmas CD by Vince Garibaldi

3. Driving Home For Christmas by Chris Rea

4. I Believe in Father Christmas by U2

5. All I Want For Christmas by Mariah Carey

While Christmas albums seemed to be the trend in the 1990s for pop artists, not many went the places that this Mariah Carey single did. Granted, everything that Mariah Carey touches turns to gold, but having been released as recently as 1992, the classic status that this record has acquired is quite impressive.

6. There’s Something Stuck Up In The Chimney by Bob Rivers

Ghosts of Christmas present-singers worst:

1.  Santa Baby by Madonnamadonna-200-120507

Madonna had been around the block far too many times to get away with playing the infuriating Betty Boop-ish ingenue. When Eartha Kitt made a case for being a good, deserving girl — “think of all the fellas that I haven’t kissed” — it was mildly amusing. When Madonna trotted out the line, it was just another reason for Sean Penn to start throwing ornaments.

2. Backdoor Santa” – Bon Jovi:

This song was originally part of the very first “A Very Special Christmas” benefit album. I guess other people realized how bad the song was because on later copies of the CD, they replaced this song with another only slightly less bad Bon Jovi song. Fortunately it appears that you can’t buy this song anymore. Talk about your Christmas miracles!

3. I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday by Wizards

4. 12 Redneck Days of Christmas by Jeff Foxworthy (so depressing because it’s true when it comes to rednecks, Christmas and mobile homes)

5. Last Christmas – George Michael

This song has become a staple of Christmas radio airplay, seeing nearly as much as classics like Jingle Bell Rock. With two recent covers of the song, one by Hilary Duff and another by Indie-Rock trio Jimmy Eats World, it is unlikely that any one will be forgetting George Michael’s poor contribution to Christmas music any time soon.

6. Do They Know It’s Christmas by Band-Aid

Another eighties classic, 1984’s call to action for the American people to look at the poverty crisis in Africa is still resonant today. The Boomtown Rat’s Bob Geldof has been a constant crusader in this battle that he began over twenty years ago, all starting with this one simulcast song. While community activism is good and all- this song gives me a migraine and it sounds like the theme song from Dr. Who.

7. Merry Christmas Everybody by Slade

8. Merry Christmas by Schelle

9. Merry Christmas Everyone by Shakin Stevens

10. I Can’t Believe It’s Christmas by GiR2007


base_imageGhosts of Christmas future-singers best:

1. Christmas In Your Eyes by Gloria Estefan

This Grammy Award-winning Cuban American singer and songwriter, in the top 100 of best selling music artists with over 70 million albums sold worldwide, has recorded what I think will go on to become the number one Christmas song in the future even surpassing The Christmas Song, White Christmas, Blue Christmas and other’s. Give it a listen and you’ll soon agree.

2. Ave Maria by Barbara Bonney.

bonney_onyx40031Barbara Bonney, who also sang with Michael Crawford in the Phantom Of The Opera, this is quite possibly the most beautiful version of Ave Maria I have ever heard. “O wärst du da!” (“Oh, that you were here!”) Barbara Bonney was 38 when she made this breakthrough Schubert recording in 1994.

3. Don’t Save It All For Christmas Day by Celine Dion

4. Peace by Norah Jones

images1

Ghosts of Christmas future-singers worst:

1. Christmas Shoes by Newsong

2. Christmas Past. Present, Future by Ashlee Simpson and The Little Drummer Boy” by Jessica and Ashlee Simpson
Jessica Simpson is an impressive singer, and her Christmas CD, “Re-Joyce: The Christmas Album” is an overall entertaining package. But this tune — a duet with sister Ashlee — sounds more like a German military march than a Christmas tune. And without being unduly mean, let’s just say that Ashlee’s voice does not quite come up to the standards of her sister.

3. I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday- Sarah Brightman

Winter Symphony is a Christmas album from the English soprano singer Sarah Brightman, released in November 2008. Although Sarah is brilliant when it comes to Opera, she absolutely sucks when it comes to pop or rock.

4. Last Christmas by Hillary Duff

For those new parents starting families of your own and Christmas traditions of your own, here are the 25 most recognizable Christmas songs:

According to the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, these are the Top 25 most-performed “Holiday” songs for the first five years of the 21st Century:

  1. The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire) – Mel Tormé, Robert Wells
  2. Santa Claus Is Coming To Town – Fred Coots, Haven Gillespie
  3. Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas – Ralph Blane, Hugh Martin
  4. Winter Wonderland – Felix Bernard, Richard B. Smith
  5. White Christmas – Irving Berlin
  6. Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow! – Sammy Cahn, Jule Stynewhitechristmas3
  7. Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer – Johnny Marks
  8. Jingle Bell Rock – Joseph Carleton Beal, James Ross Boothe
  9. I’ll Be Home For Christmas – Walter Kent, Kim Gannon, Buck Ram
  10. Little Drummer Boy – Katherine K. Davis, Henry V. Onorati, Harry Simeone
  11. Sleigh Ride – Leroy Anderson, Mitchell Parish
  12. It’s The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year – Edward Pola, George Wyle
  13. Silver Bells – Jay Livingston, Ray Evans
  14. Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree – Johnny Marks
  15. Feliz Navidad – José Feliciano
  16. Blue Christmas – Billy Hayes, Jay W. Johnson
  17. Frosty The Snowman – Steve Nelson, Walter E. Rollins
  18. A Holly Jolly Christmas – Johnny Marks
  19. I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus – Tommie Connor (PRS)
  20. Here Comes Santa Claus (Right Down Santa Claus Lane) – Gene Autry, Oakley Haldeman
  21. It’s Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas – Meredith Willson
  22. (There’s No Place Like) Home For The Holidays – Bob Allen, Al Stillman
  23. Carol Of The Bells – Peter J. Wilhousky, Mykola Leontovich
  24. Santa Baby – Joan Ellen Javits, Philip Springer, Tony Springer
  25. Wonderful Christmastime – Paul McCartney (PRS)

christmas-header

BEARS FANS DIE HARD.

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It’s one-degree outside at 9 a.m. on a partly cloudy Sunday morning. Beautiful weather for a Polar Bear, Penguin, or Chicago Bears fan. The Metra trains are jammed-pack with Die-Hard Bears fans who have tickets to sit in the 7-degree-weather to watch the Bears put the sunshine boys from Jacksonville out cold.

Having grown up in Chicago, a veteran sports-writer for the Chicago Sun-Times, personally I think its pathetic that all these people are willing to risk illness sitting out in sub-zero weather watching a team that has played as pathetically as the Chicago Bears have the last few years. Last week, all I saw was purple watching the game as the Minnesota Vikings stomped the Bears. The week before all I saw was a “green-wave” as the Green Bay Packers did the same thing.

Chicago fans are either to be pitied for their love and loyalty or committed for insanity. Personally, I think its the latter.

“It’s cold up here, there’s no way around it,” said Bears coach Lovie Smith, a Texas native who began his NFL coaching career with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Another sunshine state team. Lovie, you think?

Instead of Lovie Smith worrying about the cold, he should be worrying about his future with the team since his new “defense” hasn’t been working all season. The new defense he sold to Bear owners. The defense folds like a cheap accordion. Somebody needs to tell the defensive players and Lovie and Babich that the defense now stinks, and can no longer be the focus of the team. You can’t game plan to win with defense and special teams. Not with this defense and this special team. These next four games will be crucial, though.  There probably won’t be a wildcard in the NFC North.  The Bears might either rise to the top of the division, looking for the Vikings or Packers to falter, or end up getting nothing.

My bet, if I was in a sports-book in Vegas would be nothing.

The Bears should be in their element today, playing in cold weather typically places a greater premium on the running game, which also should help the Bears and generally “sunshine state” teams can’t play in artic climes like Chicago and Green Bay. With a game-time temperature of 7 degrees and wind gusts up to 40 miles per hour dropping the wind chill to 18 degrees below zero, passing the ball will be virtually impossible. As a result, the Bears will be committed to the running game. That makes it essential for the Chicago Bears to have some kind of defense, which they don’t seem to have this year.

I prefer to stay toasty-warm in the sports bar watching the game in front of a roaring fireplace while swilling down cold brewskies instead of watching the game out in the cold swilling down Hot Chocolate with Peppermint Schnapps.

Even if die-hard Bears fans won’t be able to feel their toes today, the weather is the least of coach Lovie Smith worries. If he can’t salvage a decent season, he may well not have to worry about coaching in sub-artic temperatures next season for he may be  looking for another coaching job in a “sunshine state.” Bears fans however, will show up fireloviemeternext year in sub-artic weather as they did last year to watch the same excuse of a team lose so pathetically.

It’s tough being a Chicago sports fan. To live in a town where the owners of all the teams are so cheap they just won;t spend the money to hire the talent that will get them to the Super-Bowl, Stanley-Cup, World-Series or NBA Finals. And so, Chicago sports-fans are the most long-suffering fools on the face of the planet.

I learned my lesson the last two times the local media made a fuss about the Chicago Cubs going to the World-Series (who remained in first place all last season) only to be pathetically swept in the first round of the playoffs. They couldn’t even win one game. Pathetic is the only word that comes to mind when I describe Chicago sports teams, any teams.

You can’t call them losers because they win enough regular season games to keep fans coming to the games. They just lose when it counts, year after year after year after year.

Pathetic!

After a 34-14 key loss last week to division rival, The Minnesota Vikings,  it’s time to  push the FireLovieMeter to high. On a longer scale of perspective, Lovie still has us within striking distance of the division and we split the season series with the division leaders, losing on the road.

That’s a really lame excuse for retaining Lovie Smith as coach for next year but one Lovie Smith will be making and very soon.  The Chicago Bears have had 24 quarterbacks since Jim McMahon in  1979.  That’s one of the main problems with the Chicago Bears. For God’s sake, spend some money, go out and hire yourselves a decent quarterback like Matt Leinert with the Arizona Cardinals (Lienert signed a 7-year deal but he is going nowhere with the Cardinals anytime soon) and let the man develop for 7- years like John Elway did with the Denver Bronco’s. But, this switching around the quarterbacks every other game is pathetic! The problem with Chicago sports teams has been and always will be with the team-owners. They’re cheap! As Steinbrener showed the nation with the NY Yankee’s,  you can go out and buy a winning team, if you’re willing to spend the dough. Chicago owners are not.

So, the Bears will remain pathetic for years to come, Lovie Smith will catch the heat and be fired at the end of this season which is just four games away, any remaining player who has talent and a shot at a Super-Bowl ring will bolt for a winning team and Chicago will wallow in its patheticness.

Somethings never Change and if you’re a die-hard Chicago Bears fan you know what I am saying is true. Which is why I don;t understand traveling downtown on a Sunday morning in one-degree temperatures to watch a pathetic team you know might lose, a team that is going nowhere, a team that will most likely fire the coach and get yet another quarter-back next year. Being a Chicago Sports fan is an exercise in futility.

Perhaps it is our determined faith that makes Chicagoans great-           either that or they ought to commit us all.

KH

“There’s nothing in the street
Looks any different to meobama_sc_04_01_2007-731285
And the slogans are replaced, by-the-bye
And the parting on the left
Is now the parting on the right
And the beards have all grown longer overnight.
Meet the new boss-same as the old boss.”

Way back in 1971, the English rock band, The Who,  had a hit song called “Won’t Get Fooled Again.” The song’s personification of the age-old struggle – and inevitable exploitation of the common man at the hands of the “powers that be” endures as one of the premier works of Pete Townsend’s sarcasm and irony of its time and genre, constantly reminding us not to expect too much! The messianic fervor which has preceded  Obama’s expected ascension to the White House is a painful reminder that most Americans have once again been suckered into believing that national politics offers any real solutions or any real change to the nations problems.

After eight long years of Bush and “Cowboy diplomacy” America underwent  a fundamental transformation electing its first Black President, and a commitment to radical change. Sound too good to be true?

Obviously it was.

America’s 44th-President won’t even be sworn in until January 20, 2009 but already, from Obama’s cabinet choices, it’s beginning to look like the “new boss – same as the old boss.”

Politicians never keep their campaign promises. You think by now Americans would undertand that. Just once… we were hoping against all hope that America could forever put off the old clothes of poltiics, lying politicians, patronage jobs, and just for once, embrace real and radical change.

Boy,  were we fools!

Americans tried to look beyond symbolism and appearance by electing the first black President but national politics is more about advertising than substance, collective vision/illusion. More than policy, about aspirational hopes more than reality, and Obama, a better actor than Ronald Regan- suckered us all. We believed him. We believed him because we wanted to believe him even though our guts told us that national politics have become a cesspool of lies, treachery, and deceit. The same bait and switch trick again and again every four years.

The more things change, the more they stay the same. Already the signs are there from Obama: reneging on campaign promises, compromise on U.S. Troop withdrawal from Iraq, a band-aid approach to economic problems by caving to his cronies like Emmanuel who, when he left the Clinton administration after voting in NAFTA and riling Democrats, moved home to Chicago to make $18-million as an investment broker. It seems like only yesterday that Obama was promising to end the war in Iraq the moment he was sworn in. Now, he’s reneging on that promise and taking a more aggressive stance with pro-war Hillary Clinton as Secretary Of State (whom the far left alike criticized heavily during the primary), and by retaining the likes of  “Neo-con” Robert Gates as Secretary Of Defense (who was lambasted by the anti-war crowd). New York Federal Reserve President Timothy Geithner has been asked to serve as Treasury secretary. This is a guy who has been quoted as saying:

“Most consequential choices involve shades of gray, and some fog is often useful in getting things done.”

20080408_foreclosed_33Shades of gray??? There can be no shades of gray when millions are losing their jobs and homes. Shades of gray by greedy bank lenders and stock-market investment brokers are what led America to its financial meltdown this past primary season with the housing crisis, collapse of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and led to the government bailing out Wall-Street to the tune of  $700-billion-dollars in liguidity. That lines a lot of deep pockets folks. Geithner will continue unbridled implementation and expansion of the banker bailout, doling out taxpayer’s money to Wall Street, causing rampant inflation, a lowering in living standards, and the destruction of the dollar.

My 401K is already in the toilet. How’s yours?

Now, Detroit and the Big-3 want a huge government bailout to the tune of $ 38-billion-dollars. If Obama goes along with this, continues to reward the wealthy who have created this mess in America and his wealthy political cronies like Emanuel,  America will be bankrupt in a year and we won’t just have a recession folks, we will have revolution. Crime, anarchy, rioting, and looting will fill our streets. Perhaps, that’s why secretly the “Neo-cons” are laughing at Obama’s election. If it all goes to shit- they can blame the black-guy.

The Far-lefties, the true “Obama believers” are having a hizzy-fit.

People are suffering, almost a million Americans losing their homes and their jobs, national unemployment rate of 7.3 percent (with many economic experts saying secretly that the real unemployment rate, if you count the millions who have just given up their job search hovers around 14-percent).  This past President, with his delusional “cowboy diplomacy” and Empire-building has been embarking on eight-years of constant war, pouring money to sustain corrupt Saudi rulers and financing hugely expensive armaments, for what? It costs $2million for one missile fired from the air against a car below. The Iraqi war has already cost $300 billion. Who do you think has paid for George W’s delusions? President Bill Clinton refused to spend $2-million on a missile to blow up sand.

What did we expect? The Messiah?

With his meteroric rise and ascension to the White-House, the far-left, you know,  “Liberals” all believed Obama’s messianic powers by proclaiming that as soon as he was elected, all America’s problems would simply disappear. And Americans fell for it. The oldest trick in the political black-bag of dirty-tricks. Tell us what we want to hear.

With all the “racism” in America which is buried but not dead, did we really believe we could put the first black-guy in the Oval-Office with his black family and the white-supremists would quielty go along with it? Folks, I got to tell you, some of those ‘white-supremists” have old and long-distinguished names like Rockefeller. Morgan and others. You know, friends of the Bush family. And my friends, that’s exactly who is presuring the new 44th, kid-rock President to stack his cabinet with the same failed losers of the Bush and Clinton administrations.

Last October “They” promised us that a stock market bailout would help the economy, that a Wall Street recovery would be good for Main Street.  It appears it isn’t working.533,000 jobs have been lost according to the major headlines- the worst layoffs since 1974 and the long-lines at the gas pumps. “They” promised us if Obama was elected President we would see real change, radical change. The only radical change I expect are mobs of picketers at the gates of the White House as the layoffs in this country get worse, I expect Obama will bring the troops home, not in a slow drawn-out, orderly-pace but with their tails-between-their-legs leaving behind rioting, looting, and carnage as we did in Saigon all because the Federal Government is bankrupt and has no more money to pay for the antiwarwideweb470x3280kc2war. Under an Obama administration, the causes that the liberal left has been fighting for over the last eight years will simply be forgotten just like conservatives were put to sleep when Bush came to power. Obama is the scape-goat. When the proverbial shit hits the fan, and it will, the attitude in Washington and the nation will be,”Blame it on the black guy. He did what all black people do- he scammed us and we fell for his lies.” Any progress America has made towards ending “racism” will be set back forty-years. The Clinton’s already know this for they are true political sharks. Already, Hillary and Bill are positioning themselves to create a “shadow government” which will step in should Obama get in over his head and bow out in four-years. 2012 may very well see a Clinton Presidency.

Four-years of an Obama administration will not repeal  the Patriot Act, the almost universal contempt for America around the world, shrink the size of government and restore dignity to the office of President. Obama was right about one thing during the primary,pig-lipstick

“You can put lipstick on a pig and its still a pig.”

Our 44th-President has inherited a “Pig-Farm” which he is now entrusted to clean out the pig-pens. In order to do that, end the malfeasance and corruption in high places, provide the “change” that everyone is crying out for, this young boy from Hawaii will have to get tough, kick ass and take names with his friends and enemies alike. If his cabinet appointments are any indication, he is already folding his hand knowing he is in way over his head. Instead of tackling the job head on- Obama is already claiming that he can’t do it in the first term. Like we want to give this con artist a second term? He hasn’t even been sworn in or attempted to keep the promises he made to millions of Americans and he’s positioning himself for a second term?

I say in four years, run the bum out of town on a rail.

If you’re a true-Obama-believer, then God help you. But, this is one ol-country boy that won’t get fooled again.

KH

“Wise guy, eh?”

Chain Of Fools

untitled-23I wasn’t going to do a bog on Blago (Illinois latest govenor that was arrested yesterday on charges of corruption) but it warrants a word or two.

Yesterday,  December 9, 2008, Milorad “Rod” R. Blagojevich was arrested by FBI agents and charged with various crimes in connection with his activities to replace Barack Obama’s Senate seat.

Here’s the thing about Ego’s. They become so inflated that they cause us to lose all touch with reality. Like a helium ballon that lifts us higher and higher  above the stratosphere, we get so lost in the “grandeur” we forget  it’s still a balloon after all that can pop at any time and we fall back to earth- hard.

Rod Blagovoich’s ego was so colossal, causing him to think he was smarter than the rest of us,  that he was so above the law,  that he didn’t know that everybody and everything around him was wired. His home and office phones, his best friend, co-workers. The FBI probably even put a wire on his dog.

Blagojevich,  was the first Democrat to be elected governor of Illinois in 30 years (since Daniel Walker in 1972) with Walker, another Illinois Govenor to be arrested on charges of corruption before doing jail-time. Another case of  colossal ego.

If you’re not a Chicagoan, here’s something you gotta know. There’s a lot of wiseguys here and the cops and the Feds love nothing more than beating down a “wiseguy.” It’s like a sport with them.

“Wise guy, eh?” laughing all the way to the cooker before they throw you in a bullpen.  The “wise guy” thing started in Chicago around the time of the real “wise guys,” Al Capone, John Dillinger, Machine-Gun Kelly and FBI dufus Melvin Purvis who couldn’t seem to catch or convict these “wise guys.” The “wise guys” and their inflated ego’s have been struttin their stuff around the streets of Chicago ever since with the  “beat-down”  by law enforcement an inevitable by-product.  Which is ironic in the fact that many of Chicago’s law enforcement officials (like Cook County State’s Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald)  are themselves, “Wise guys” with their capricious law-enforcement. Who can’t remember the classic eye-poke or the double face slap of  Moe Howard, the ringleader of The Three Stooges?  Or a few of the Stooge’s  classic lines lines heard over and over — “Nyuk Nyuk Nyuk!”, “Why I oughta…”, “Wise guy, eh?” And the ever-popular, “Soitenly!”

“Wise guy, eh? Why I oughta …………

Some of the Three Stooges shtick and phrases blended into popular culture such as “I’m a victim of soicumstance!” Chicago politcs are inundated with “Stooges,” cops and politicians arrested on charges of corruption laughing  and parting all the way to the slammer like it is 1999  give all Chicagoans, Chicago cops, and Chicago politicans,  a black-eye.

Of course,  “Blago-Gate” has made for a media field-day with headlines like, “That’s Not The Patti We Know, Governor isn’t a Cuckoo, he’s just a Chicago Pol,  and The Heat Is On,  everybody from local Chicago media pundits to Mel Harris, Blago’s estranged father-in-law  weighing in on the Gov’s troubles. But here’s the real truth folks, Blago was released on bail and he is still … the Governator who will decide the former Senate seat of Obama. The case against him is weak, just another “he said- she said” case that Cook County State’s Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald likes to bring before the court these days. The most damning evidence they have against Blago is that he and wife Pattie were taped on the phone using the F-word quite a few times. Oh my! It just confirms what I have always said about the FBI in my murder mystery’s which is: “The FBI couldn’t find a hooker in whore house if  she were sitting on their laps.” While cases like this make good newspaper fodder- they are not the stuff convictions are made of. So, Balgo used the F word. Well,  F-word to you to Patrick Fitzgerald. How about doing the job you were hired to do instead of showboating?

President George W.  and V.P. Dick Cheney use the F word quite frequently as do most of our national leaders, not to mention that the F-word is used  in every rap song at least once. Eddie Murphy once did a stand-up routine called Raw which was nothing but the F-word. If we started indicting everybody in this country who used the F-word, our jails would be even more over-crowded than they are now. Perhaps I should have titled this blog, Criminal Use Of  The F-word by one incredibly stupid politician.

It’s a weak case, which I’m sure Blago and his army of legal-begals will have no problem getting tossed. One of the reasons the Feds come up with 70 or 100 different charges these days against individuals is the “shit sticks to the wall” theory. That is, if you throw enough shit against the wall some of it is bound to stick. This is how our top law enforcement officials are doing business these days. Instead of building a solid case with just one charge which would bring a long stint in the pokey, they throw as many darts at the dartboard as they can hoping one of them will stick. It is a theory that does not work for the most part, as juries, overwhelmed with 70 or 100 different charges are confused by the myriad of charges and evidence and do one of three things, throw it out, can’t decide on a unanimous verdict and come in “deadlocked,” or convict on one or two of the lesser charges as with the case of former Illinois Governor George Ryan.  Sharp criminal minds  like former Governor  Ryan, (convicted on lesser charges) and only given three years in the Crossroads Motel, know this, as do most mobsters, drug cartels, and etc. who keep on retainer an army of sharp lawyers.

But, it makes good headlines. Legal begal Fitzgerald gets to see his photo in the paper,  a lot …..  both when he indicts and when the case is summarily dismissed. This is not justice, this is not what we pay our law enforcement officials to do. We pay them to uphold the law, not run their own private little beauty pageant. If the Feds really had anything on Blago- if he was as corrupt, arrogant and stupid as the Feds claim, do you really think they would allow him to return to the Governor’s office? To continue running the State Of Illinois from the Governor’s office? This criminal? They are sworn to protect and serve. To protect the public, (that’s us), from the likes of corrupt officials like Ryan, Blagoevich, Walker, Otto Kearner and Stratton. Obviously he’s not enough of a criminal to prevent him from returning to work in  a politics is a dirty business state. In Chicago politics, one hand has always washed another. You scratch my back-I scratch yours. That’s how it was done in the days of Richard J. Daley. I’m not saying that’s right- that’s just the way politics have always been done in Chicago and Illinois. It’s called, political-patronage. In reality, patronage is really doling out favors to your political supporters or those who finance your election campaigns. Blago, with his colossal ego is just guilty of not being “discreet” about how those favors or Obama’s Senate seat was given out. Most Chicagoans know the matter is business as usual for Chicago politics. But for Blago’s incredible stupidity, and arrogance when he surely must have known he was being watched;

“Wise guy, eh? Why I oughta …………

Blago was not a a victim of soicumstance! he was a victim of his own inflated, colossal ego. You know ego is a powerful persuader.  It can persuade someone like Audie Murphy to become a hero or it can persuade other people like Mummery, Mallory, or Shackleton to chase their ego’s all the way to hell and never return. The trick if you’re an explorer to getting out alive is not to let your ego persuade you to do more than you know you are physically capable of doing.

Undoubtedly, Blago will receive a “media-show-trial.” Plea bargain his way out of it or roll over on friends and associate’s  like Tony Rezko or perhaps Barack Obama for a reduced jail-sentence but will his ego learn anything from this fall from glory? His fall from riches to rages when he’s sent to the Crossroads Motel to sit alongside Illinois other Govenor, George Ryan?

Probably not. Colossal ego’s are like that.

Moe Howard’s word’s,  being uttered today by every Chicagoan in the city should  resound loud and clear  for law enforcement officials as well who care more about showboating than criminal justice.

“Wise guy, eh? Why, I oughta ……..”

KH

121308blagohome_20081213_13_40_54_16-190-270

Dogs by Pink Floyd

It’s become the new national past-time,  making fun of people when they screw up, kicking people when they are down, and ruining people for sport.

“Kick-em when they’re up, kick-em when they’re down, kick-em where they sit, kick-em all around.”

~Don Henley (Dirty Laundry)

America it seems, has become a mean, petty, and downright ugly society in the way we get our “kicks” these days.  No longer contented to watch TV sitcom’s like the Brady Bunch poke fun at people, their lifestyles, eccentricity’s (behavior), we jump on the media bandwagon to kick a politician who makes a fool of himself running for president (like McCain and Palin) join in the media witch-hunt to crucify a politician who gets caught with his hand in the cookie jar like Blagojevich or George Ryan or laugh at the teen pop-star who has fallen from grace and allowed herself to become a fat slob, (Kristie Alley and Britany Spears) drive drunk,  (Paris Hilton) get caught up in drugs and die from an overdose. (Kurt Cobain or Heath Ledger).

Late night fools like Leno and Letterman fan the flames with comments about latest victim, Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich:

“He’s facing jail time, which will be a switch. In federal prison, he’ll be going to the highest bidder. See, it’s totally different now.” –Jay Leno

jay-lenoExcuse me, but when did late-night comedians give a crap about politics or anything other than getting an immediate laugh? Jay Leno is not one to be throwing stones out the window of his glass house. He was recenty arrested for DUI and being sued for buying a $180,000 custom-made classic car that once belonged to a Macy’s heir at a “sham” auction. Jay Leno, car thief?  Us Weekly reports Snoop Dogg was arrested for “drugs and guns” on Tuesday night after performing on ‘The Tonight Show with Jay Leno’ in Burbank.

Here’s my way of thinking, if you’ve got a warrant  out for your arrest or you have been recently arrested, you keep your mouth shut about someone else’s misfortunes.

Shooting your mouth off is what makes the late-night kings like Leno, Letterman, Conan O’Brien- fools. Thank-God Leno’s last Tonight Show appearance is May 29, 2009.  I, for one, will be very glad to see the fool go with his mean-spirited, kick-em-when-they’re down humor.untitled

While kicking celebrities and politicians when they’re down might make for media ratings and great newspaper fodder for the purpose of selling advertising space, it does not serve  society well when we as a society stoop so low as to kick a person when they’re down. It’s petty, mean, and beneath us as Americans. It makes us forget that we are bigger than this- it makes us forget that Mel Gibson, Paris Hilton, Snopp Dog, Blagojevich, Lindsay Lohan, Brittany Spears and others are human beings with their own  lives, family, and personal problems and that when a celebrity screws up, the same thing could happen to any one of us. Britney’s fast food, heavy drinking, and hard partying lifestyle has happened to a lot of our young people, not just Brittany Spear’s. It is a reflection of a media that glorifies the “living in the fast-lane” lifestyle. Unfortunately, a lot of our young people crash and burn not just Brittany. These are real problems folks, not just fodder for fools like Leno and Conan O’Brien.eiffel-tower-for-sale

The Europeans have been doing it for centuries, kicking people when they are down, which is what keeps Parisians a petty, dirty-little society whose only real asset is the Eiffel Tower which has been turned into a Disney-land-like tourist attraction. The French you will recall, kicked us when America was down, despite supposedly being our friend and ally and we renamed our fries, “Freedom Fries” instead of French-fries.

So, the next time you want to join in the media parade in kicking someone when they’re down with fools like Leno, Letterman and especially Conan O’Brien  remember this – you are being used.  These celebrites don’t give a crap about you as a person- only as a number in the ratings. If you were down and out in Beverly Hills, lying on the sidewalk they would step over you.

Viewing the above link shows how they really feel about you folks. You, your family, and your personal problems are just fodder for their jokes. They don’t care about you other than as a laugh-line. Americans are dealing with “real” problems this Christmas while fools like Leno, Letterman and O’Brien yuk it up in the lap of luxury at our expense. As Pink Floyd says in Dogs, “And when you loose control, youll reap the harvest that you’ve sown.” Payback is a bitch and it comes back to every one of us in its own time- we don’t need fools like Leno, Letterman, O’Brien,  hastening the process.

We should turn the new national past-time into a past-time of our own- kicking these fools and their mean-spirited humor off the air. With the billions of dollars the TV networks like CBS/NBC  make off the advertisers who sponsor the mean-spirited humor of fools like Leno and Letterman,  this would be the funniest joke of all. Letterman and Leno used to be funny once upon a time but pressure to be number-one in the ratings wars, has turned their humor into just pure meanness with celebrities like Madonna blowing up on their sets before storming off. Even that- they use as fodder to continue in their meanness.

images-1You think a fool like Letterman gives a crap if I think he’s a mean-spirited son-of-a-bitch? I doubt it and that’s the point here- we have to make them give a crap by not giving into their mean-spirited humor, by boycotting their shows, and writing their advertisers in enough numbers that their mean humor offends us for it to even begin to become a speck in their eye. Replacing Leno with Conan is just a continuation of the meanness that has come to dominate late-night television. Conan O’Brien is just a Jay Leno Jr with red-hair. An obnoxious red-head like Woody-the-Woodpecker.images2

Unfortunately, misery loves company and so most Americans will probably go along with Hollywood’s mean-spirited Christmas movies like Four Christmas’s and mean-spirited  talk show hosts  who delight in laughing at others misfortunes- it keeps us from dealing with our own, our own kid who is messed up on drugs and failing in school, our own parents who are struggling with declining health and senility, our own unemployment, alcoholism and drug-abuse. It feels good- to kick someone else because we have been kicked when we were down and can’t catch a break.kickmehard

So lets:

“Kick-em when they’re up, kick-em when they’re down, kick-em where they sit, kick-em all around.”

KH

katrina-fhmThe 25 sexiest women of all time
Because a man needs to know more than just the arbitrary ratings put out by magazines like Men.Style.com. Cosmopolitan,  FHM, Esquire, Maxim, and other magazines that unenlightened twenty-somethings write for.

If you want my body and you think I”m sexy

“Sex is an emotion in motion”

~Mae West

mystery-woman-1007-lg

Lips, hips, tits … what’s not to love about the sexiest woman alive?

Every month I see an article in Esquire for The Sexiest Woman Alive and every month it is a different woman. Now, how can she be the “sexiest woman alive” when they change her every month? Wouldn’t that be, The sexiest woman alive-this month? Or. the sexiest woman of the moment?

I see articles with the titles like, The 25 sexiest women  in film, or The 50-sexiest women alive, The 100-Sexiest women of all time..

Here’s something you have to know. Whoever is doing the rating, it’s an arbitrary rating. It’s arbitrary because well, let’s face it, most of the twenty-something writers magazines like Esquire and Cosmo have these days are just not old enough to remember some really hot, older women of the 40’s, 50’s, 60’s, 70’s or  even earlier. How many of us recall Lillian Gish and Bette Davis?  (She got Bette Davis Eyes by Kim Carnes) with both Lillian Gish and Bette davis being sex-symbols in the 1930’s.

Either a woman is one of the sexiest women alive or she is not,  but plugging the sexiest woman of the moment, to plug a new James Bond film,  sell a product,  or promote something,  is just plain wrong.   I would think that one prerequisite for being named Sexiest Woman Alive is that you have to have been voted in by the public, not the writer’s who are using sex just to sell magazines, plug new products or sponsor the annual Victoria Secrets Christmas fashion-show just to sell frilly underwear.  In order for one to officially be one of the sexiest women alive you have to have been voted a sexy-woman at least once in some kind of public-poll in the last 100-years.

poll_0So here is my list of The 25 sexiest women (in all mediums) of all time. All 25 of these women at one time have been voted a sexiest woman, sexiest woman of the month, year, or all time,  at least once. I think few men, real men will disagree with my choice of the women who should be in the top 25.

Leave a comment to let me know who I left out and who should have been on this list.betted_468x654

1930’s

1. Bette Davis (I still get lost in those Bette Davis eyes)

1940’s

maewest

1. Mae West (You might have just taken her up on her invitation to, “Come up and see me sometime.”)

2. Betty Grable (WWII favorite of American GI’s)

3. Maureen O’Hara (classy lady who always lifted one leg when being kissed)

4. Lauren Bacall (you know how to whistle don’t you? Just put your lips together and blow to summon this classic maureen_ohara_black_swan_31940’s hottie)

5. Greta Garbo (Ninotchka) and Marlene Dietrich (Destry Rides Again)

1950’s

6. Jane Russell (this sexy outlaw can take me prisoner any day)PD*25786233

7. Gene Tierney (Laura)

8. Bettie Page (boop boop be doo!)

1960’s

9. Diana Rigg (On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, The Avenger’s TV series. This chick could  Emma Peel for me anytime.)175810diana-rigg-posters

10. Marilyn Monroe (not only would the summers be long and hot with America’s favorite blonde but the winter’s to)

11. Sophia Loren (Italian bombshell)

12. Ursula Andress (The movie should have titled, Dr. Yes)

13. Jane Fonda / Ann Margaret (red-headed Barberella’s)barbarella

14. Doris Day (love to see this Virgin queen through a glass-bottom boat)

15. Brigitte Bardo (If God created woman, he threw away the mold after this French beauty).

16. Raquel Welch (One-Million-Years B.C. would not be long enough if she was around)doris

1970’s

18. Farrah Fawcett (wore out her poster on my college dorm-room wall)
Jacqueline Bisset (beauty down deep)

19. Catherine Deneuve (Intelligent, classy, sexy)

ucla_medical_center_farrah_fawcett

20. Suzanne Somer’s (Three’s a crowd when this babe’s around)

1980’s

21. Sigourney Weaver (sexiest alien hunter around)

22. Demi Moore ( You won’t be looking at ghosts while she’s around)

hberry41990’s

23. Halle Berry (Meow ….)

2000’s

24. Scarlett Johansson / Kirsten Dunst (Spidey won’t be hanging around long with these two hot babes)xmen3_mystique_site

25. Rebecca Romijn Stamos (sexiest mutant around)


esquire-sexiest-woman

There were a lot of others who ran a close second like Jayne Mansfield, Dorothy LaMour, Lana Turner, Capucine, Shirley Maclaine, Susan Hayward,  Veronica Lake, Cheryl Ladd, Gina Lollobrigida, Pamela Andersen and etc. but if we’re shooting for the all-time top 25 sexiest women alive, I think my list is the definitive list. Forgive me all you J.Lo lover’s that she did not make the list. There are just too many favorites and I wanted to bring in my list at the top all-time 25 sexy women. Even I, found there were ties.

Here is a link for all the other’s that I do not consider in the top 25-sexiest women alive list.


Link for future Sexiest Woman alive contenders

Here’s my picks for future hottie’s 2010 and beyond:

1. Emma Watson (this little witch will definetly put a spell on you)emma-watson

2. Jessica Alba

3. Maggie Q (one of the best kept secrets of the Orient).

4. Hillary Dumaggieqapr06ff (This little hottie  likes to wear rings and you might just give her one after spending some time with her)

I see you’re a man with ideals. I better be going before you’ve still got them.

~Mae West quotes

KILBURN HALL0_61_hilary_maxim_cvr_3201

newbells3

(Then pealed the bells more loud and deep
God is not dead nor does he sleep
The wrong shall fail the right prevail
with peace on earth goodwill to men)

(“I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day” is a Christmas carol based on the poem “Christmas Bells,” composed by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882) in 1864).

longfellow_hw_3Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was in a dark place when he wrote I Heard The Bells On Christmas Day. America was in the midst of the American Civil War and the news of his son Charles Appleton Longfellow having suffered wounds as a soldier in battle. He had suffered the great loss of his wife Fanny two years prior to an accident with fire.

America, 144-years-after Longfellow,  is in a dark place. The national unemployment hovers at around 6.5-percent, a 14-year high with many secretly saying it is closer to 14-percent if you count those who have just given up on thier job search. Our housing industry is in shambles as is our stock-market and most of our banks due to greedy bankers and investors. Millions of Americans are losing their homes with millions more fighting to keep theirs,  millions of others are being laid off or have been laid off, 141,000-troops are still in Iraq with local journalists throwing their shoe at the head of our President. America’s image around the world is in the toilet. The Cold War is coming back.

The economy,  this Christmas 2008,  finds America in a deepening recession that is beginning to border on a depression.  The 2008 Christmas Retail Rush dove into a dismal and destructive ditch that forced many retailers like Circuit City and Linens and Things to finally throw in the towel. The Washington D.C.-based National Retail Federation, which represents the nation’s 1.6 million retail companies, blamed a relatively late Black Friday — one of the season’s busiest 43243129days for retailers — for a 2 percent decrease in November sales compared to the same month last year. The U.S. Commerce Department, which measures retail sales slightly differently, said sales dropped 8.5 percent in November from the previous year. More dramatically, figures released late Sunday by SpendingPulse, a data service provided by MasterCard Advisors, showed that from Nov. 28 — the day after Thanksgiving — through Dec. 6, apparel sales fell 22.9 percent from the same period last year and electronic sales fell 22.3 percent. The unions no longer can guarantee jobs or numbers of hours with many unions only guaranteeing 12-hours-per-week for union workers at a pay-rate hovering around $7.75 an hour.

And in despair I bowed my head
“there is no peace on earth” I said
For hate is strong that mocks the song
of peace on earth goodwill to men.

When Longfellow penned the words to his poem, America was still months away from Lee’s surrender to Grant at Appomattox Court House on April 9th 1865; and, his poem reflected the prior years of the war’s despair, while ending with a confident hope of triumphant peace. The first Christmas after Fanny’s death, Longfellow wrote, “How inexpressibly sad are all holidays.” A year after the incident, he wrote, “I can make no record of these days. Better leave them wrapped in silence. Perhaps someday God will give me peace.” Lt. Charles Longfellow did not die that Christmas, but lived until April 17th 1893.

lion-witch-wardrobe_1Then pealed the bells more loud and deep
God is not dead nor does he sleep

This Christmas, 2008, America is just one month away from a new, potentially historic,  Presidency. America’s first black President and first lady. Like Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Americans are privately looking forward to 2009 with confidant hope for a better future.

The wrong shall fail the right prevail
with peace on earth goodwill to men
peace on earth goodwill to men

“Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away” (James 4:14)livingfireplace

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year America.

As Longfellow, let us not give in to our despair but let us walk trepidaciously into the New Year, with a private prayer on our lips and a confidant hope in our hearts for a better future that the wrong shall fail and the right prevail with  peace on earth goodwill to men, peace on earth goodwill to men.

KILBURN HALL

2008


Burning Down The House

untitled1As President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney are leaving office with one of the lowest approval ratings in the history of numbers. they have to be aware that they are about as popular as taxes and chicken pox. In a recent exit-interview with FOX News. George W.  said: “I didn’t compromise my soul to be a popular guy.” Bush went on to say that he would have liked to have been more popular, but he’s proud that he didn’t sacrifice his integrity.

Stubborn, defiant, pig-headed to the end with his “Cowboy diplomacy” and his “go-it-alone” foreign policy. Dub-ya might as well have burned down the White House.

America says, “good riddance to bad rubbish.”

Now, I tried to give the guy a break after Islamabad’s high on Jihad instead of crack-cocaine flew Jumbo-jets into the World Trade Towers and the Pentagon. Bush acted presidential, vowed America would hunt down those responsible for the deaths of 3,000 Americans on that fateful day, Sept 11, 2001 and Americans went along with him. Until his “war on terrorism” became just a gimmick to get him re-elected to a miserable second term in which he burned down the house.

Even though I was well aware of George W’s reputation as a college drunk and an embarrassment to his father George Sr, I went along with him. But like Nero, who fiddled while Rome burned, George W, stubborn, defiant, pig-headed wouldn’t listen to the advice of his handlers who gave him the White House and many of them like Karen P. Hughes, Counselor to the President resigned. Last June in an address to the graduating class of Texas A & M, Hughes had this to say about Dub-ya:

The people you work for and with can either challenge you to your best – or reduce you to your worst.

In a little over a month, the president and his wife, Laura, will leave the White House and move to Dallas, Texas. Bush said that his “biggest regret” was that he and his team got the intelligence wrong in Iraq. As the Washington Post puts it, “The self-criticism is notable for a president who has long resisted looking back at his time in the White House and once was unable to provide an example of a mistake he had made in offbush_riding10ice.”

Here’s the irony of his admission.

History will show that when it came to Iraq, Iran, Syria and Afghanistan and the war on Jihadist terrorists hell-bent on destroying the world, I truly believe history will vindicate George W. I believe history will show that George’s aggressive “Cowboy diplomacy” and his beefing up the demoralized military that Bill Clinton left us with,  that George W made the right call. The wrong call- was to have gone from “liberators” to “occupiers.”

I believe history will prove me right. I have long said that the Iraqi’s welcomed us as liberators, freeing them from the depraved tyranny of Saddam and his torture squads but that after liberating Iraq, we should have handed them the keys to the kingdom and got the heck out. No cutting and running about it. It’s one thing to be a “liberator”- another to be an “occupier.” History has shown that this was the same mistake America made in Vietnam. GI’s should have turned over the keys to the kingdom after the victory of the Tet Offensive of 1968 when America was still winning the Vietnam War.  Instead, we stayed, became occupiers, up against astronomical number of troops coming in from China and we were  simply over-run. Face it- the NVA spanked us hard. America, the greatest military might in the world,  except possibly for the Turkish Army.

Now, it’s time to get out of Irag.

Mission accomplished. We need to hand over the keys to the kingdom (of sand)  and get out with our dignity and respect intact. You cannot give someone democracy as George W. believes. The only way that democracy means anything is if you have to go out and fight for it yourself. As our founding fathers like George Washington did. Washington so believed in the revolution against the British that he helped pay for the cost of fighting such a war for Independence out of his own pocket. I have not seen Dub-ya offer to do that.

Said Mr. Bush: “I’ll be wishing President-elect Obama all the best, genuinely be wishing him all the best.”

51er47mzyxl_sl500_aa280_George W. needs to leave as quietly as possible, with as little fanfare as possible considering the total mess he has left his successor.

At first, President-elect Barack Obama will be seen as the stable-boy cleaning out the stables after the departed master. His task, in cleaning up the mess in America will not be an easy one. Frankly, I do not think it can be done in one term. Rather than positioning himself for a run at a second-term like Obama is already doing, he is going to find that “words are cheap.” He made promises he frankly cannot keep to the American public, many of whom, the devout Obama supporters view him as some kind of Messiah. Here’s the thing about Messiah’s- often they are crucified by their own people. So the departing Prez, needs to leave as quietly as possible and the incoming Prez, who has shot off his mouth during the campaign, telling the American people what they want to hear and not being able to keep many of the promises he made- needs to take office as “humbly” as possible and with as little fanfare. This is not to be the case.

untitled1Already, Obama is making the mistake of having the most expensive inaugural party in history at a time when America is slipping into depression.  Marie Antoinette made that same mistake bankrupting a nation for her many “parties”  and uttering phrases like, “Let them eat cake.” The ugly mob in France chopped off her head. A lesson Barack Obama needs to heed as soon as possible. Today’s Obama supporter’s can become tomorrow’s ugly mob of revolutionaries.

U.S. President George W. Bush jokingly told Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper on Saturday that he was going into “forced retirement” when Barack Obama takes over the White House in two months. Forced retirement is a good thing for a failed presidency. I certainly wish  Dub-ya and Laura  all the best and I wish George W. all the luck he can get in trying to sell his memoirs,  after “forced retirement.” America lived through the hellish-years of the Bush administration, I don;t think there will be all that much interest in reading about it or reliving the nightmare of millions of Americans being forced into foreclosure or losing their jobs as the upper class continue to laugh and party all the way to  their  “forced retirement” or the revolution, whichever comes first.

KH

Gay Trek (2009)

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Star Trek theme

Gay Trek. This is the continuing agenda of the Starship Bent-him-over whose 2009 mission is  to seek out hot and sweaty Leather-clad revelers, for good-natured spanking and flogging at festival benefits, to raise awareness for gay, lesbian issues, and AIDS prevention and to attempt to enter through the backdoor, the final frontier.”

I wrote a comment on the J.J. Abrams Star Trek Stills page that I felt that after viewing the stills of  J.J. Abrams Star Trek, that the new Star Trek movie (2009)  has become “Gay Trek.” Early movie stills hint at a homosexual relationship between Kirk and Spock and the characters look, well … just so “gay.” The trailer for the 2009 film is even on realjock.com, a gay website.

startrek004I received a rebuttal from a new Star Trek fan that:
Kilburn Hall, you seem to think that “gay”, as you put it is “bad”. How enlightened of you. Star Trek is set in the future, and Roddenberry’s vision was that bigots like you are a thing of the past. I’m willing to wait and see what this film is like before jumping on “gay” slurs.

First off let me say two things:

1. I love Star Trek

2. I am not a homophobe. In fact, having a great many gay and lesbian friends. But “gay” is bad when it means “gay as in exploited simply because you’re gay.”

After three decades and four series, the Starship Enterprise has never seen a gay character. Star Trek producers decided they did not want to cross that final frontier. In an odd distinction for the franchise that, 33 years ago, gave America its first televised interracial kiss, the top-command in Star-fleet did not want to travel down a path filled with political and moral landmines.

startrekgay2 In 1987 — Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry promises gay characters At a Boston Star Trek convention, series creator Gene Roddenberry told fans that Star Trek: The Next Generation will likely “address the issue” of gay and lesbian characters and situations. Staff writer David Gerrold took notes.

Gene Roddenberry, to The Advocate, 1991

stos_majel_170x1281“My attitude toward homosexuality has changed.  I came to the conclusion that I was wrong. I was never someone who hunted down “fags” as we used to call them on the street. I would, sometimes, say something anti-homosexual off the top of my head because it was thought, in those days, to be funny. I never really deeply believed those comments, but I gave the impression of being thoughtless in these areas. I have, over many years, changed my attitude about gay men and women.”

rejoinedIn 1988 — David Gerrold’s AIDS-allegory script rejected Staff writers David Gerrold and Herb Wright create script for “Blood and Fire,” in which an alien creature was itself a disease that infected others. One of his victims was a male medical technician, who was lovers with a male security officer. After pressure from the studio and show executives, Gerrold rewrote the script without the gay characters.

As far as many die-hard Star Trek fans are concerned, Star Trek died when creator Gene Roddenberry died and Patrick Stewart (probably the best Star Trek captain) refused to return to do another movie wanting to put the Star Trek franchise behind him. You would think this would be a hint to director J.J. Abrams. There is a time to boldly go where no man has gone before and a time to boldly stop where man has gone too many times.

images3Director J.J. Abrams is gay.

My hope is that Hollywood will let the Star Trek franchise die with dignity.

It’s five-year wagon-train to the stars lasted 42-years. That’s an eternity being stuck in warp-drive. For 42-years, we have had to endure a parade of Star Trek books (All I Really Need to Know I Learned From Watching Star Trek (paperback) memorabilia, conventions, continual “spoof” movies and the butt of jokes by SNL as well as William Shatner spoofing his own over-acting. If that wasn;t bad enough, then came the Star Trek movies with the original cast which launched an entirely new generation of Star Trek spin-off TV series, Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager and Enterprise. Star Trek has turned itself inside out going forward in time, backward in time, so many times we can’t keep it straight what Star Date or universe they’re in.

enterprise-ncc-17011The series has exhausted itself. It has had a good run- it’s time now for the spaceship Enterprise after death of creator Gene Roddenberry whose remains wound up in outer space to know when to sail off into the universe, first star on the right and straight on until morning.

But to use the new Star Trek movie as a platform to further the gay-agenda is blatantly exploitative and will turn off many original-school Star Trek fans. Controversy sells. Undoubtedly a controversial “Gay Trek” will stir debate, draw in a lot of new (very young) viewers who were not around 42-years ago like I was to witness the miraclous birth of America’s first Sci-Fi series. Personally, I would find the new Gay-Trek offensive to my sensibilities since I know it is not a genuine portrayal of gays but an exploitation, a sham, a con to make me part with the price of a movie ticket. In addition, unless the story revolves around a loving relationship that two gays share,  to even introduce gay characters would be a distraction to the real point of the film. Somehow, I’m guessing that Abrams only motive is to make a quick buck by cashing in on a decades-old and most beloved franchise.startrektagay

In October 2005, George Takei, better known as Mr. Sulu from the hit TV series (and subsequent six movies) Star Trek,  made it official in a news interview with Los Angeles based Frontiers magazine that he and his partner Brad had been together for 18 years,” Takei tells Frontiers. “I’ve been ‘open,’ but I have not talked to the press.” It was a very courageous thing for Takei to do. Takei, an Asian American, worked in Hollywood at a time when there were few opportunities for Asian-Americans and none for gays.  Cast in the role of Sulu, which was a breakthrough role for an Asian-American actor.  Sulu played a very important role in balancing the perception of Asians by the North American public. But, there was no agenda in hiring Takei. So I applaud Takei. Who, through his own talent and warm heartedness as a human being was able to transform our way of thinking. This is the way that change should be brought about. As we change ourselves, we change those around us. But to have an agenda to bring about change, such as the gay-agenda, through manipualtion or political action as the Clinton administration did ramming the gay-agenda down our throats, is not the way to create pocitive change but in fact creates the opposite, hatred, animosity. Those, like myself who would like to see equality for gays and come to acept them based on their example like Takei are turned off when forced to accept them.

Hollywood has never gotten the “gay-thing” right except perhaps for the movie Philadelphia, a 1993 film revolving around HIV/AIDS, homosexuality and prevailing attitudes concerning gays and homophobia.. Instead, Gays are seen as a joke, the gay sidekick, or the straight woman living with a gay guy like Will & Grace. Gays will tell you, they are not “switch-hitters.” Either they are gay or they are not. And Hollywood particuarly dropped the ball with Ellen DeGeneres, a warm , charming, funny lesbian whom Hollywood allowed to be turned into a sick joke with little support from the Hollywood community when the controversy blew up in her face. Hollywood should not be the one promoting any “gay-agenda” because they keep getting it wrong. Instead, Hollywood should create a safe atmosphere where great examples of “gays” like the charming Takei,  and  the warm, and funny DeGenerres can do their thing and win over our hearts and thereby change our attitudes and prejudices towards gays in society.

_42038956_kiss_aster_zenJ.J. Abrams “Gay-Trek” is blatant exploitation. Using a controversial-topic of gays in society to generate interest in a new movie for a long dead franchise.

Star Trek jumped the shark with First Contact, and everything that followed–Voyager’s second through seventh seasons, the complete series of Enterprise, to say nothing of Star Trek: Insurrection and Nemesis–has been an exercise in rapidly diminishing returns. Maybe J. J. Abrams can turn Star Trek around, but to do so he’s resorting to a near-reboot of the entire franchise. If Abrams hope’s to reboot the franschise by creating controversy or using Star Trek to further the “gay agenda” - he may turn off more viewers than he hopes to attract.

tardis_xmasJ.J. Abrams- how about dumping the idea of rebooting the Star Trek franchise and giving us a Dr. Who full-length motion picture? (The only serious Sci-Fi being done in the last five-years). Dr Who rebooted their franchise recently with David Tennant as the Doctor  and this British Sci-Fi series is more popular now than ever and not being used to further any agenda other than giving the viewers pure, unadulterated, unpoliticized Science Fiction.

Hey!  There’s a thought J.J. Abrams.

KH

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The train they call the “City Of New Orleans”

Sometimes, the role of government is to step in and shut down a business or industry that is harming the public by perpetrating fraud, outright criminal behavior, safety issues, or other mitigating factors that make continuing to do business “unsafe” for the public either physically or financially. It is the role of government to protect its citizens.

On Christmas Day, 600 passengers were stranded by Amtrak at Union Station downtown Chicago with many being told there would be a 24-hour-delay. I crossed  through Union Station Christmas Day on the Metra (Chicago’s commuter rail-line) heading for  Ogilvy Station and the Northwest Suburb of Barrington, IL.  where I live.  Nothing was open. There was no place any of the stranded 600-passengers could get something to eat. The only thing that was open was a popcorn stand. Guess that’s Amtraks way of saying, “A bag of chips and a soda. Merry Christmas.”

Do I need to tell you that Amtrak had a near riot on their hands?

Here’s the story, you can read it for yourselves, along with the myriad of excuses Amtrak has been using for years. I remarked to my traveling companion that Amtrak broke down for 13-hours on me the previous August and there wasn’t even snow on the ground. Amtrak apologized to customers on board the California Zephyr and offered us a free bowl of left-over stew/rice from dinner. How big of them!

600 frustrated and furious holiday travelers waited for as much as 22 hours for delayed trains at Chicago’s Union Station. Several trains were also canceled. Amtrak says the delays were caused by snow storms and cold that caused technical problems on trains and froze track switches and they “apologize.” Why is it that companies like Metra and Amtrak think that good customer service is to issue an “apology” every time they screw up in a big way? Commuters are tired of insincere “apologizes” when their trains are running an hour late or in the recent case of Amtrak, 24-hours late.

010606train1But we do “apologize.” Sincerely. We also keep taking your money. (Suckers!)

Major snowstorms in the Midwest are nothing new and the inability to deal with the aftermath of many a snowstorm has lost many a Chicago Mayor their job. Every year Amtrak deals with major cold and major snow across the nation so why are they suddenly so ill-prepared this Christmas?

I’ll tell you why. Amtrak has been sliding into ruin and skirting bankruptcy for years and have outright lied about it. One year they needed a hefty government bailout as they threatened passengers. “We’re going out of business unless we get a federal subsidy.” The Bush administration caved to public pressure, gave them the bailout they begged for, most of which went to salaries for upper management and little into maintenance and upkeep.

It’s time the government stopped enabling public transportation such as Amtrak, Metra, Greyhound and the aiurlines who have had horrible service and customer service for decades, who pay off management first before putting money back into the equipment or stations, who skirt ruin and bankruptcy every year and narrowly manage to  “jump-the-shark” by begging Uncle Sam for another bailout. Excuse me, didn’t we give you one last year? And the year before and the year before and  the year ………….”

“This is a slap in the face of taxpayers,” said Tom Schatz, President of Citizens Against Government Waste. “To come to Washington on a corporate jet, and asking for a hand out is outrageous.”

Competition is good for America.

If you can’t  run your business to provide great service, great customer service, keep your customers wanting to come back over and over, and make a profit- then you have no business being in business.

President Obama needs to get tough with these corporate panhandlers, these lousy corporate bums who do not want to work for a living but have come to rely on Uncle Sam to enable them while endangering the lives of  passengers on frozen trains, with frozen toilets and no food, by stranding them in Amtrak terminals like Union Station (Chicago)  for 24 hours with no where to buy a hamburger. Even McDonald’s was closed. If Amtrak is a business and McDonald’s in Union Station makes money off of Amtrak and Metra customers- then it is Amtrak’s/Metra’s responsibility to make sure McDonald’s stays open on the holidays or kick their business to the curb. This is what a responsible company does. But see, Metra, Amtrak, Greyhound, Frontier, and other airlines have never been responsible companies. They skirt ruin and bankruptcy, their CEO bails with a huge golden parachute at the first sign of trouble as the company like Oliver Twist pleads with Uncle Sam, “Please Sir! May I have some more?”

ENOUGH GOVERNMENT BAILOUTS.

This “moral hazard” is a slippery slope for corporate America who make risky decisions big enough that someday may need government bailout. No more government bailouts for corporate America. If  you can’t retool your business like Motorola to stay competitive in the marketplace to make a profit and treat your employees fairly- then go out of business. We don;t want the likes of you- we don’t need the likes of you. Competition is a good thing and there are dozens of other start up businesses who would gladly take over your business and do the things they need to do to remain competitive and profitable. The Japanese for instance.

Obama needs to say, “Goodbye to bad rubbish” with corporate bums like Marc Magliari of Amtrak, as well as  the corporate bums runing Metra, Greyhound, Frontier, and other airlines,  and any other business like WAMU who has preyed on the consumer for decades, provided piss-poor service, even worse customer service, while rewarding CEO’s with fat paychecks anrooseveltd golden parachutes.

Here’s one way for Obama to get rid of pariahs like Amtrak. Step in and shut them down permanently. Sell Amtrak off to the company who is building a high-speed bullet train from San Francisco to San Diego. Can you imagine how awesome a coast-to-coast high-speed bullet train would be for America. Even China has a high-speed bullet train they made by recycling parts from other projects. Now, if China can do it, why can’t America, supposedly the greatest country on earth?

We can’t. We can’t because we are not the greatest country on earth. Not any longer. Maybe, once upon a time,  after WWII, but today in 2008- America has become a country of corporate beggars and thieves preying on customers instead of uplifting them and earning their loyalty and repeat business while paying off fat-cat greedy CEO’s and corporate mouth-pieces.

I say- shut down Amtrak, throw the irresponsible thieves like David L. Gunn, Marc Magliari, David Hughes and Amtrak’s latest CEO pirate Joseph H. Boardman in jail for lengthy sentences. Then  hire a company who wants to give America the high-class, high-speed transpph2005110901102ortation we need and deserve.

In 2005, nearly a week after a government investigation found repeated management problems with the rail service. So, why are they still operating today? David L. Gunn’s firing came after a three-year tenure marred by clashes with the Bush administration over the direction of the financially beleaguered national rail service.

The government must step in now. What happened at Chicago’s Union Station Christmas Day was a near riot with an angry mob of 600 passengers looking for a customer service representative to rip apart. No wonder passengers found locked doors,  and customers service representatives hiding. As one Amtrak employee told an irate customer, “There’s a lesson to be learned in all this and you need to figure out what that lesson is.” I beg to differ–  There is a lesson to be learned in this alright and it is Amtrak that needs to learn it by government stepping in and putting the thieving corporate pirates  out of business and in jail where they belong.

Amtrak spokesman Marc Magliari says there were no cancelations in Chicago. A big fat lie. The cancellations took as long as 24-hours. And trains shouldn’t be delayed for more than a few hours. (They were delayed 24 hours) TeamPirateNationMagliari says Amtrak was doing a “top-to-bottom” review of this week’s disruptions to try and prevent them from happen again. (Another bold-faced lie as these problems have been happening with regularity the past few years and getting worse every year. It’s time to kick the bold-faced liars like Magliari, and other corporate panhandlers to the curb. Though Magliari is just the mouthpiece for the irresponsible criminals who run Amtrak, you can bet he is in with them and as thick as fleas on a dog.  The public demands to have clean, dependale, affordable public transportation in America, on the rails, on the highways, and in the air and it’s past due time that our government stepped in and shut these pirates like Amtrak and Greyhound down, round up the viliians and throw their miserable lying corporate asses in jail with their fellow criminals who make no pretense that they are providing the country and the public a service. The criminals in the joint are more honest about what they do and what they’ve done than these corporate scumbags who have no regard for the comfort or safety of their passengers just about the size of their yearly bonuses and golden-parachutes.

High-speed bullet trains would revolutionize transportation.

rayman-blog-20060923011231763High-speed rail advocates in California have long dreamed of the day when bullet trains would revolutionize transportation, and they’re counting on voters to pony up nearly $10 billion to bankroll what would be the nation’s first true high-speed rail line. Proponents have been pushing high-speed rail for 25 years and always fallen short. But they say a confluence of events — rising fuel prices, gridlocked roads, jammed airports and concern about global warming — present the best chance yet to bring bullet trains to America. “We have a perfect storm … those four factors make a perfect case for high-speed rail,” Ron Diridion of the state’s High Speed Rail Authority, recently told the San Francisco Chronicle.  There once was talk of a bullet train between Los Angeles and San Diego, and of a line linking L.A. and Las Vegas. Both were shot down by the very corporate pirates who run Amtrak, Greyhound and other horrible transportation services with frightening talk about the enormous expense. We built modern tollways that managed to pay for themselves after a decade so why are Americans still paying tolls?

Will things be any different this time? Will we listen to corporate scumbags like David L. Gunn, Marc Magliari and other dirt-bags who control the nations transporation services or will America finally follow Europe and Japan in embracing high-speed rail? If it does, it will require changing how we live and how our cities grow. The cost of California’s project from San Francisco to Los Angele’s through Fresno  is expected to cost $32 billion, with extensions to San Diego and Sacramento adding another $10 billion. the largest public works project in state history would create as many as 160,000 construction jobs and spur 400,000 more jobs once the system is up and running.

That’s 560,000 jobs folks and just in the state of California. Can you imagine how many jobs a nationwide bullit train or series of high-speed bullet trains would provide? Millions of jobs.

But the coroparte scumbags like Marc Magliari, Joseph H. Boardman,  Amtrak’s newest CEO scumbag want to lie and decieve and cover their collective corporate asses while begging the Obama administration for millions of federal dollars to continualamtrak-31-approaching-wayn-avely bailout a system that has been dead for years. If Obama and the federal government won’t step in now to shut down the bandits like Amtrak- then perhaps Americans need to type up a very nice looking invitation to al_Qaeda and Osama bin Laden;

IRAQ MUNITIONSDEMOLITION EXPERTS WANTED FOR RAILWAY WORK!

This way we can kill two birds with one stone- get rid of the greedy corporate bloodsuckers like Amtrak, Metra, Greyhound, Frontier and other’s who hold American passengers hostage every time they walk into a transportation terminal and at the same time- end the war on terrorism. al-Qaeda would no longer be terrorists but hold down respectable jobs  while singing,  “I’ll be working on the railroad …. alll the decade long.” And in the process, giving Americans a better country, with faster, cleaner, and cheaper public transportation.

AMTRAK HAS GOT TO GO!

KH

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Every year the TV stations do a photo-montage of the celebrities that have died that year. Though I keep up with the news, every year there are one or two deaths that still take me by surprise and 2008 was no exception. My mentor Michael Crichton (Jurassic Park) fame was taken from us suddenly. He was 66. Over the years I have lost some very good friends like Michael Hedges and Dan Fogelberg. My mom, Donna Williams Richter passed away in  March of 2008 at age 75.

Same Old Lang Syne

robert_burns_11Auld Lang Syne” is an extremely old Scottish song that was first written down in the 1700s and associated with Robert Burns. Auld lang syne” means “times gone by.” So (incorporating a couple of other translations) when we sing this song, we are saying, “We’ll drink a cup of kindness yet for times gone by.” We remember those who touched our lives in some way, mentor’s, celebrities that had an impact on the direction of our lives, friends, relatives with kindness and gratitude for their passing our way. That, I think, is the meaning for why this Scottish ditty from the 1700’s continues to be popular today, 308-years-later.

We drank a toast to innocence
We drank a toast to time Living in our eloquence
Another auld lang syne

Of course, I cannot list all the people who passed away in 2008 so here are just a few of the people I will miss from 2008 whose lives touched my life, even in a small way. Your list may vary and you can click below for the complete Death List 2008.

(Click here for a more comprehensive list)jurassicpark

chrichton_michael_250x3751. Michael Crichton, 66, American writer (Jurassic Park, The Andromeda Strain, ER), throat cancer.

images42.  Tony Hillerman, 83, American mystery writer, pulmonary failure.

3. Sir Arthur C. Clarke, 90, Sri Lankan/British science fiction author (2001: A Space Odyssey), heart failure.

4. Eartha Kitt (jazz/blues singer and Catwoman on Batman (3rd Season)

5.  George Carlin, 71, American comedian and actor, heart failure.

6. Suzanne Pleshette, 70, American actress (The Bob Newhart Show, The Birds), respiratory failure.

meetpress7. Tim Russert, 58, American journalist and television host (Meet the Press), coronary thrombosis.

8. Paul Newman, 83, American Academy Award-winning actor and philanthropist, lung cancer.

9.  Jerry Reed, 71, American country music singer and actor, complications from emphysema.

lw2145g10. Harvey Korman, 81, American actor and comedian (Blazing Saddles, The Carol Burnett Show), abdominal aortic aneurysm.

heston11. Charlton Heston, 84, American Academy Award–winning actor (Ben-Hur, Ten Commandments), NRA president, pneumonia.

12. Richard Widmark, 93, American Academy Award-nominated actor (Kiss of Death, Judgment at Nuremberg), after long illness.

widmarkWhere do the  “souls” go after they leave us? Are they recyled to return and shower us with greatness at some later date or is this trip called life a one-time only cruise? Clarence the Angel, in the wonderfulclarence2Christmas film, It’s A Wonderful Life says:

Clarence: Strange, isn’t it? Each man’s life touches so many other lives. When he isn’t around he leaves an awful hole, doesn’t he?”

So thank you Paul, Michael, Charleton, Harvey, George for passing my way and sharing your talents with me. Thank you Paul for Cool-Hand Luke and your Spaghetti Marinara. Thank you Charleton for Ben Hur and Moses. Thank you Harvey for Blazing Saddles. I roll on the floor with laughter every time I see it. Thank you Michael for being my mentor and showing me the way to write intelligent techo-thrillers. Thank you Tony for introducing me to the Blessing Way of the American Southwest. Thank you Tim for showing me that there are still “honest journalists” left in our business. Thanks Dick for the Westerns. Arthur- thanks for the glimpse into space and Jerry- thanks for the Bandit.

Clarence: You see George, you’ve really had a wonderful life. Don’t you see what a mistake it would be to just throw it away?wonderful life3

I think the reason we celebrate New Year’s and sing Auld Lang Syne is to raise our cup and remember with kindness our friends, mentors, relatives, loved ones and the special people whose lives touched our own lives, changed us in some way with their talents, their music, their writing so that we became better people for having known them.


for auld lang syne,
we’ll take a cup of kindness yet,
for auld lang syne.

KILBURN HALL

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My Hometown by Bruce Springsteen

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“The tree-lined streets are empty and eerily quiet. The beautiful house is tastefully furnished and eerily quiet.
~Van Gogh

Sam Mendes new film called, REVOLUTIONARY ROAD based on Richard Yates’s 1961 novel of the same name, is the latest entry in a long stream of films from The Graduate,  Poltergeist, Spielberg’s ET, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off and  the Academy-Award-winning -film American Beauty that portray the American suburbs as the physical correlative to spiritual and mental death.  In Revolutionary Road, you are meant to think that living in the Wheelers’ suburb one can ruin oneself,  have adulterous affairs with the neighbors, go mad,  or commit a crime, (kill your neighbor or your wife).

Yates Wrote in 1961: “The Revolutionary Hill Estates had not been designed to accommodate a tragedy…. [The neighborhood] was invincibly cheerful, a toy-land of white and pastel houses whose bright, uncurtained windows winked blandly through a dappling of green and yellow leaves…. A man running down these streets in desperate grief was indecently out of place.”

In the Northwest suburbs of Chicago, where I live,  we refer to these “Godless“  suburbs where the kids are all on drugs, the public-school systems failed decades ago, and strip-malls have swallowed up the landscape  as,  “The White-bread suburbs.” A place that Harry Chapin described as  (What Made America Famous) “the churches full but the kids all gone to hell.”

It seems everyone from Only Yesterday author Frederick Lewis Allen (who coined the term “suburban nightmare”) to the cliché-glomming geniuses behind American Beauty (a film whose protagonist, in the words of one representative critic, struggles bravely to “awaken from the stupor of 20 years in the suburbs”) to the spiteful community planners behind the recent book Suburban Nation (subtitled “The Rise of Sprawl and the Decline of the American Dream”) are taking swipes at the death of the American Dream.  In his 1955 poem “Howl,” Allen Ginsberg elevated suburb-phobia to the level of myth.  He excoriates the “invisible suburbs” (i.e. “they are so spiritually dead that they are hidden from a living eye.”)  as one of the pernicious manifestations of Moloch, the destructive god of soulless materialism. Sylvia Plath, in her 1963 autobiographical novel, “The Bell Jar,”steps off a train and has this infernal experience: “The motherly breath of the suburbs enfolded me. It smelt of lawn sprinklers and station wagons and dogs and babies. A summer calm laid its soothing hand over everything, like death.” For Yates, Plath, Ginsberg,  Sloan Wilson, John Keats, and New Yorker cartoonist Charles Addams as well as hugely influential liberal sociologists  like David Riesman, William Whyte, Paul Goodman and Betty Friedan, it went without saying that the suburbs could transform the people who commit the error of moving to them into the walking  dead. A Stepford wife, wife-beater, pot-smoking drop-out like Kevin Spacey in American Beauty.

That’s exactly what happens to the Wheelers in Sam Mendes new film Revolutionary Road.  The Wheelers live in a safe and protected middle-class town with intact, well-to-do families; efficient services; and happy children dancing in the front-lawn sprinklers and running among the trees. Yet, like Kevin Spacey and Susan Sarandon’s characters in American Beauty such an environment comes to acquire all the destructive qualities associated with Dante’s “Inferno or Mt. Saint Helen. A simmering cauldron waiting for a cataclysmic eruption.

2008_revolutionary_road_009In the ’50s and early ’60s, the postwar exodus from the cities to the suburbs was just beginning. Veterans of the Second World War and then the Korean War, sought inexpensive homes of their own, far from the urban scrimmage that must have been, for some, a cramped extension of real combat. Enterprising builders eagerly obliged, throwing up houses in a matter of months, modest Cape Cods and ranch house in towns like Carpentersville, Illinois  that returning veterans were able to safely buy with little or no down payment, thanks to the GI bill. The entire town of Carpentersville, Illinois was such an enterprise complete with an early version of America’s second-largest mall, Woodfield which was named Meadowdale Mall. Meadowdale Mall today is scheduled for demolition and Carpentersville, Ill. has become a ghetto filled with Mexicans, crime, alcohol and drugs. Most of the families of these returning postwar parents have moved out. A shining example in the 1950’s of the American Dream, constructed between 1947 and 1951 using assembly-line methods; at one point, 30 houses were springing up a day, Carpentersville today is Godless and lawless, a cesspool of violence, crime, drugs, alcoholism, poverty, gangs and despair.

It’s easy to see why Hollywood feels now that they have to alert the general public to the emergency of the demise of these peaceful, leafy street suburbswhere the backyard used to be areminder of a meadow; the tree-lined intersection a faint echo of a busy urban intersection. Hollywood, advertisers and the U.S. Government created the problem. The suburbs were the embodiment of the big lie they feed us called, “The American Dream.” Now, that we are seeing the demise of the American suburb and beginning to see the “big lie” that Hollywood spoon fed us, the children of the industry who created the nightmare feel somewhat responsible.

luisnegarkasra As middle-class families moved out of the suburbs leaving behind decaying homes, streets, a ghost town of a shopping mall- the Mexicans, legal or illegal flocked 06574707to this haven of low-icome housing in a county repleat with thousands of low-paying service jobs. You can’t blame the Mexicans. As  “liberal-left” churches like First Congregational Church, Church of the Brethren, and other’s; sponsored hundreds of foreign families from Korea, China, South and Central America’s to relocate in our declining ghetto  “white-bread suburbs” the church’s turned their backs on their own homeless and struggling, the entire Fox Valley; with an over-abundance of “Row-house” suburbs like Carpentersville, Hoffman Estates, Hanover Park, Cary,  Fox River Grove, was sucked down the drainhole.

When I first attended private boarding school in East Dundee, IL in 1962, Elgin, IL. was a wealthy “white-bread suburb”. Home of the Elgin Watch Factory which closed five-years-later. When the new shopping mall of Springhill  opened in West Dundee in the late 1970’s, the death-bells were ringing for Elgin whose entire reaill downtown moved to Springhill Mall. Downtown Elgin has been a ghost-town and a ghetto for 25-years now. The gambling boat brought no relief but one lie after another about building a casino/hotel environ downtown. The Grand Victoria sucks as much money out of the local economy as it outs back in. It did not lift Elgin out of its ghetto existence.

In the late 1950’s, the suburbs were becoming the headquarters of the American middle-class, they were also becoming associated with the enviable characteristics of upward mobility: a decent salary, home ownership, access to superior public education and services. By the late 1970’s- that American middle-class dream was shattered as metra-cars-sloping-up-to-right-784391jobs began moving oversea’s and plants, factories and retail closed. The commuter-era was born. Thousands of middle-class who were stuck with these lower-priced houses  in towns like Fox River Grove, Palatine, Hoffman Estates, Bartlett, found they had to commute to the city of Chicago for employment.

Now Main Street’s whitewashed windows and vacant stores
Seems like there ain’t nobody wants to come down here no more
They’re closing down the textile mill across the railroad tracks
Foreman says these jobs are going boys and they ain’t coming back to your
hometown.

My Hometown by Bruce  Springsteen

southcenter-mall-tukwila_moa_paulnyc50-years-later later, with the advent of the Internet and “online” shopping, the “white-bread suburbs” have metamorphosed into the city, sprawling suburbs now stretch from the shores of Lake Michigan in Chicago west to Rockford, Illinois. a distance of 150-miles, filled in with one strip mall after anther strip mall. The country, farms, fields, cows are gone and one suburb like Hoffman Estates looks  like a cloned copy of Hanpover Park or Carpentersville.

So, why suddenly has the antisuburban theme become a staple of late-night comedians, Hollywood films, and New York novels?

In these politically correct times it is insensitive to make fun of minorities, gays, the mentally handicapped, homeless so late-night talk-show hosts like Conan O”Brien. Leno and Letterman have run out of material. Movie-goers are tired of seeing Hollywood’s stereotypical drug-lord bad guy. Wallah! The “White-Bread suburb” provides a smorgasbord of material for the next decade. In these cynical, sarcastic, put-down humorist times, Hollywood can get a least a decade of material out of making fun of America’s middle-class dream of the 1950’s, (a time when hope and the American dream was still alive). Hollywood’s new bad guys become greedy bank lenders, predator sexual real-estate agents like in American Beauty, hairdressers, the alleyways of the inner-city will now shift to the run-down suburbs and gangs of Mexicans which are okay to make fun of because as everyone is supposed to know, most of them are in this country illegally. This is the mindset of Hollywood. Trash the dreams, hopes, hard-work and aspirations of our parents, (the 50’s decade) because most of them arerevolutionary-road long dead already just to make a few quick bucks on the latest action film or get a quick laugh on the Tonight Show.

What does that say about the American dream our parents had of owning their own home, raising their kids in a clean, decent, country-like modern suburb? It was a big lie. They were fed a lie by Hollywood, advertisers and government,  sold a bill of goods and now they are being despised and made fun of by the same people who fed them this bill of goods and ruined millions of middle-class lives. It’s good that Hollywood can make such an honest film but along with the film I would have liked to see an acknowledgment by the industry that their “peers” were the ones responsible for fabricating the big lie of “The American Dream.”

The dream is dead. The optimism and hope that our parents had when they moved out of overcrowded, filthy cities to give their kids a better life is dead. The suburbs are dead, filled with godlessness, lawlessness, crime, drugs, poverty, alcoholism and despair. The Antisuburban film has become as much a staple of Hollywood as the  Crime Drama.  A few prominent examples:

1. American Beauty (winner of 5 Academy Awards)
2. Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
3. Adventure’s in Babysitting
4. Breakfast Club and Pretty In Pink
5. Stepford Wives (both versions)
6. The Ice Storm
7. Gross Pointe Blanke
6. Revolutionary Road

Sam Mendes “Revolutionary Road” is simply a reiteration — take a sprinkler, add a dollop of anomie, and presto! you’re an authentic American filmmaker. No doubt, it will win a large number of Academy awards much like American Beauty. That does alot for Hollywood but not much for the death of the American Dream and the “white-bread” suburbs.”

Television, once home to the idealistic vision of the suburbs, in Bewitched and Leave It To Beaver have gotten in on the act, too, with the antisuburban satires “Desperate Housewives” and “Weeds,” not to mention the “Real Housewives” franchise, which opens a fake-appalled window onto a world of midday margaritas and $18,000 sleepover parties. Let me share one little secret about Desperate Housewives. It couldn’t happen in the real-life suburbs of Chicago. If it did, they would have to title it, “Dead Housewives” for infidelity is one of the major causes of homicide in the Chicago suburbs.

The increasingly suburban “sprawl and appall will only continue to fuel the fire of anti-suburbs sentiment with many young poeple fleeing to move back into the city or retired people selling their homes now that the kiddies are in college and moving into modern condominium high-rises in city-like suburbs like Arlington Heights, IL. the suburbs are no longer the environ of the Leave It To Beaver American Dream , but an unpredictable one of unfolding circumstances, crime, cruntitled-2ack, drugs, Godlessness and lawlessness.

“Last night me and Kate we laid in bed
talking about getting out
Packing up our bags maybe heading south
I’m thirty-five we got a boy of our own now
Last night I sat him up behind the wheel and said son take a good look around, this is your hometown
.”

~My Hometown by Bruce “The Boss” Springsteen

K. H.

Ball Of Confusion

2008 was a year of transition.

Changing administrations in the White House, severe changes in the weather, the housing and economic crisis,  shifting strategies in the ongoing occupation in Iraq,  the continuing decline of Hollywood; author Kilburn Hall takes a look back at some of the best of The Kilburn Hall blogs for 2008.

Great Googa Mooga

Can’t you hear me talkin to ya?”


southcenter-mall-tukwila_moa_paulnycThe Godless Suburbs

It was a big lie.  Hollywood, advertisers and government,  sold a bill of goods to the returning GI’s of WWII and Korea about the American Dream, made billions of dollars exploiting the dream with products and TV shows like, Leave It To Beaver, The Brady Bunch, and now in a tragic sense of irony, Hollywood will make millions despising and making  fun of the suburbs and the Middle-Class with movies like American Beauty, Revolutionary Road, Desperate House-Wives.

71050256Anger bubbles over at Amtrak as passengers stranded 24-hours

Amtrak has been sliding into ruin and skirting bankruptcy for years and have outright lied about it. It’s time the government stopped enabling public transportation such as Amtrak, Metra, Greyhound and the airlines who have had horrible service and customer service for decades, who pay off management first before putting money back into the equipment or stations, who skirt ruin and bankruptcy every year and narrowly manage to  “jump-the-shark” by begging Uncle Sam for another bailout.

startrekgay2Gay Trek (2009)

After three decades and four series, the Starship Enterprise has never seen a gay character. “gay” is bad when it means “gay as in exploited simply because you’re gay. The series has exhausted itself. It has had a good run- it’s time now for the spaceship Enterprise to know when to sail off into the universe and not exploit “gays” for the sake of making a few bucks for director J.J. Abrams or use Star Trek movie as a platform to further the gay-agenda which is blatantly exploitative of “gays.”

bush_riding10Forced retirement is a good thing for a failed presidency

Stubborn, defiant, pig-headed to the end with his “Cowboy diplomacy” and his “go-it-alone” foreign policy. Dub-ya might as well have burned down the White House. For a president who has long resisted looking back at his time in the White House and once was unable to provide an example of a mistake he had made in office,  George W. needs to leave as quietly as possible, with as little fanfare as possible considering the total mess he has left.

esquire-sexiest-womanThe 25 Sexiest Women of all time. (The definitive list)

a man needs to know more than just the arbitrary ratings put out by magazines like Men.Style.com. Cosmopolitan,  FHM, Esquire, Maxim, and other magazines. Lips, hips, tits … what’s not to love about the sexiest woman alive?  One prerequisite for being named Sexiest Woman Alive should be that you have to be voted in by the public, not the magazine writer’s who use sex just to sell magazines, plug new products,  or sponsor the annual Victoria Secret Christmas pantie party.jay-leno

The new national past-time (kicking people when they’re down)

Shooting your mouth off is what makes the late-night kings like Leno, Letterman, Conan O’Brien- with their mean-spirited, kick-em-when-they’re down humor- fools.  Especially when they have all run afoul of the law. It’s become the new national past-time,  making fun of people when they screw up, kicking people when they are down, and ruining people for sport. While kicking celebrities and politicians when they’re down might make for media ratings and great newspaper fodder for the purpose of selling advertising space, it does not serve  society well when we as a society stoop so low as to kick a person when they’re down. It’s petty, mean, and beneath us as Americans.

untitled-23“Wise guy, eh?”

Yesterday,  December 9, 2008, Milorad “Rod” R. Blagojevich was arrested by FBI agents and charged with various crimes  in connection with his activities to replace Barack Obama’s Senate seat. Rod Blagovoich’s ego was so colossal, causing him to think he was smarter than the rest of us,  that he was so above the law,  that he didn’t know that everybody and everything around him was wired. If you’re not a Chicagoan, here’s something you gotta know. There’s a lot of wiseguys here and the cops and the Feds love nothing more than beating down a “wiseguy.” It’s like a sport with them. Chicago politcs are inundated with “Stooges,” cops and politicians arrested on charges of corruption laughing  and parting all the way to the slammer like it is 1999  give all Chicagoans, Chicago cops, and Chicago politicians,  a black-eye.

obama_sc_04_01_2007-731285Won’t Get Fooled Again!

America’s 44th-President won’t even be sworn in until January 20, 2009 but already, from Obama’s cabinet choices, it’s beginning to look like the “new boss – same as the old boss.” The more things change, the more they stay the same. Already the signs are there from Obama: reneging on campaign promises, compromise on U.S. Troop withdrawal from Iraq, a band-aid approach to economic problems by caving to his cronies.  With his meteroric rise and ascension to the White-House, the far-left, you know,  “Liberals” all believed Obama’s messianic powers by proclaiming that as soon as he was elected, all America’s problems would simply disappear. And Americans fell for it. The oldest trick in the political black-bag of dirty-tricks. Tell us what we want to hear. To quote Obama himself, “You can put lipstick on a pig and its still a pig.”women

The women??? Oh, please ….!

The Women (2008) an updated version of George Cukor’s 1939 version with Joan Crawford and Rosalind Russell was fresh for a 1939 sympathetic, women-centered narrative. (featuring only women in the movie- no men anywhere.) Today, Hollywood tried to “cutesy” it up and if we hadn’t seen the same plot a thousand times the last twenty-years, it might have been interesting.

pamela_anderson_607429a1Hugh Hefner just a “dirty old-man”

When Hugh Hefner launched Playboy Magazine December, 1953, Hugh was hip, trendy, cool, happening and definitely cutting-edge. Today, Hugh comes off as creepy, a perverted, dirty-old-man.  Hugh’s big mistake was not in grooming one of today’s hot males to take his place,  (the word is “Protege,”) but letting his only child, a daughter; run the Playboy empire. At age 56, even Christie Hefner, Chairman of Playboy Enterprises comes off as a little creepy. Hugh has lost the opportunity to groom one of America’s rising studs to take his place. Someone like Heath Ledger, Brad Pitt. Ben Affleck. Now he’s just a pitiful, dirty-old-pervert prancing around in PJ’s when he can’t even get it up at his advanced age and the women only desire his money and what he can do for them career-wise. And sex for money is not hip, cool, trend-setting it’s just plan creepy.

Surprise Her With The Size Of Your Intimacy

untitled9The voluminous amount of these penile enhancer junk-mails are beginning to annoy me. Maybe the problem is not the size of your equipment, maybe the problem is the size of your intimacy (your woman or your relationship. the next time your woman makes an issue of the size of your equipment, don’t fall for these marketing scams and the Pamela Andersen mentality in believing that it’s the size of your penis that  matters, pay attention to what she’s really telling you. She’s telling you that you have communication issues, that you don’t listen to her or talk to her enough.

Is the bar too high now even for “Superman” to leap in a single bound?

21455053The Dark Knight sure raised the bar for super-hero action/special effects movies.The pressure to “cash-in” by Hollywood producers will ramp up the competition as well as stress-levels in Hollywood to have that big blockbuster movie of the summer.

The path of least resistance?franknernest2008101222818

the voting public treads the path of least resistance because it’s safe, it’s comfortable, it’s familiar. The voting public fears change and the politicians that run for office every four-years know this, so they play on our fears and so, every four-years, like clockwork, we vote for the lesser of two evils. Elections are a lot like gambling. You rolls the dice- you takes your chances. Obama may keep his promises of leading America into a more economically secure future, a more “green” future- then again he may get bogged down by his own party and may turn out to be just another mediocre Presidensuperobamat. John McCain would certainly keep us stuck in the past.

Even Halloween and slasher films on TV don’t seem as scary to us these days as American politics

Every four years politicians create a climate  of fear and division in this country that only a Super-Obama can save us from. The polarized environment in this country that underlies my concerns still exists however. Politicians would tear this country apart, turn neighbor against neighbor all so they can see their name (Lozar) on a campaign poster in front-yards all over the suburbs. Being a politician must be one massive ego trip. Four years later however, we are left with the same broken system, the unkept promises, and the meat-grinder starts up all over again. Our political system in America is broken. Time to scrap it as our founding fathers did some 200-years-ago. It doesn’t work. It’s broken. It’s time to come up with a new system a works. A vote of confidence like the Canadians have. Putting Americans through this political meat-grinder every four years, creating this climate of fear ever four years is turning this nation into one giant looney-bin with the inmates running the asylum.

Hey buddy, cantfu57k9j you spare a cup of coffee?

Obama favors hitting on big-business, and helping small businesses like the Biggby franchise, “stay in business” by spreading the wealth around. McCain calls him a redistributionist. I ask- so what’s wrong with spreading the wealth around? It’s a visicious “Catch-22;” helping corporate America stay in the state’s and provide jobs or helping small business owners. Personally, I’m rooting for the small business owner. The tragedy of the last 25-years is that we’ve seen corporate America like WalMart move in and take over America, peddling Chinese junk, thwarting unionization of its workers, working the employees to death,  while paying them meager wages. The more small businesses we have, the more specialty stores and services, the better, not worse,  customer service becomes. Instead, we are stuck with giant, cold/impersonal, behemoth, corporate monstrosities like WalMart, Target,  Home Depot, Super Value (Jewel) who jack up the prices to $5.49 for a pack of Oscar Meyer hotdogs, while treating their employees like dirt and paying them minimum wage with no health benefits.

images-11Sometimes the words just get in the way

The most powerful drug used by mankind is not crack, cocaine, valium, marijuana, heroin, or alcohol; it is the use and misuse of “words.” Today, words are thrown at us for marketing purpose’s, to manipulate us. Words are casually used and misused, but the words themselves have lost all meaning.

0622231800AC/DC Rock-N-Roll train rolls on

Call them old (they are– but the rock group known as AC/DC, alias the young brothers, Angus and Malcolm, are 53 and 55, while vocalist Brian Johnson is 61)  still know how to rock. Rock on.

obamaAfter today, (Nov. 4th) consider me gone

authorities are bracing for as many as a million people in downtown Grant Park Tuesday night to cheer on Barack Obama as election returns come in, a potential celebration and security headache. Can The Republicans win? The hard work is done. Now, it’s just a numbers game. Both campaigns will kick back in their prospective campaign headquarters as the bean-counters crunch the numbers and confirm what most Americans already know. They just can’t make it official until the evening of Nov. 4th when the candidate with the least numbers steps up to the podium to make his concession speech.

The $5-dollar slop sandwhichshit

The corporate fast-food empire in America is evil. They have had Americans bending over so long, spreading our butt-cheeks and liking it, that they think they can get away with whatever they want, whenever they want , and treat the customers however they want. McDonalds makes billions-of dollars every year yet they are now charging for a glass of water, extra dipping suaces and condiments and no longer offering cheese on dollar sandwhiches. Today, McDonalds (having served over 99-billion) is not the same courteous, fast service that Kroc found in San Bernardino. They have become a faceless corporate monster whose lawyers swoop down on anyone who tries to name their new restaurant anything that sounds like McDonalds,  impugn the character of McDonalds (while the quality of their product has gone to the dogs), try to unionize its workers all the while treating its employees and customers with contempt. Taco Bell, Burger KIng, Wendy’s have all followed suit.

threeheadstonesThe Rule Of Three

This “death in three’s,” it seems to me each time a celebrity dies that all three deceased are employed in the same career field. Recently, Michael Crichton, Tony Hillerman, and Studs Terkel were all authors. All three were giants on this earth. They were my friends, and my mentors and I will sorely miss them.
Thanks for all the Dinosaur’s and Kokopelli’s.

respect2R-E-S-P-E-C-T

What a very long way we’ve come in such a short time. What Americans did at the polls Nov. 4th went beyond historic. Miracle is a word that comes to mind. A miracle on so many levels. A miracle that Americans could move beyond their prejudices to “do the right thing.” Obama, “a good sport” kept quiet the day after his landslide victory to allow McCain and Palin time to make a graceful exit. That’s our president showing his opponents the R-E-S-P-E-C-T they deserve. It’s too bad McCain’s own campaign staff couldn’t show Sarah Palin, McCain’s running mate the R-E-S-P-E-C-T she deserves. Telling tales out of school that Palin didn’t know (Africa)  a continent from a country, about the $150,000 the RNC spent on clothes for her and her family because she was so “ill-prepared” when she got the call, is inappropriate, back-biting, and does all Americans a dis-service. We should be bigger than this.

2285749267_2224d7c423Obama’s nation has begun

Emboldened by an overwhelming electoral victory and a near-super-majority in Congress, The faceless, scheming bureaucrats behind Grassfire,org state tgo on the attack specifically charging  that :P resident-elect. Obama and his allies are preparing to implement his liberal, “post-American” agenda. Simply put, what President-elect Obama and the Pelosi-Reid Congress have in store has the potential to rapidly move America to the socialist Left.
We tried it their way, the  Grassfire.org way, the Neo-Conservative way, for eight years and it did not work. In fact, not only did it not work, it caused a meltdown in this country which will take an Obama administration eight-years to undo. It’s time to resist any Obama resistance and damn well time to start fighting back against Grassfire.org, Neo-Cons, Rush Limbaugh and other far-right Conservative nut-jobs who would create a climate off fear in this country and get Americans to resist change, to resist what we know is the best path for us.
So join the (Patriotic, Resilient, Democrat) Resistance  The Obama Nation has begin. Join with Obama, lets create a new America while resisting the same old tired, business-as-usual politics and climate of fear of Grassfire.org and the Neo-conservatives.

275078996_4ae57d32cbCreating tomorrow’s dirty-laundry today

Todays billion-dollar media-empire creates tomorrow’s dirty-laundry today. The tool of their trade? Creating and promoting an atmosphere of fear. No one can suck the fun out of a room faster than CNN. Why, after 30-years, when American government failed to learn their lesson at Jonestown is CNN regurgitating the horrible tragedy? What’s the point of regurgitating senseless tragedy merely because it is the 30th anniversary of something?  Does it make us better journalists, better citizens, does our government learn from the horrible tragedies of our past to prevent them in the present? Obviously not.

hillarybosniaSecretary Of State? Oh no … Mrs. Bill

One of reasons the really qualified politicians turn down the position of Secretary Of State when offered them – it’s political suicide.

If Hillary has any political aspirations for running for the Oval Office in 2012- it would be political suicide for her to accept such a position that could blow up in her face. Should Iran start lobbing missiles at Israel- she can kiss her political career goodbye. Should the Iraq/Afghanistan conflict escalate  and become truly bloody again (as the six months following our invasion of Iraq)- kiss it goodbye Hillary. Should Obama’s well intended foreign policy turn into shit hitting the proverbial worldwide fan- kiss it goodbye Hillary. You won’t be in the position to say, “I told you so” in 2012 for you have now become part of the Obama problem and no longer representing a solution. Surely, Hillary’s political advisers must be telling her this. Surely they have been telling her that becoming the next Secretary Of State is political suicide and that should it all blow up in her face she has no chance in hell of any future political designs.

The Lost Art of Bond, James Bond.

flemingwithgun_1541James Bond, 007, longed for the foreplay and the cigarette afterward and we, the reading public and movie-fans, longed for his longing. Violence was always an annoyance for Bond which distracted him from his passions in life, (girls, cars, Baccarat), and his number one passion, the Vodka Martini, shaken not stirred. Four years ago,  Bond fans revolted when it was announced that Daniel Craig would be taking over the part from Pierce Brosnan, a buffoon in a Tom Ford suit. Craig cannot do nuance  or smooth like Sean Connery, tongue-in-cheek like Roger Moore or double-entendre like Pierce Brosnan. In fact, Daniel Craig is best as James Bond when he speaks as little as possible. What Craig does best is skull bashing. Might as well have cast him as Conan and given him a sword. It’s time for a return to the lost art of Bond or for James Bond to retire gracefully once and for all with his dignity and balls intact. Any further mucking about with the character by producers or lame acting of Daniel Craig will further serve to kill the franchise.

zack-and-miri-make-a-porno-1st-posterZack and Miri make a controversy

How do you portray violence and sex without showing violence and sex? It’s a Catch-22. The controversy surrounding release of Natural Born Killers is similar to the controversy surrounding release of the recent film, Zack and Miri Make A Porno.
We don’t all like sex. Some of us use “sex” to manipulate others into doing what we want, into giving us the political power or religious dictatorship over others that we crave. The reason that “sex” or even the mention of the word “porn” is controversial is that Americans like their sex behind closed doors. We feel uncomfortable discussing it around the dinner table at Thanksgiving. Sex in most of todays comedy’s and films is a device, a gimick, a lie, something to move along the plot or storyline. Not something genuine. It is disingenuous for Hollywood to keep making the same, lame, tired-out, “lies”  (about sex or violence)  which refer to sex as merely a device to move the plot along and not engage the movie-going public in an honest and frank discussion about sex or violence. Yet, when they try to have these open, honest and frank discussions, like with Zack and Miri  Make A Porn or Natural Born Killer’s, they are slammed by their own MPAA as too controversial and used as a bully-pulpit for preachers like Falwell, Dobson, and other’s whose only desire is to make us feel guilty about it all so as to continue to line their own pockets.

wal_mart_china_worker1WALMART PUTS THE WORD “CHRISTMAS” BACK IN SALES

WalMart is using the C-word again. A radical departure from 2005, when WalMart banned its employees from saying, “Merry Christmas,” unless it had been said to them first. This year, 2008, with the horrible economy and  money being tight, retailers are bending their own rules and using the word “Christmas,” at least once in their ads. Does that mean the alleged war on “Christmas” is over? Giant “big-boxers” only care about their bottom line and its management, about year-end bonuses. They will do anything, say anything, bend any which way the wind blows to get you to spend money in their stores.

INDIA-HEALTH-AIDS-PROTESTTHE WORLD MUMBLES IN MUMBAI

The Deccan Mujaheddin stormed luxury hotels, restaurants, and hospitals in Mumbai, India rounding up Americans and British tourists for execution and spraying commuters with bullets at the Chhatrapati Train Station. The media dubbed the incident, “India’s 911.” The visciousness of the attack left most Indian people stunned. It was cold, calculated, and deadly, the images on the front pages of major newspapers- appalling. The attack on India’s financial capital had all the earmarks of al-Qaida, (simultaneous assaults in iconic buildings meant to kill scores of Westerner’s). America, with its moral compass cannot bring itself to act like barbarians and so when it comes to Al-Qaeda, Mujaheddin, and other terrorist groups who commit barbarous acts, when we go head to head with them in any ground action- we will lose. We are the good guys- we play by the rules. Terrorists have no rules. The only way to get rid of terrorists is to terrorize the terrorists.” Become as vicious, bloody, and brutal as they are. It’s a no win situation. The only way to win is not to play that game and for the news media not … to give the terrorists the publicity they crave. The media needs to start seeing terrorists as the thugs they are, criminals, scumbags, dirtballs, and not play up to them as glorified freedom fighters.

THE BUSH Lwindsor-bill-2003-pietrip-arizona-cowboy-at-sunset-arizona-office-of-tourism-200EGACY

History will view him as a reckless President who opened Pandora’s Box, unleashing a form of terrorism on the world that we cannot put back in the box. One who pushed his “Cowboy” go-it-alone diplomacy which alienated some of America’s oldest friends and allies, and infuriated old enemies like Russia and latin America.

Todaycecile_cecile_sofly’s sex in advertising goes from ‘So Fly’ to ‘No Fly.’

“sex sells.”  Ads laced with sexual imagery of women geared toward men to buy Budweiser, expensive cologne, cigarettes, and alcohol products.  Images of sexy men to get women to buy those needed cleaning products sold by a sexy bald-headed Mr. Clean, along with perfume, cigarettes, condoms and fashion. In the last forty-years, companies have embraced sex in advertising with some really fun, successful, sexy and/or annoying results. Ramping up the sexual content to the point that people are thinking about sex rather than the product, then the sex overwhelms the product message. That has been the problem lately for advertisers trying to use sex to get our attention. They have to ramp up the sex because after  40-years of sex in advertising, it’s harder and harder to get our attention. We’ve become desensitized. Sex in advertising will continue to be used in advertising because it’s a quick and easy solution which doesn’t require much thought and can garner the immediate attention some marketers need for their promotional efforts. The question being asked lately by those in the industry is just how much is enough? How much is too much? When do the advertisers cross the line of public decency?

knotts2THE GHOSTS OF CHRISTMAS SINGERS (PAST, PRESENT, FUTURE)

Every year, they trot out the same lame Christmas songs we have heard for half-a-century, It’s starting to feel “contrived.”  The message of the season may not be that it’s a wonderful life. It may be that life sucks — believe me, sometimes it royally sucks — but we carry on anyway. We rise above. We carve out that little hollow in the snow and curl up for warmth in a cold, cold world and Christmas songs, the good, the bad and the annoying help us get through the process every year.

images5BEARS FANS DIE HARD.

The Chicago Bears finished the season 9-7 with head-coach LOvie Smith still in denial. He thinks a 9-7 season is close. Look for some coaching changes next year.  Instead of Lovie Smith worrying about the cold, he should be worrying about his future with the team since his new “defense” hasn’t been working all season. The new defense he sold to Bear owners. The defense folds like a cheap accordion. Somebody needs to tell the defensive players and Lovie and Babich that the defense now stinks, and can no longer be the focus of the team. You can’t game plan to win with defense and special teams. Not with this defense and these special teams. Traveling downtown on a Sunday morning in one-degree temperatures to watch a pathetic team you know might lose, a team that is going nowhere, a team that will most likely fire the coach and get yet another quarter-back next year. Being a Chicago Sports fan is an exercise in futility.

Round and around and around we go

where the world’s headed, nobody knows.

It’s all a ball of confusion

Kilburn Hall – 2008

75299Welcome to 2009!

“I’m growing older but not up
My metabolic rate is pleasantly stuck
Let those winds of change blow over my head
I’d rather die while I’m living than live while I’m dead.”

As the media wraps up the year 2008 with the best and worst of on TV and print media, I came across a blog showing the celebrties we all used to think were so hot.

They got old.

I”m Growing Older But Not Up

From Mr. Universe to Dirty Harry, our idols got old. Some of them had the good sense to gracef75304-1ully bow out of the limelight, preferring to put their expertise at work behind the scenes and actually winning some awards doing it like Clint Eastwood, some retire and enter politics like Arnold Schwarzenegger and Al Franken. Others;  particularly rockers like Rod Stewart, go in and out of retirement faster than the revolving doors at Ogilvy Train Station. Do we really want to see Mick Jagger dancing around on stage at age 65 with his little pot-belly sticking out? As one guy yelled at a recent Rolling Stones concert, “Mick! Put the shirt imagesimages-1back on.”

Which makes me think that the politicians should really pass a useful law called 75305-1the mandatory rock-star retirement act after which past the certain age of 40- rock stars are forced to give up the dream. If it ain’t happened by now- it probably isn’t going to. Hey! Somebody has to save us from ourselves. Do we really??? want to sit around watching our favorite rockers like Jimmy Buffet get up there at age 70 and make a fool of himself? Can you imagine if Elvis were still alive? he’d be like images-4images-372-years-of age and it really would be,“Heartbreak Hotel.

Perhaps a premature death for rockers isn;t such a bad deal. It immortalizes them. Death freezes them into a certain time, place, and culture. We will always equate Elvis with the 1950’s. Elvis was perhaps the only thing good that came out of the 1950’s. He made the fifties look good baby. The same can be said of Old Blue Eyes, Frank Sinatra. I cannot even imagine “The Rat Pack” hanging out in today’s “theme-park” Vegas. They would seem like creepy, dirty-old men.

“‘Act your age’ can be useful advice when you’re seventeen; it’s a mistake when you’re seventy-seven.”

In a world that glorifies youth and degrades old age, the print media, prints a mountai75298-1n of paper on these rapidly aging demi-gods like Richard Geer, Arnold Schwarenegger, Pierce Brosnan, Demi Moore and other former “hotties.” As a young college student in 1974, Farrah Fawcett’s poster in that red one-piece bathing suit graced my wall for four years. Today, I would pay her to take it back.

Face It! The “Baby-Boomer” generation is  becoming the “Grecian-Formula” generation.

  • By 2009,  80-million aging baby boomers will total one-third of the nation’s population. From 2010 to 2030, the portion of the U.S. population over age 65 will grow four times as much as it did in the last 80 years.
  • We’re becoming a “nation of Floridas.”75303-1

    In 1990, I lived in Florida. I once walked into a supermarket in St. Petersburg, Florida; and I was the only young person in the store. (If you consider the ripe age of 34 to be a young person). The entire state of Florida was like living in the movie, Cocoon. (Meet Art, Ben and Joe. Three simple, aging senior citizens who like to swim in an unguarded swimming pool next door from the old folks home they live in. So one day when they go swimming, they feel energized and “ready to take on the world!” What they don’t know is that the pool was recently bought by four alien Antereans incognito as humans).

    And I got news for you Generation X’ers- you’re getting old too. Brittany Spears is now 27, fat, and bloated and her newest career is as “mommy Spears.”  She’s no longer the cute 14-year-old Mousketeer.  With people living longer nowadays,  determining someone’s real age is increasingly irrelevant.  Someone can be a lot “younger” thinking at 65 like Jimmy Buffet than Brittany Spears at age 27.  In order to discover a person’s “real age,” I offer the bb3banner-1Brittany Spears Age Test.

    OLD – has never heard of Britney Spears.

    SENIOR – has some vague knowledge of Britney Spears being pregnant and getting married to someone from hearing her mentioned on Leno.

    MIDDLE-AGED – knows who she is and doesn’t give a s**t about Britney Spears and wonders why so much airtime is given to someone so uninteresting. (*this would be me)

    IMMATURE ADULT – doesn’t give a s**t about Britney Spears and wonders why so much airtime is given to someone so uninteresting, but is willing to still go to some salacious website to see Britney Spears in a car wearing no underwear (find it yourself!).

    “GENERATION X” -  (Brittany Spears Generation) reads US Magazine and worrries a lot about Paris Hilton’s negative influence on Britney Spears.

    CHILD – knows the lyrics to all four Britney Spears’s songs.

    According to the late author Douglas Adams (The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy), the following rules describe our reactions to aging.

    • “Anything that is in the world when you were born is normal and ordinary and is just a natural way the world works.”
    • “Anything that is invented between the time when you are 15 to 35 is new, revolutionary, and exciting, and you can possibly get a career in it.”
    • “Anything invented after you are 35 is against the natural order of things.”75306

    Now, at age 52, it’s not as easy todie while I’m living than live while I’m dead” as Jimmy Buffet says. It’s nice in theory but the reality is some days the arthritis kicks in so bad I can barely bend over to tie my shoes. The last thing I want is to see my youthful idols like Conan, Dirty Harry, and American Gigolo-  fat and flabby on the beach with no hair.  I don’t need that kind of reminder that my time in the sun is over and that I should be preparing to take my final bow at that final curtain call and sail off into the sunset. You know, retire “gracefully.”

    It’s maddening when certain people like rockers- refuse to do that. Along with “retiring gracefully” comes certain responsibilities – particularly if your life has been graced by fortune and fame. There is a need to “give back.” Aging Seniors in America have been woefully short on giving back or on mentoring- (that is working with many of the hot and upcoming stars and idols of tomorrow) and American Idol is not what I have in mind. What I have in mind is the great actor and director Clint Eastwood who as actor/director works with the young stars like Hilary Swank in Million Dollar Baby (2004)  in a mentoring capacity. Or, Robert Redofrd. Another one that does this a great deal is Morgan Freeman who has worked with a lot of the young stars, most recently Christian Bale in “The Dark Knight.” Aging Baby-Boomers need to do this in all career fields not just Hollywood and the music industry. It’s called “mentoring.” Creating a big-brother/little brother- big sister/little sister relationship with a younger person who has talent and  potential. Instead of Whitney Houston wasting her life away on drugs and being knocked around by Bobby Brown- she could be spending her days starting a school for gifted singers like she was.

    Baby Boomers looking for books beyond “What Color Is Your Parachute?” to help deal with growing old gracefully might want to check out these king-of-rock-at-70-1266969-1titles.

    Gift-Years-Growing-Older-Gracefullyimages-11

    Baby Boomer’s Guide to Growing Old Gracefully

    Quotes On The Beauty Of Aging

    A Pirate Looks At Fifty

    The Traveler

    The Complete Beatle’s

    “One day you’ll find that I have gone
    For tomorrow may rain so I’ll follow the sun.
    images-5

    300_39412You know that saying, “Tomorrow is the first day of the rest of your life?” No where is it more appropriate than this, the first  of the New Year. Today, January 1st is the first day of the rest of your life. There is no going back. If you don’t like the picture you find yourself in- paint a new one. But, it would be a shame to lose everything we were without passing some bit of ourselves, our time, our talents down to the younger generation. They are our future.

    Find a youngster. Become a mentor!

    And while you’re so busy painting a new picture- don’t forget that the old one wasn’t so bad.

    Happy New You everybody!

    KH

    untitled

    I”m A Confidence Man

    “Warring against [the principles] of the people,… there is no length to which [the delusion of the people] may not be pushed by a party in possession of the revenues and the legal authorities of the United States, for a short time indeed, but yet long enough to admit much particular mischief. There is no event, therefore, however atrocious which may not be expected.” –Thomas Jefferson to Samuel Smith, 1798. (*) ME 10:56

    The Christmas trees have barely begun to show up on the curb for trash pickup, (a sure sign that the dismal Christmas season of 2008 with its declining sales of two-percent over last year)  is over, and President-elect Barack Obama won’t even be sworn into office  until January 23, 2009 with the same Bible that Abraham Lincoln used for his first inauguration in 1861, and already the Obama administration is mired in controversy. Symbolism like that is fine but Obama needs to stand strong against lobbyists and big money. Lincoln would have cleaned up Washington from those types of influences. Obama it seems will allow himself to be pushed around by them. Here’s the scandal currently surrounding the Obama administration:

    1. Already a Cabinet appointee has been forced to withdraw. Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico, tapped by the president-elect to be Secretary of Commerce, removed his name from consideration due to a Grand Jury investigation of state contracts granted to political donors. A spokesman for Richardson said,  “the governor decided to withdraw when it became clear the investigation would take longer than originally believed.”

    Yeah, right. (what the spokesman is really saying is the investigation is taking longer than expected with every chance for a conviction).

    2.  And then there’s the ongoing Blago-gate scandal in Illinois, regarding the attempted sale of Obama’s vacant Senate seat. With the sunrise arrest of Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich on Dec. 9, that’s exactly what we had. It was a saga of cinematic dimensions—part Sopranos/part All the King’s Men. The governor of the fifth-biggest state was on tape allegedly and profanely talking about selling Barack Obama’s now empty Senate seat, and expressing a desire to use his office to peddle a lot of other things for personal gain as well. Is Obama involved up to his eyeballs? What about the Rahm Emanuel seat? Was that a “pay-for-play” situation as well? Who profits off trading or selling plush Congressional seats?

    As I wrote in my December 8th blog, (Won;t Be Fooled Again) “The more things change, the more they stay the same. “

    20080603_obama1_33Already the signs are there from Obama: reneging on campaign promises. For the Obama faithful, Barack Obama made a lot of grandiose promises to the “faithful” who viewed Obama with a messianic fervor which has preceded Obama’s expected ascension to the White House. It is a painful reminder that most Americans have once again been suckered into believing that national politics offer any real solutions or any real change to the nations problems.

    Americans tried to look beyond symbolism and appearance by electing the first black President but national politics is more advertising than substance, more illusion over collective vision. More  about aspirational hopes than making good on grandiose campaign promises  and Obama, a better actor than Ronald Reagan- suckered us all. We believed him. We believed him because we wanted to believe him even though our guts told us that national politics have become a cesspool of lies, treachery, and deceit. The same bait and switch trick again and again every eight-years. Unless Obama screws up in a big criminal way, he is in for eight-years.

    Now, most voters have learned that when a candidate like Obama comes along who makes grandiose promises,  that he cannot possibly keep all the promises he has made. The election of 2008 was an exception to the rule most voters live by because in 2008, face it, we were desperate. The economy was in free-fall, the housing market,  and our very banking system was in meltdown and the idiotic choice the Republicans presented us with as their candidate, (John McCain) who in my mind never took the election serious but as a big joke by which he could get a few laughs on The Tonight Show at the expense of his moose-shooting, hockey-mom  running mate from Alaska,  we the people had no choice but to go along with Obama and pray.cbon34l

    Now I think Obama means well, I think his heart is in the right place- but in all my years of covering politics I know that Obama, like Diver Dan, (another Chicago figure) is in way over his head. His inexperience cannot possibly get this country back on the right track in four-years or even eight.  His inexperience is reflected in his choice of cabinet appointments. cronies like Emmanuel who, when he left the Clinton administration after voting in NAFTA and riling Democrats, moved home to Chicago to make $18-million as an investment broker. Promising to end the war in Iraq the moment he was sworn in,  now, Obama’s reneging on that promise and taking a more aggressive stance with pro-war Hillary Clinton as Secretary Of State (whom the far left alike criticized heavily during the primary), and by retaining the likes of  “Neo-con” Robert Gates as Secretary Of Defense (who was lambasted by the anti-war crowd). New York Federal Reserve President Timothy Geithner has been asked to serve as Treasury secretary. This is the guy who put Leman Brothers out-of-business and believs in shading “large areas of gray” financial dealings.

    Now, Detroit and the Big-3 want a huge government bailout to the tune of $38-billion-dollars. If Obama goes along with this, continues to reward the wealthy who have created this mess in America, government has become an “enabler” of corporate greed.  One of the best reasons why Detroit automakers should not receive a bailout can be found in a General Motors “Jobs Bank” program that, bizarrely, pays employees not to work.

    Face it voters. The American political system, (the red state vs. blue state system)  we have in this country is broken. It does not work. It no longer services Americans. Our two-party system has become bogged down in greed, corruption and backroom deals involved in selling Senate seats. It’s time to replace our current political model with something else. When our founding-fathers created our constitutional framework the following list of political parties existed.

    The following parties are no longer functioning. Some of them had considerable influence. Listed in order of founding.205

    * Federalist Party  [c.1789–c.1820]
    * Democratic-Republican Party (1792–c.1824)
    * Anti-Masonic Party (1826–1838)
    * National Republican Party (1829–1833)
    * Nullifier Party (1830–1839)
    * Whig Party (1833–1856)
    * Liberty Party (1840–1848)
    * Law and Order Party of Rhode Island (1840s)
    * Free Soil Party (1848–1855)
    * Anti-Nebraska Party (1854)
    * American Republican Party (1843-1854)
    * American Party (“Know-Nothings”) (c.1854–1858)
    * Opposition Party (1854–1858)
    * Constitutional Union Party (1860)
    * National Union Party, (1864–1868)
    * Readjuster Party (1870-1885)
    * Liberal Republican Party (1872)
    * Greenback Party (1874–1884)
    * Anti-Monopoly Party (1884)
    * Populist Party (1892–1908)
    * Silver Party (1892-1902)
    * National Democratic Party/Gold Democrats [1896–1900]
    * Silver Republican Party (1896-1900)
    * Social Democratic Party (1898–1901)
    * Home Rule Party of Hawaii (created to serve the native Hawaiian agenda in the state legislature and U.S. Congress) (1900–1912)
    * Socialist Party of America (1901–1973)
    * Independence Party (or “Independence League”) (1906-1914)
    * Progressive Party 1912 (“Bull Moose Party”) (1912–1914)
    * National Woman’s Party (1913-1930)
    * Non-Partisan League (Not a party in the technical sense) (1915–1956)
    * Farmer-Labor Party (1918–1944)
    * Progressive Party 1924 (1924)
    * Communist League of America (1928–1934)
    * American Workers Party (1933–1934)
    * Workers Party of the United States (1934–1938]
    * Union Party (1936)
    * American Labor Party (1936–1956)
    * America First Party (1944) (1944–1996)
    * States’ Rights Democratic Party (“Dixiecrats”) (1948]
    * Progressive Party 1948 (1948–1955)
    * Vegetarian Party (1948–1964)
    * Constitution Party (United States 50s) [1952–1968]
    * American Nazi Party (1959-1967)
    * Puerto Rican Socialist Party (1959–1993)
    * Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (1964)
    * Black Panther Party (1966-1970s)
    * Communist Workers Party (1969–1985)
    * People’s Party (1971–1976)
    * U.S. Labor Party (1975–1979)
    * Concerned Citizens Party (1975-1992) Become the Connecticut affiliate of the Constitution Party (then known as U.S. Taxpayers Party) with party founding
    * Citizens Party (1979–1984)
    * New Alliance Party (1979–1992)
    * Populist Party of 1980s-1990s (1984–1994)
    * Looking Back Party (1984–1996)
    * Grassroots Party (1986–2004)
    * Independent Party of Utah (1988–1996)rman1607l
    * Greens/Green Party USA (1991–2005)
    * New Party [1992 – 1998]
    * Natural Law Party (1992–2004)
    * Christian Freedom Party (2004)

    After Ross Perot (an American businessman from Texas, who is best known for seeking the office of President of the United States in 1992 and 1996) trashed the Independent party in 1996 by not allowing the Reform Party to develop into a genuine national political party, but rather keeping it a movement to support himself, Americans have been left with just a two-party, (red state/blue-state) political system which creates division, drives a wedge between Americans and is subject to the greedy, corrupt, backroom deal-making politicians who skillfully manipule the system like Bill and Hillary Clinton,  Rod Blagoevich, Roland Burris, Dick Cheney, John McCain and other’s.

    The system does not work! The system is broken. It no longer serves Americans and as such our two-party political system needs to be replaced. One political model that would serve Americans well is the Canadian system of parlimentary government  with its “Vote Of No Confidence.” This is how a vote of no-confidence works folks:

    A motion of no confidence (alternatively vote of no confidence, censure motion, no-confidence motion, or confidence motion) is a parliamentary motion traditionally put before a parliament by an erstwhile supporter who has lost confidence in the government. or the opposition party or party’s in the hope of defeating or weakening said government. The motion is passed or rejected by means of a new parliamentary vote (a vote of no confidence). In many parliamentary democracies, strict time limits exist as to the proposing of a no confidence motion, with a vote only allowed once every three, four or six months. Thus knowing when to use a motion of no confidence is a matter of political judgement; using a motion of no confidence on a relatively trivial matter may prove counterproductive to its proposer if a more important issue suddenly arises which warrants a motion of no confidence, because a motion cannot be proposed if one had been voted on recently and cannot be proposed again for a number of months.

    11-lord-north-3767The first motion of no confidence occurred in March 1782 when, following news of the British defeat at York-town in the American Revolutionary War the previous autumn, the Parliament of Great Britain voted that they “can no longer repose confidence in the present ministers”. Prime Minister Lord North responded by asking King George III to accept his resignation.

    George W. Bush would have received such a vote of “no confidence” and be resigned to step down as President.  In modern times, passage of a motion of no confidence is a relatively rare event in two-party democracies. Which would be a good thing for America, to do away with the two-party system and bring back the number of political parties we once had in the days of the Federalists. The cases in which a motion of no confidence have passed are generally those in which the government party has a slim majority which is eliminated by either by-elections or defections.

    Increasing the number of political parties in America from a divisive, red-state/blue-state mentality would increase a wide variety of points-of-view. No more of the George W Bush attitude of, “If you’re not for me you’re against me.” A dozen differing political parties in Congress would bring a dozen different view-points into the political discussion,and a winning vote could not be as easily manipulated as the 2008 defection of Republicans to Democrats in Congress. Republicans were stung by the defection of Senator Chuck Hagel of Nebraska. The two other senators who crossed party lines were Gordon H. Smith, an Oregon Republican, who supported the withdrawal date of the Irag War and Mark Pryor, an Arkansas Democrat, who opposed the plan. Senator Joseph I. Lieberman, independent of Connecticut, voted with the Republicans.The Senate vote was seen as a victory for Democrats,

    The backroom deal-making in Washington has grown to epidemic criminal proportions. shooting_craps

    If Democratic giovernor Rod Balgoevich, and Tony Rezko are implicated in the sale of Obama’s Senate seat- do we now have a President-elect who is also involved in said sale up to his eye-balls?

    Over the last decade, the U.S. Congress has failed to produce legislative solutions to some of America’s most significant and tragic situations and events: the shootings at Columbine  HMOs, September 11, presidential transgressions, corporate thieving like Enron, Wall Street, the housing crisis,. U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid calls  George W, Bush   the worst president America has ever had. Well, if he is the worst president America has ever had and deserves impeachment why, does he remain in power continually doing more and more of every conceivable thing that the public finds so objectionable? The obvious answer is that those who call the shots — the power elite – (the greedy, corrupt, backroom deal-making politicans) are delighted with what is being done on their behalf and have no complaints whatsoever. The same power-elite who have learned how to manipulate the two-party system with their army of lobbyists and special-interest groups to hoodwink Americans.

    The first ten Amendments that protect the individual from acts of government, was incorporated into the Constitution. But other promised reforms that would have restricted private power — (the capitalists and their corporations)– were ignored. These loopholes are now largely being utilized by the greedy, corrupt, backroom deal making politicians favoring their billionaire lobbyist buddies who favor massive government bailouts of Wall Street, the banking system, the Big-3 auto-makers and other corporate entities like Amtrak, Greyhound, and the airlines who have become nothing more than corporate beggars. All at the expense of the American taxpayer.

    It’s time for the two-party system to go. It needs to be replaced with a more Parliamentary system of government in which a vote of “No Confidence” in the President or whatever party controlling Congress can put an end to their tyrannical rule.

    Just say, “No Confidence.”

    No confidence in President Obama if his administration becomes awash in scandal and controversy. No confidence in the Democratically controlled Congress who continue to bail-out the greedy bankers and investment brokers on Wall Street, continue to bail-out the Big-3 auto makers who refuse to make the kinds of cards Americans want to buy. No confidence to the President who chases young college-interns around the Oval Office trying to stick cigars up their nethers. No confidence to a President who bankrupts America in an occupation of a country who doesn’t want us there.

    frenchrevolutionBut to continue to put the American voters through the political meat-grinder every-four years is ludicrous and can only end in ruin, shame, and bloody revolution one day. Americans, like our French counterparts under Marie Antoinette, will only be pushed so much, then  like the angry French mob, we will come for you and lob off your head.

    I say before it gets to that point, it might be easier to replace our current political model, with something more practical, more Parlimentary like the Canadian system of government. It’s far less bloody to just say,

    “No Confidence.”

    KH

    ai7_finalists_51408_0003

    Somewhere Over The Rainbow (Judy Garland is turning in her grave)

    Since the 1930s, long before America became addicted to television (much less the Internet!),  Americans have been mesmerized by “talent shows.” There was Ted Mack’s Original Amateur Hour  (which was also a popular TV show from 1948-1970). Radio announcer Arthur Godfrey co-pioneered the “talent show” theme in 1946 with his weekly radio show, Arthur Godfrey’s Talent Scouts.  Star Search hosted by the affable Ed McMahon, Johnny Carson’s perennial Tonight Show sidekick,  had a successful 12 year stint on TV from 1983 to 1995. In 2003-2004, the show was revived briefly with Arsenio Hall hosting. People from all ages came to compete against one another. Each contestant was graded on their performance and given anywhere between 1 and 5 stars from three judges. The person with the most stars moved on to the next round of competition. Each week there was also a special guest celebrity judge sitting in. The categories for the performers were child singers, male singers, female singers.

    Somewhere along the way with the gluttony of mediocre singers, Hollywood, the music industry, and the American viewing public began judging a persons talent by their ability to sing. Not dance, play a musical instrument, juggle, balance plates on a stick but sing …. badly, and off-key. Want to be on the upcoming season of NBC’s America’s Got Talent?  Learn how to sing! No, America doesn’t have talent. Least-ways, not musical talent.

    In 2002, the TV industry launched a horrible precedent called American Idol with a sort of a good-cop (Paula Abdul) bad-cop (Simon Cowell)  mentality. Mediocre stars like Clay Aiken and Taylor Hicks were created and dozens of knockoff TV shows were created. American Idol is the #1 rated TV show in America. Some 40 million viewers tune in each week. Idol is broadcast to over 100 countries and has spawned many similar TV shows around the world. To watch people sing badly.

    We now have copycat talent-shows like America’s Got Talent, The Next Great American Band,  The Entertainer, Star Search (2003)

    Here’s the problem. folks. Most of these people have little talent and they can’t sing!

    We’re encouraging an entire generation of people who have no musical talent, are tone-deaf and sing off-key badly to aspire to become singers. Americans, encouraged by American Idol, is awash in a sea of bad, tone-deaf, off-key singers.  After watching the first few episodes of American Idol singers singing badly and off-key I chuckled remembering Chuck Barris’s 1970’s version of American Idol called, The Gong Show.

    The Gong Show was the funniest, most raucous, transgressive and subversive show in TV history, “The Gong Show,” hosted by its shambling, shuffling, shaggy dog producer, the enigmatic Chuck Barris aired on NBC’s daytime schedule from June 14, 1976 through July 21, 1978, and in “Television syndication” first-run syndication in the U.S. from 1976 to 1980.

    The incarnation and the later years of the syndicated version were emceed by “Chuck Barris” who also produced them. A bad act on the Gong Show was just as likely to win the prize as a good one. In fact, some talented people were gonged off the stage while some truly awful acts evaded the boot. The score an act received on The Gong Show was virtually meaningless. Top prize was $516.32 (yes, that’s right), and the winners were pretty much guaranteed continued obscurity, so nobody was taking this seriously. A guest panelist with an absurdest, wicked sense of humor, might score a dreadful act a 10, while the celebrity sitting in the next chair might score it a 0 or a 2. Some real talent did appear on the show, Steve Martin, for instance. It was one big unrehearsed spontaneous party, quite unlike the slick and super-controlled production of American Idol. The tone-deaf, those  with no talent, sang off-key or just basically sucked were “Gonged” and lost the competition.” Better being “gonged”  than encouraged by a cut-throat music industry like Taylor Hicks into believing you actually have talent.

    I saw a video clip of Taylor Hicks recently on my home channel WGN (Channel 9)  here in Chicago where Taylor was in town for a brief stint filling in for the stage production of Grease. He sucked. The only thing interesting about seeing him on stage was the pompadour wig he wore. His singing was off-key, his movements rigid. Frankenstein was more graceful than Taylor Hicks. So, why is it that Hollywood, the TV and music industry, encourage these people who have no talent, musically tone-deaf and sing off-key into thinking that they have talent and that they can possibly go on to having a successful career in a cut-throat business? American Idol might have actually been a unique concept if they encourage talent in other area’s besides singing badly. Tap-dancing has become a “lost art” in America. Why do we not include dancing, or playing musical instruments on the American Idol competition? Symphony’s around the country are so short of Harp players and other virtuoso’s that the few virtuoso’s there are, travel around the country performing in several Symphony’s like the Chicago Symphony, The Flagstaff Symphony, The Boulder Symphony.

    Here’s what I would have liked to have seen on American Idol.

    Contestant sings say, a Michael Jackson song trying to imitate the moves. Then, the real Michael comes out and performs the same song. Shows the kid a few moves, works with him a little ,and at the end of the show, the contestant and Michael Jackson perform the song. This, would have really been an “American Idol” show.  Instead we get a burnt out, cynical Simon Cowell who doesn’t like anybody and a washed up singer like Paula Abdul who selects and beds down at least one IDOL  contestant a season in a sort of good-cop/bad-cop nightmare of no-talent, poorly dressed,  tone-deaf, singing off-key youngsters who really believe they have talent.

    BRING BACK CHUCK BARRIS’S GONG! 6a00d8341bfc7553ef00e5523061538834-640wi

    Better to be brutally honest and up front in the beginning than to nurse someone along like Taylor Hicks or Clay Aiken  for years into believing they actually have talent and that they will actually become a big star one day.

    GONG!

    It’s only a matter of time before some brave network takes on “American Idol,” which brings its death march of a seventh season to a close 7 p.m. Wednesday on WFLD-Ch. 32.

    When you think of the great singers who actually do have talent, Bette Midler, Barbara Streisand, Liza Minnelli, male stars like Frank Sinatra, Bobby Darin, Donny and Marie Osmond, Michael Jackson even today’s crooners like  these people had to put in their time, take their licks and prove themselves working the clubs around the country before they were discovered and offered TV appearances on TV shows like Mike Douglas, or the Johnny Carson show.

    meryl-streep1Today’s Oscar winning actors like Meryl Streep,  had to work at what is known as “perfecting their craft.” They couldn’t just go on some national televised “talent-show” and win a recording contract or an Oscar. They had to work at it.  For years. It was a career. As such, they treated it like a career.

    Working the clubs was rough. Talent like Sinatra and Nat King Cole had to rub elbows with Mafioso and other undesirables who frequented the clubs. I think it made them more “appreciative” of frank-sinatratheir hard-earned success. Many of today’s top actors and actresses have been working at perfecting their craft for a long time starting out as child prodigies like Jodie Foster or earning their stripes working in TV commercials and print ads like Tom Selleck. None, had a “career” handed to them. Particularly if you had neither no talent or no ambition. One had to have ambition to make it in the business. After fighting to survive in a dog-eat-dog business for 40-years, then one could write ones autobiography as ones career began to wind down. Today, Brittany Spears and Paris Hilton both have autobiographies and they’ve been around less than a dozen years.

    We do our children’s generation a huge disservice leading them to think they have talent when they clearly do not. Leading them to think they can become the next American Idol, when they are totally tone-deaf and can’t carry a note. We do them a huge dis-service to encourage their dreams when we know they have no talent and have a huge heartbreak coming. Is it not more loving for us to tell our own kids or ask their teachers in the schools (who can best gauge our child’s talent)  that they have little  talent as a singer, dancer, actor, than for them to be led on by an industry that chews people up and spits them out, for our youngsters to uproot their lives, move to Hollywood, associate with crack-addicts, prostitutes, drug-lords and the criminal element,  in hopes of chasing a dream that is never going to happen. Or if it does, for them to be psychologically unprepared to handle success and become screwed up and dysfunctional like Michael Jackson, Brittany Spears, or Lindsay Lohan or wind up dead, face down in the street like River Phoenix or dead in some hotel room ike John Belushi or Judy Garland?

    PEOPLE-ABDUL/Paula Goodspeed was a self-described fan of the “American Idol” judge Paula Abdul. There is no known reason why she would have committed suicide outside Abdul’s home, other than to be close at the end of her life to her apparent idol. Or to have her name forever linked with Abdul’s. Goodspeed attended the Austin, Texas, tryouts wearing braces and dressed like a gypsy, a look said to be inspired by Abdul. “Definitely, I really think I’m a pop star. They call me fashion genius.” Even “American Idol” judge Simon Cowell noticed Goodspeed’s resemblance to  Paula Abdul. But the judges weren’t impressed with Goodspeed’s version of Tina Turner’s “Proud Mary.” Simon Cowell was downright rude, especially about her braces. As co-judge Randy Jackson said, “That was terrible. What was that?”

    Frankly, I’m surprised more kids haven’t felt suicidal, suffered from depression or developed mental or emotional problems after an “Idol” audition. It’s a cut-throat business that chews up young people and spits them out. The successful ones even more so.

    As responsible adults. responsible parents-  we must be brutally honest with the younger generation if we truly care about them. We must develop a “mentoring” system for those who do have talent to work alongside a Michael Jackson or Whitney Houston, to enroll in a Meryl Streep, or Jack Nicholson school of acting, to take workshops, a budding Krzysztof Kieslowski, (the Academy-Award winning director of Red, White Blue) learning under a George Lucas, Stephen Spielberg,  or Howard Hawks mentor. The great John Wayne, “The Duke,” was discovered by legendary director John Ford. Wayne, a former college footballer, was a stuntman. Harrison Ford was discovered by Stephen Spielberg working as a carpenter on the set of Star Wars.

    jk_rowling_narrowweb__300x3950Just as we must encourage budding authors to attend summer writing workshops hosted by literary giants like Stephen King, John Grisham, J.K. Rowling. But you can’t hand success on a silver platter to youngsters, they have to put in their time, perfect their craft, hunger for success to make success meaningful for them to be able to appreciate success. They have to study and learn and practice their craft. That is the only way to achieve meaningful success- not by winning success in a TV talent show. That’s not talent- that’s a popularity contest. Two very different things.

    When did anyone develop appreciation by being handed something on a platter? Here … just watch.

    These people actually think they can sing. Someone told them that they could sing and that they should enter American Idolatry. (Perhaps they may want to “rethink” their friendship with whoever put them up to it because it was a very sick joke).

    Jeannie- if I came in last out of 10,000 hopefuls, I think I would get the message that I had no musical talent and I would find what it was that I was good at. Perhaps accounting.

    At least in “cube space” no one can hear you scream.

    KH

    Revenge Of The Nerds On A National Level
    Obama Spider-Man
    The new Commander-in-chief is actually the first “nerd in chief” and it’s really,  cool to see that America has a geek in the White House. I’m  thrilled.

    Did it ever occur to you that maybe…just maybe…if you’re nice to people, they might LET you rule the world? – Spider Man

    Spider-Man has a new sidekick: The president-elect. President Obama and Spider-Man will appear in an Inauguration Marvel Comic. Barack Obama collected Spider-Man comics as a child, so Marvel Comics is giving him a “shout-out” by featuring him in a bonus story. The comic starts with Spider-Man’s alter-ego Peter Parker taking photographs at the inauguration, before spotting two identical Obamas. Parker decides “the future president’s gonna need Spider-Man,” and springs into action, using basketball to determine the real Obama and punching out the impostor. President Obama thanks him with a fist-bump.

    The Obama story is a bonus in Marvel Comics Amazing Spider-Man #583, available in comic book shops nationwide on Jan. 14 for $3.99 and is expected to sell out, with half the covers devoted to Obama.

    2Any President who used to collect Spider-Man comics as a kid is going to give America a “Verrry eenteresting…  ” ride the next eight-years. This is what I expect. I expect Obama, like Jackie Robinson, the first black baseball -player will be out there swinging his heart out but I also expect that his own Democratic party along with the Republicans are going to try and thwart him at every turn.

    Why so? You ask.

    Not because he’s the first black president or even a Democratic winning President which the Republicans like to frustrate out of spite but because Barack Obama is a “Geek.” A young, hip, fresh whippersnapper who “gets it. Obama gets it and the old fuddy-dud-dies that control America’s money and politics dotn’ want you to “get it.” Face it- if you “get it” they are all out of a job. Everyone of them along with their greedy, corrupt, special-interest lobbying buddies.

    I haven’t seen you this angry since the Colonel wouldn’t tell you his recipe for his secret spices. – Spider Man

    So, they don;t want you to “get it”

    The Bush, Cheney’s. Henry Kissinger’s and Rush Limbaugh’s of the world don’t want Obama to be successful. They don’t want  “change” because then Obama gets the credit and they don’t. Obama, the Democratic party,  the  far-left  liberal lobbyists make the money and the Repubs and the far-right lobbyists are left out in the cold. And if Obama is successful and changes things too much, the Republicans and far-right can never get control back. Leastwise not for the next 8-16 years. A successful Obama presidency of eight-years might be followed by a successful Hillary Clinton presidency of eight years. Do the math! That would mean the Republicans and the far-right may have to wait 16-years or more to ever regain control of American politics. That means 16-years where the far-left prospers and the far-right suffers. Add to that the graying of America’s baby-boomers, at the end of 16-years, most of the greedy, corrupt, far-right politicians will be too old for American politics, and will have to suffer the indignity of sitting on the porch of some old-folks home complaining about how some young whippersnapper, some young “Geek” stole the nation,  its politics,  and associated wealth that comes from “being in control” away from them.

    “I think that at the end of this administration, with all its turmoil, and at the beginning of the next, we might actually witness the creation of a new order – because people looking in the abyss, even in the Islamic world, have to conclude that at some point, ordered expectations must return under a different system.” ~Henry Kissinger.

    In case you didn’t get the translation, that’s code for: “People in the world are stupid- we’re smart. We know what’s best for you and if you don’t return control to us, the far-right conservatives who have been stealing the world blind for fifty-years- the world will blow itself up unless they return under our protection.” It helps to speak German.

    The far-right should really blame Bush and Cheney who fabricated a war and then a continued occupation of a country that doesn’t want us there simply to line their pockets. For the last eight-years, the Neo-Cons or the far-right have been lining their pockets, getting filthy rich, while the working-poor in America, mostly Democrats have suffered.

    Now, it’s our turn. The Democrats. It’s our turn to be in control. It’s our turn to call the shots, make the rules, line our pockets. As the youth of America come into their own, the Generation X-ers, (The Geeks) are moving into The White House and the Baby-Boomers are moving into old-folks homes.

    Here’s the thing about having a “geek” president. It’s  Revenge of the Nerds on a national level.

    A group of Boston geeks helped Barack Obama turn the Web into the ultimate political machine. Franklin-Hodge and his squad of Web designers and programmers at Blue State Digital — a small start-up in a creaky-floored loft office on Congress Street in the Seaport District — had been hired to build much of Obama for America’s digital backbone: the interactive and social-networking features of my.barackobama.com, (or MyBO). MyBO would become the hub of the campaign’s online efforts to organize supporters, channel their energies effectively, enable them to call millions of voters, and, of course, collect donations.

    Remember high school? One was either a “geek” or a “jock.” For the last 50-years, the jocks, (the conservatives) have dictated American politics, business, economics. The big-3 made gas guzzling cars that no American wanted to buy simply to make their cronies over at Enron filthy rich- now the tables are turned. The Big-3 automakers may go out of business bailout or not and in order to stay in business, they might actually have to build the kind of cars Obama, “a geek” wants them to build. While Detroit and Japan continue to deliver  cars that are fashion accessories  Obama has called for 1 million PHEVs on American roads by the year 2015. (plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs). The Big-3 automakers in know that this would be the end of their reign of their colossal greed, the oil-industry which charged Americans $5 a gallon of gas last summer for no discernible reason, there was no shortage, know that the end of their price gouging for colossal profits would also come to

    It’s not nice to rob banks in Mr. Spiderman’s neighborhood. Can you say, “I’m going to jail”? – Spider Man

    In the end, there will be a showdown in Washington between the new sheriff in town, (a geek) and the tired, old, greedy cattle barons. Obama is smart, the establishment has already made their first big mistake by under-estimating Obama, MyBo and the “Geeks”  in the primaries. The Clinton’s, who have shown their propensity for greedy land-deals in the past, might have gone along with the robber barons that have controlled America’s politics the past 50-years. But the new sheriff in town is an unknown quantity and somehow the greedy, corrupt baby-boomer establishment has a feeling he can’t be bought as John F. Kennedy and Bobby Kennedy could not be bought.

    spidermanThere’s an old axiom in politics. “If they can’t buy you- they kill you” and  unlike Marvel Comics, there is no Spidey hanging around to guard the young “geek” president and Obama is no Green Lantern. The playing field can be easily changed as it was with John F. Kennedy and Bobby Kennedy which would leave the old guard in charge once more, an old-school “white” Vice-President by the name of Joe Biden and America would be back to politics as usual – business as usual. Nothing would please the “old-guard” more who do not want a “New World Order” but prefer to remain the miserly Mr. Potter’s of the world  (Frank Capra’s, It’s A Wonderful Life).

    The itsy bitsy spider climbed up the water spout. Down came the Goblin and took the spider out. – Green Goblin

    So, on this Inauguration Day, (January 2oth, 2009),  our prayers must go out for President Obama and his family for President Obama’s continued safety.

    Should anything happen to the new “geek in town”- America just might not survive the revolution and race-riots that would surely follow. The enemies of America, (the likes of al-Qaeda, Chavez, Castro, Putin, Armani-dinner-jacket in Iran and other’s) who have been sitting around and waiting for their chance,  spinning their webs of anarchy for decades, would love to see just this scenario unfold so they could move in with their anarachist forces and finish off the wounded beast that is America. China, who would then move into the #1 spot as world-power, also would not be sorry to see the demise of capitalist America.
    peter_parker

    For  now, I am putting all my hopes and prayers in Peter Parker, alias Spider-Man, in hopes that he is hanging around The White House just in the event America should need him.

    KH

    Continue Reading »

    Oscar 2008 Summary Song610x1

    There has been a dichotomy in Hollywood ever since George Lucas released Star Wars in 1978. There are films which make money, hundreds-of-millions-of-dollars, are extremely popular with the movie-going public,  but which do not win awards and then there are those “staid” artsy-/fartsy films which win awards but make little money or actually lose money.

    Recently The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, (AMPAS) which hosts their stuffy, bland, 4-hour long celebration of itself known as The Oscars or The Academy Awards, has relaxed their rules to admit for consideration films that make lots of money and are somewhat up to their snobbish standards like Lord Of The Rings, King Kong, American Beauty but only under threat of the Academy becoming obsolete.

    golden_globes_narrowweb__300x4500Sunday night, The Golden Globes, over-hyped as the big ol’ party of the awards season met for its 66th Annual Golden Globe Awards” telecast live on NBC. The public at home got to watch red carpet coverage on E! and in between the high-tech Glamastrator and Star Tracker visuals, came one or two delicious Hollywood moments. But mostly, The Golden Globes is just a big party for Hollywood insiders which is why they prefer the Globes over its more stuffy and staid Academy presentation. The Globes is gloriously dressed down: no live renderings of the best song nominees, no interminable clip packages, no self-flagellating monologues or self-serving quips from a smug host. In fact, there’s no host. The victors get to speak as long as they desire without being played off by an orchestra, and bravo for that, It is a fun, frolicking, informal atmosphere that endangers the end of the more “staid” Academy. Celebrities get to sit at round tables eating dinner and having drinks with their friends and contemporaries unlike the “staid” Oscars where the celebrities are forced to sit in an auditorium for 4-hours with no drinks, no food. By the time the Oscars end and the after-party’s begin, you can darn well bet those celebrities, are dying for a drink. Many of them have not been sober for 4-straight hours in their life without a drink or a “toot” of blow. The economy might be in the toilet, but it’s heartening to know that at least the Golden Globe Awards are back in top form.

    On January 7, 2008, it was announced that due to the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, the 65th 0115strikephoto_0Golden Globe Awards would not be telecast live. The ceremony was faced with a threat by striking writers to picket the event and by actors, threatening to boycott the ceremony, rather than cross picket lines. The Hollywood Foreign Press Association was forced to adopt another approach for the broadcast. The writers strike threatened to put an end to the fun and frolicking Globes ceremony but seeing it back in all its glory, should send a signal to Hollywood that their precious Academy Awards show is in danger of going into moth balls.

    In recent years, many of the nominated actors/actresses/directors/writers have not even had the decency to show up for the stuffy and boring 4-hour excess of itself which forced presenters to accept awards for people who were not even there. It makes the entire Oscar award show look ridiculous, not to mention presenters like Tom Hanks, Jeff Bridges and who suck their tongue in their cheek as they walk off with the Oscar they have just awarded to someone else. Makes them look like a fool.

    The Academy Awards is stuck in some Norma Desmond time-warp.sunset-boulevard_01

    (All right, Mr DeMille, I’m ready for my close up.” -(Sunset Blvd-1950). Trying to maintain archaic professional sunset-boulevard_01standards from Hollywood’s glory-days, (Two years in a row the Academy has disqualified the year’s best score). To the Academy’s shame, the Executive Committee of the Academy of Motion Pictures music branch has ruled that the score for The Dark Knight is disqualified because five names were listed as composers on the music cue sheet.

    The 4-hour-long Oscar telecast has bback15_gallery__600x400ecome long, boring, and stuffy with many winners not even showing up to accept awards, other presenters and winners using the Academy stage as a personal bully-pulpit for whatever wacked out religious or political beliefs they have simply because they know they have an audience of millions. It’s become so uncool to say anything nice about the Oscar telecast. The last few years have brought us disastrous hosts of the awards like Jon Stewart and David Letterman, (few get their sarcastic and pedantic humor) or Whoopi Goldberg trying to be down home folk.

    The governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences approved archaic and arbitrary  rules for the Academy Awards like the absurdity of limiting winners to an acceptance speech of less than a minute became increasingly irritating and embarrassing. Here are people at the pinnacle of their professional careers and if one takes the time to mention their mother in their acceptance speech, then their partner probably loses the opportunity to speak at all. Let these people talk – some will undoubtedly be boring, but occasionally someone will say something profound or memorable. All the men wear black tuxedos with straight ties and all the starlets designer gowns which make them look like aircraft carriers.

    The awards for best picture always go to some obscure, boring artsy/fartsy film that few movie-going public will actually shell out nine bucks to see. Or the Academy picks a film because it makes a political statement like Brokeback Mountain the year the gay agenda was being pushed. 2009 will be no exception as I predict Revolutionary Road about the “Godless Suburbs” will win simply because it is a political statement. (see previous bog The Godless Suburbs).

    No wonder Hollywood’s elite stay home. They attend the prestigious “after parties” but avoid having to sit through the Oscar telecast with its dull, boring, stuffy 4-hour-long oscars-08-wolfgang-puckceremony. The  celebrated “party atmosphere” of the Globes on the other hand is cited as a refreshing side note, gloriously dressed down: no live renderings of the best song nominees, no interminable clip packages, no self-flagellating monologues or self-serving quips from a smug host. In fact, there’s no host. The victors get to speak as long as they desire without being played off by an orchestra, and bravo for that. And the only special honor of the night, presented to Steven Spielberg, turned out to be one of the evening highlights with the guest of honor’s graceful and classy acceptance. The 1st Golden Globe Awards were held in January 1944 at the 20th Century Fox studios in Los Angeles.

    The 66th Golden Globe Awards, honoring the best in film and television for 2008, were presented on January 11, 2009 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, California.The Golden Globes are awarded every January, based on votes from around ninety (as of 2008] international journalists living in Hollywood and affiliated with media outside of the United States. Unlike the Academy Awards, for which the eligibility period begins January 1, the eligibility period for the Golden Globe Awards begins October 1. The setting is an informal dining/seating arrangement in a ballroom of Since the inception of the Golden Globes in 1943 the winner of the two categories normally offered by the Globes for Best Picture have gone on to grab the Oscar as well in 44 of those 65 years.

    2007 – No Country for Old Men
    2006 -  The Departed
    2005  -Crash
    2004 -  Million Dollar Baby

    The Golden Globes awards a globe about the size of an egg. (the trophies were re-designed to improve their 6pz2a9happearance and also make them more durable during transit. The trophy is smaller, but the globe is supposed to be more detailed and more accurate, and there’s a new marble base. It also comes with a leather-bound, velvet-lined carrying case) while the Academy hands out a tiny man nicknamed Oscar. (once made of bronze it is now composed of a gold-plated brittanium (a metal alloy mostly made of tin) and weighs in at 8 1/2 pounds.The base is made of metal) depicts a knight holding a crusader’s sword standing on a reel of film with five spokes, signifying the original branches of the Academy: Actors, Writers, Directors, Producers and Technicians. Academy librarian Margaret Herrick, who would later become the Academy’s executive director. Allegedly, she declared that the statue looked like her Uncle Oscar.

    Here’s the reasons why the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences should cease to exist, or morph with the more popular Golden Globes.

    1. The 80th Oscars (2008] were the lowest rated show in a decade, a clear sign that the awards ceremony is old, outdated, tired, boring, very, very long and stuffy and that Hollywood celebrities just don’t like going to it anymore.

    2. AMPAS voters are horrible snobs. It wouldn’t kill the Academy to include every year’s crowd-pleasers — like 2007’s Transformers, The Simpsons Movie, Knocked Up, Harry Potter (Goblet Of Fire)  The Bourne Supremacy, Spider-Man 3 and Pirates of the Caribbean 3.

    3. The selection process for movies being considered have become a political race-horse more competitive than the presidential election every four years.
    All you need is your own crack team of PR assassins.

    Varying movie-houses campaign to get their “movie” nominated for as many awards as they can. They spend millions of dollars hyping the movie with promotional materials which are mailed out to AMPAS voters, provide free-junkets to the movie critics for a favorable review of their candidate movie and conduct a scorched-earth campaign against rival films. Clearly, the movie that makes the most money is the one the public favors like Dark Knight but not  the one that takes home the Oscar.  The film that takes home the Oscar is the one that nobody went to see, like Revolutionary Road, one the public could care less about until it wins the Oscar, then everybody goes to see what all the hype was about like with 2004’s Million-Dollar-Baby. Hollywood interest in the show is at its lowest point in history so the Oscars must go.

    4. In 2004, ABC, owned by The Walt Disney Corporation,  imposed a video and audio delay on the annual Oscar telecast, allowing a network censor to bleep any objectionable content and possibly rival movies competing with Disney for an award.

    At Last year’s Oscar telecast, George Clooney (who’s on Time magazine’s cover as “The Last Movie Star”) was fawned over and fussed over, to an embarrassing degree on the Red Carpet. Clooneymania is such a cult now that it’s giving Obamania a run for its fainting spells. And there were lots of inside jokes about the writers and actors strike that no one outside of Burbank and Broadway could comprehend. I predict at this year’s Oscar telecast, Heath Ledger (Dark Knight) will be fawned and fussed over to an embarrassing degree, with inside jokes about his drug overdose and his posthumous win for best actor at the Golden GLobes beating out an over-confidant Tom Cruise who expected to win for Valkyrie. Tom here’s a clue- if a dead guy can beat you out of a best-acting award- you can’t be all that good.

    The past decade has brought a gluttony of awards shows, The Academy Awards, Golden Globes, Grammy’s, People’s Choice, Screen-actor’s Guild, The Razzie’s.  Despite the sequels & remakes, ditsy teen-flicks, drunks, & bimbo flicks the best movie Hollywood put out in 2008-2009 was Wall-Eye, and that was an animated project with no live actors or actresses. That’s how bad things are getting in Hollywood folks. Where have all the intelligent scripts gone? Couple that with so called STARS using their celebrity to push their personal political agendas, bash the country,and our outgoing President, George W. Bush, do you really expect Americans will want to watch this mutual admiration society go on stage to high-five each other? The most memorable moments from the Oscar telecast in recent years:

    Most memorable acceptance speech: Halle Berry’s endless tear-fest. Dress: Bjork, dressed as a swan. Host shtick: David Letterman’s “Uma-Oprah” monologue. Presenters moment: Elizabeth Taylor’s addled “GLAD-i-a-tor!” (Or was that at the Golden Globes? All these awards shows start to blend together after a while.) Production number (a tie): Rob Lowe meets Snow White, and any of the best-song montages choreographed by Debbie Allen.

    101126__brody_lAnd then there was the Adrian Brody sexual-assault on Halle Berry five-years-ago. Call me stodgy, but actual groping—as opposed to hypothetically referenced groping in onstage, song-and-dance parodies… from the safe distance  of at least 150 feet—are two different things.

    THE TEN STEPS TO OSCAR GLORY:

    1 BE A WORLD-CLASS SCHMOOZER

    2 HAVE GOOD HAIR

    3 CAST A HAS-BEEN

    4 DO SOMETHING SCANDALOUS

    5 LIVE IN LOS ANGELES

    6 SHOW UP EVERYWHERE (key to George Clooney’s success).

    7 DON’T BE AFRAID TO GET DIRTY

    8 HIRE THE PR ASSASSINS

    9 TAKE CREDIT FOR EVERYTHING

    10 MAKE AN AMAZING MOVIE

    love-guruThe 81st Academy Awards ceremony will honor the best films of 2008 and is scheduled for Sunday, February 22, 2009, at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, California. It will be televised in the United States on ABC, and in Canada on CTV. Australian performer Hugh Jackman is set to host the ceremony for the first time. Trying to compete with Golden Globes, the AMPAS community has made a mockery of itself so any death of the academy awards is extremely healthy and would be welcomed by the public. It has become impossible for the ‘Hollywood community’ to continue enforcing its false dedication to quality or craft or even the skill of creating a movie star’s mystique. There is something anachronistic about this parade of embalmed phonies insisting on their artistry when elections are rigged, brutal imperialist wars continue, and disneyfied child prostitutes like Britney Spears combust in public – which, history will prove, is the ultimate punk kamikaze attack on Hollywood.

    KH.

    DANGEROUS SPIN

    WHO ARE THESE PEOPLE?

    Al Qaida IsraelThe word spin in politics has come to mean a particular viewpoint , bias or slant especially. in the media;  “They tried to put a favorable spin on the news coverage of the controversial speech.” Dangerous spin is when political leaders spin a situation so that it pits one nation or group of nations against another, any end result being of course a world-war.

    Five days before handing over the presidency to Barack Obama, Bush delivered a televised final address to the American people in which he sought to define a White House record that some historians are already ranking among the worst ever. But even as he focused on what he saw as his successes, Bush was preparing to leave Obama with unfinished wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, a bitter conflict in Gaza, a U.S. economy deep in recession and a U.S. image badly tarnished overseas.

    President George W. Bush said farewell to the nation, but the nation s-gbush-154x114wasn’t paying attention. The media barely cut to his farewell address to the nation from continued coverage of a plane crash in the Hudson River  in time for Bush’s  first words Thursday evening. Making his closing argument for the history books, the President declared, America has gone more than seven years without another terrorist attack on our soil. And he pleaded with the country to maintain the focus. America did nothing to seek or deserve this conflict,” he said. “But we have been given solemn responsibilities, and we must meet them. We must resist complacency. We must keep our resolve. And we must never let down our guard.”

    Like America has a choice?

    Bush may not have created the conflict but he sure exacerbated it handing over the unfinished mess in Iraq to Obama. What choice do Americans have now but to maintain the focus and resist complacency? We did not have solemn responsibilities in Iraq before George W. declared a war on terrorists with his “Axis of Evil” speech in which he included as the axis, Iran.  Now, America has to choice but to keep its guard up and let me tell you why. One day before George W.’s farewell to the nation speech, Osama bin Laden urged Muslims to launch a jihad against Israel, seeking to harness anger over the Gaza offensive with a new message posted on the Internet. Bin Laden spoke in a 22-minute audiotape posted on Islamic militant Web sites where al-QaIda usually issues its messages. The 51-year-old al-Qaida leader has been in hiding since the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, believed to be living somewhere along the lawless Pakistan-Afghan border.

    It was bin Laden’s first tape since May and came nearly three weeks after Israel launched the offensive against Hamas that Gaza medical officials say has killed more than 1,000 Palestinians. The U.S. Army, already strained by the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, will likely deploy more soldiers in the next 18 months, the service’s top general said on Wednesday.

    50 WAYS TO KILL BIN-LADEN

    This guy is still alive you ask? Didn’t the Bush adminstration assure Americans that bin-Laden, suffering from a liver disorder did not have long to live? Another lie060717_DOMCNNL1R1.APN courtesy of the  Bush administration who brought us the ongoing occupation of Iraq. It is inconceivable that Laden is alive without medical care, suffering as he is from advanced kidney disease as the Bush administration assured all Americans.  His medical care could not be available without the connivance of the local Pakistani authorities and perhaps the CIA.

    Said Bush: There are things I would do differently if given the chance.

    How about telling the truth?
    Even at the end of his eight-years-tenure in office, George W. Bush still cannot tell the American people the truth about why we are in Iraq. I agree with my co-blogger Arianna Huffington, George W. Bush is still delusional. He lauded Iraq as “a friend of the United States” — without ever mentioning the fact that if Iraq has a BFF it is Iran, not America who liberated them from the horror known as Saddam Hussein. Iraqi’s show their gratitude by roadside bombs, attacks on American contractors like Blackwater in Iraq to help re-build their country. Sure, Blackwater is less than Snow-white with many excesses and black marks to their name. They are a for profit after all and profiteering is the name of the game in any war. Blackwater could have chosen a less volatile and safer part of the world to make its fortune. America and its civilian contractors could have just sai “the hell with Iraq- let them eat sand.” We chose to stay and try and help the Iragi people rebuild their country, their culture, their future.

    Another striking moment was watching the great pride the president took in saying that even though we might not have liked all of his decisions, we have to admit that he “was willing to make the tough decisions.” Cowboy Diplomacy to the end.

    Osama bin-Laden,  believes President-elect Barack Obama has received a “heavy inheritance” from George W. Bush _ two wars and “the collapse of the economy.” which will render the U.S. unable to sustain a long fight against the mujaheddin, or holy warriors. Wouldn’t he have a surprise if Obama kicked the war and the hunt for bin-Laden into high gear? Got tough with Armani-dinner-jacket in Iran and put the fear of God and the good ol USA back into the world.

    Bin-laden is as delusional as outgoing President George W. Bush. He really believes the only one strong way to bring the return of Al-Aqsa and Palestine, and that is jihad in the path of God- the path of God being a holy war, a “Jihad” pitting Christians against Muslims.  “The duty is to urge people to jihad and to enlist the youth into jihad brigades,” said bin-Laden.

    king004Sorry to burst your bubble. The world did that already (Kingdom Of Heaven- 2005) in the 12th Century. In case you missed it folks, the Muslims won. Kingdom of Heaven may not delivers correct historical facts nor does it gives you a better idea of the religious conflicts over Jerusalem, which continue to king005exist till today. However, where most epic movies had failed, Ridley Scott does a great job keeping the action sequences tight but not forgetting to deliver the message of respect and tolerance towards oneself and others. The surrender of Jerusalem and the protection of its citizens was skillfully neogitated between two great warriors. Been there-done that. So why would Osama bin-Laden want a repeat of such a hly-war in a time where both sides have nuclear weapons and could obstensibly obliterate the planet? Because he’s a nut-job! In the movie Dark Knight, Batman is discussing the terrorist Tje Joke with his manservant Alfred who explains,

    Alfred Pennyworth: You crossed the line first, sir. You squeezed them, you hammered them to the point of desperation. And in their desperation they turned to a man they didn’t fully understand.
    Bruce Wayne: Criminals aren’t complicated, Alfred. Just have to figure out what he’s after.
    Alfred Pennyworth: With respect, sir, perhaps this is a man that *you* don’t fully understand. Some men aren’t looking for anything logical, like money. They can’t be bought, bullied, reasoned, or negotiated with. Some men just want to watch the world burn.

    The in-coming Obama administration is perhaps smarter in dealing with this wacko than the outgoing Bush administration. They prefer to ignore bin-Ladens call for Jihad” and let him spout. By letting bin-Laden spout his “crazyisms” President Obama hopes the entire world, a peace and freedom loving place will finally see what a “whack-job” bin-Laden is.

    Personally, I believe this is the right course but it is dangerous spin and it is dangerous politics that could erupt into WWIII.

    Bush may have made tough decisions… but what is the value in that if the decisions you make are consistently wrong? And Bush has made the wrong decisions again and again and again.

    Who are these people that keep telling us lies
    And how did these people get control of our lives
    And who’ll stop the violence cause it’s out of control?
    We’ve got to make them stop
    Who are these people that destroy everything
    And sell off the future for whatever it brings
    And what kind of leaders can’t admit when they’re wrong?
    Make em stop

    ~Burt Bacharach
    Who Are These People?

    The top U.N. official in Afghanistan said U.S. President-elect Barack Obama should resist calls to change strategy in Afghanistan, urging him instead to focus on implementing the one already being pursued. Kai Eide said that the incoming U.S. administration “has a unique opportunity to gather strength, gather energy … and build on the trends we have seen” toward building the Afghan security forces and propping up the country’s economy. Obama has pledged to withdraw American troops from Iraq and deploy more to Afghanistan, where Taliban and al-Qaida linked militants have made a comeback in recent years.

    I had just hoped as Bush left office quietly that he would stop trying to “lie” to the American people. His tenure of office is over now in 5-days. History will now be the juimages2dge of America’s 43rd-President of the United States and his empire building.

    Bin Laden: Oh, you. You just couldn’t let me go, could you? This is what happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object. You are truly incorruptible, aren’t you? Huh? You won’t kill me out of some misplaced sense of self-righteousness. And I won’t kill you because you’re just too much fun. I think you and I are destined to do this forever.

    That’s the truly scary part. A Jihad that lasts decades, draining all of America’s resources and Osama bin-Laden is just the man who could make it happen. Let’s hope that the new 44th-President of the United States, Barack Obama will put an end to “DANGEROUS SPIN” while encouraging his new Secretary Of State Hillary Clinton to do the same. We need to encourage world-leaders to put an end to this dangerous practice before the world blows itself to hell.

    KH

    Don’t want to be an American idiot

    Don’t want to be an American idiot.
    One nation controlled by the media.
    Information age of hysteria.
    It’s calling out to idiot America.

    cartoonobamapastor_2Here’s the thing about “hype,” – reality never lives up to the hype.

    As the Messianic “hype” continues today with Obama’s coronation, er ….”inauguration,” the reality is that after the galas, streamers, confetti, and porta-potties are all cleaned up in Washington, D.C., America will still be facing the same old economic realities we faced before King Obama was coronated. There is no way that Obama can live up to the hype surrounding his incoming administration nor keep all the promises he has made the American people.

    Nor should he try to.

    I have a good feeling about the Obama administration but instead of him trying to be all things to all people- he would be most effective if he kept one or two promises. Surely, the American people realize that the challenges facing the Obama administration are insurmountable and that it is going to take at least two terms for Obama to fix many of the problems left to us by the outgoing Bush administration and to carve his own legacy in the history books. Two-terms.

    My hope is that Obama will hit the ground running, tackle the hard tasks first, and not spend time trying to position himself for a second term as he has been. With the Messianic fervour surrounding this historic candidate whom many of the “faithful” Obama supporters view as a modern-day Martin Luther King, the American voter can be just as unforgiving of a candidate who has let them down as they are supportive of one who promises them the moon. Thus, is the nature of politics.

    There will be a record number of people at Barack Obama’s inauguration: anywhere from 2 to 5 million people. January 20, 2009 will be a historical date in this nation’s history as the 44th President, and the first African-American President, is inaugurated.

    There is little doubt, this will be the most expensive inauguration in our nation’s history. And it will be the most policed with security coming from 96 agencies throughout the country as well as 4,000 troops from the Pentagon and those from Washington, D.C.

    011909amlifewackyhistory_w_546_h_746It might be cold and rainy this January 20th, but it won’t compare to Ulysses S. Grant’s inauguration in 1873, where one hundred canaries died as a result of 16 degree weather. Grant was reportedly unaware that small birds disliked below-freezing temperatures. Pastor Rick Warren of Saddleback Church in Orange County, California will deliver the opening prayer followed by a song performed by Aretha Franklin. Following tradition, Obama has commissioned a new piece of music. The piece is by John Williams, (Star Wars) who also wrote the music for Obama’s election night. It will be played by world renowned cellist Yo-Yo Ma and violinist Itzhak Perlman. Chief Justice of the Supreme Court John Roberts will then swear in President-elect Barack Obama to office with the Oath of Office at 12 noon. Obama will take the Oath on the same bible used by Abraham Lincoln at his first inauguration in 1861. In 1849, Abraham Lincoln lost his hat during the inauguration of Zachary Taylor, proving once again that people working the coat check have always been no-good dirty thieves. Following the oath military bands will play “Hail to the Chief,” followed by a 21-gun salute. President Obama will then deliver his inaugural address. The nation will probably be more interested in his address than they have speeches of recent presidents. This is expected to be when President Obama sets the course for the next four years.

    Inauguration Day evening means balls, parties and stars everywhere.

    107461_thumbNaturally, balls are a big part of any celebration. They’ve been a staple of post-inauguration activities since First Lady Dolly Madison charged four bucks a head in 1809. President Obama will be going to 10, G.W. attended 9 and Bill “Slick Willy” Clinton crashed 14 of them.

    With the American economy continuing to be “unforgiving,” there has been much consternation about the cost of the inaugural festivities or inaugural-balls. Inauguration parties 2009 will run up a tab of $150-million-dollars with many Americans who have recently lost jobs and houses thinking the money could be put to a better use and that perhaps Obama would be wise to put off any extravagant Inauguration parties. Good old Abe Lincoln would have postponed all the parties, rolled-up his shirt-sleeves and got right to work.

    Obama’s willingness to “go along to get along” with the media, the hype, the extravagant Marie Antoinette festivities (when the people are starving) causes me great concern that perhaps this “messiah” is no messiah but just another “slick Willie,” albeit- a black one. Perhaps Obama is already out-of-touch and does not or cannot hear the racist overtones that I have been hearing of late in the suburbs surrounding Chicago. Obama needs to be continually aware of the racism that follows him into the White House. You cannot end “racism” merely by becoming the first Hawaiian or first black President but by diligently working hard, setting a good example, and wowing Americans by your thoughts and deeds. This is how Abe Lincoln won over the American people who at first believed he was a “simpleton, a slow and stupid man, compared to his opponent, the great orator Stephen Douglas.

    There will be 10 official balls on Inauguration Day, all to be attended by the president and first lady. They include the Obama Home States Inaugural Ball (Illinois and Hawaii); the Southern Inaugural Ball (a regional party for states including Georgia; it’s at the National Guard Armory); the Commander-in-Chief’s Ball (for members of the military); and the first-ever Youth Inaugural Ball (for Americans ages 18 to 35, and at $75, one of the cheapest tickets in town). But “the premier event of inauguration evening,” organizers say, will be the Neighborhood Ball at the Washington Convention Center. Hosted by the Obamas and geared toward D.C. residents, it will feature a lineup of performers including Beyonce and husband Jay-Z, Mary J. Blige, Mariah Carey, Faith Hill, Alicia Keys, Shakira and Stevie Wonder. It will be broadcast on ABC from 8 to 10 p.m. and feature the president and first lady’s first dance of the night.

    president-reagan-inauguration-in-1981-thumb

    YAWN!!! Wake me up when it’s over. (sung to the tune of Wake Me Up Before You Go Go)

    This political columnist for one is not interested in the “Hype” surrounding the Oath Of Office being administered, nor the inauguration festivities. I, for one, am more interested in Obama keeping his campaign promises, taking the appropriate steps to get America back on the right track, getting tough with rogue nations like Syria, Iran, Venezuela and opening a dialogue with our allies and our enemies alike before we all blow ourselves to hell. I, for one, am more interested in seeing the return of “detente” and the end to “Cowboy Diplomacy” than seeing whatever Vera Wang gown Michelle Obama might turn up with at the Inaugural Ball.

    Here’s one last interesting fact about the inauguration 2009:

    2,000: That’s the number of eggs that chefs at the Willard InterContinental Hotel will use for meals from Jan. 17 p15-061002-054through the inauguration. If Obama turns out to be just another “Slick Willie,” just another “slick politician” who has told Americans what they wanted to hear to get elected and does not keep his campaign promises, you can bet that 2,000 will be the same number of eggs his opponents will be throwing at him in 2012 when he tries to run for re-election.

    On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn out dogmas, that for far too long have strangled our politics.

    ~44th President Barack Obama

    So, President Obama: tone down the hype, start small, tackle one or two of the really tough jobs facing you, don’t try to be all things to all people, keep one or two campaign promises no matter how small and that …. will set the tone for the next eight-years in America, not the “hype,” glamour, paparazzi, and festivities surrounding your Inauguration. Hopefully, placing your hand on the Lincoln bible some of Lincoln will rub off on you. Remember that Lincoln always used to say:

    America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.
    Abraham Lincoln

    KH

    Who Are These People?

    rushlimbaugh2The new term in the political landscape is called: Obstructionism.

    Obstructionism or policy of obstruction denotes the deliberate interference with the progress of  legislation by various means such as filibustering or “slow-walking”  which may depend on the respective parliamentary procedure or other means to thwart the plans of our political leaders.  Some famous American obstructionists include politicians like Jesse Helms, syndicated columnist and Fox News Channel political analyst Dick Morris, right-wing radio talking heads like Rush Limbaugh and liberal celebrities like Barbara Streisand, Sean Penn,  Susan Sarandon who have suddenly became geopolitical oracles whose advice we’re supposed to value above the wisdom of tenured experts.

    Upon Obama’s first full-day as President in the White House, (a very full day where Obama, to his credit, he hit the ground running and signed the order to close Guantanamo Bay), the Republican party realized that should this president be successful, the Republican party would not get their chance to retake control of American government for 16-years. They are now having a debate whether to go “left” or go “right” and practice obstructionist politics.

    You heard it right folks. 16-years before the Repubs who so thoroughly destroyed their own party by running goofballs  like McCain and Palin can hope to retake the White House. If George W. was in for eight- Obama will be in for eight, unless he screws up in a huge way. Somehow, I think Obama is too smart to screw up in a huge way. He couldn’t make more of a mess than George W did. So, that’s eight-years,  the Repubs will have to wait. A successful Obama presidency  of eight-years will more than likely yield up a Hillary Clinton White House in 2016-2024.

    inauguration-01-20-2009Do the math! It may well be until the year 2024 before the Republican party could hope to regain control of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

    So, the choice facing Repubs this morning is this: do we go “left,” and try and work in a bipartisan way with an Obama administration which would put the grasp of power beyond our reach until 2024 – or … do we go “right” and practice obstructionist politics, try and thwart an Obama administration on whatever  he tries to accomplish and create enough chaos and disorder in America that we may have a chance in 2012 to regain control of power? In other words, do we go long or do we go short?

    The Repubicans and Neo-Cons with their “football politics” do not care about you and me folks, they do not care if they wreck the American economy to the point where it can never recover in a global economy nor do they care if they shred the very fabric of our society as long as they can regain control of power, namely: The White House.

    Yesterday,  point-man for the Republican party, mouthpiece Rush Limbaugh threw down the gauntlet to the Obama administration on his daily radio talk-show from Miami when he stated:

    “My hope, and please understand me when I say this. I disagree fervently with the people on our side of the aisle who have caved and who say, ‘Well, I hope he succeeds. We’ve got to give him a chance.’ Why? I don’t care what the Drive-By story is. I would be honored if the Drive-By Media headlined me all day long: ‘Limbaugh: I Hope Obama Fails.’ Somebody’s gotta say it.”

    hero_photo_624x351_econ

    Neo-Conservative political, journalistic, and cultural leaders like Limbaugh have mounted a campaign to oppose and impede Obama’s efforts to fix America and our place in the world. Now, Rush Limbaugh may or may not speak for the Republicans. He has the past 16-years, first practicing his obstructionist politics when Clinton was in the White House and then again during the primary against Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.

    This is no longer a joke Americans.  There is a battle being waged, the battle lines have been drawn and the very “soul” of America is at stake.

    An Obama administration, would do well to remember that they may have won the battle but the war continues. Obama’s administration must fight this war every day now for the next eight-years against people who would love to see America fail so that, “they”can come to America’s rescue and be seen the hero. George W. Bush did that. Taking advantage of 911 and using an attack by terrorists to wage war on the entire Middle-East region. Manufacturing as a justification for his action, the excuse of weapons of mass destruction. (WMD’s).  George W. Bush was a bold-faced liar who even pretended to pray.

    Media personalities such as conductor Burt Bacharach have become so politically concerned of late that they have begun to question:

    “Who are these people that keep telling us lies?
    And how did these people get control of our lives?
    Who are these people that destroy everything?
    And sell off the future for whatever it brings?”
    ~Burt Bacharach

    Who are these people? And why do we let them control our lives when clearly they do not have our best interests at heart but only their own political and financial interests. What does it say about a political party  (like the Republicans)  who would actually wish our entire nation to fail simply to insert themselves in the process as “saviours” when clearly, the Republicans have made things worse since 911, bankrupted our economy, and created another Great-depression.

    There is a time for public discourse and then there is a time to throw down.

    The time for public discourse is over!

    _45212892_obama_getty226bThe elections are over. Barack Obama won, fair and square. He played by their rules and beat them anyway. To anyone who tries to obstruct this administration, to further wreck our economy, shred the fabric of our society, I say it is time to throw down.! Arrest the obstructionists. Charge them with treason, give them a fair trial then jail them with the real Americans doing time in our penitentiaries. The criminals may have made mistakes, but most of them admit their mistakes, do their time, and actually try to turn their lives around after being released from incarceration. Some of the most patriotic Americans this country has have spent time in America’s correctional institutions. They know why they got there- most of them. Most do not blame others or make excuses like the Republican leaders of this country. They were just victims of lack. Lack of opportunities, lack of jobs, lack of housing, lack of good choices. For blacks, many doors were closed to them that were open to whites. I do not make excuses for the criminals nor would they wish me to do so. But, whatever their misdemeanors and felonies- most do not spend every second of every day trying to thwart government, trying to bankrupt America, trying to obstruct or overthrow government. Those that do, like Rush Limbaugh, should be charged with treason. Put Limbaugh on trial, have him explain himself before the court of public opinion.

    The battle-lines have been drawn folks. The war is on and the real war is not over in “Iraq,” the real war is here, in our cities and suburbs as Americans fight to hang onto their homes, fight to find meaningful employment to support their families,  and keep the American system afloat.operationchaos

    Rush’s big endeavor in this past campaign wasn’t too successful. Remember “Operation Chaos,” Rush’s plan to cripple the Democratic nominees? Last April, Rush Limbaugh through his megawatt Miami radio station created, “Operation Chaos.” Obstructionist politics to ensure that neither of the candidates could win by virtue of the primaries. One or the other would win only by the super-delegates deciding who they wanted. And whoever the supers chose will infuriate the loser’s supporters. More chaos.”

    I label Rush Limbaugh as an “enemy of America” and encourage the Obama administration to practise obstructionist politics with his career. He, who for 16-years has thwarted every effort by a Clinton or Bush administration to effect any meaningful change in America. In the days of the “old-west,” snake-oil salesman were run out of town by the local sheriff. Snake-oil salesman did not care if their product worked or did not work, they did not care about the health of the community they sold their poison in,  or preached their lies. Snake-oil salesman only cared about fleecing the public out of a few bucks to line their own pockets. To call Rush Limbaugh a “snake-oil” salesmen would be too kind. He is not a snake-oil salesman, he is a traitor, a public enemy, an enemy of America. I honestly do not believe Limbaugh gives a good God-damn about Americans, their quality of life, their dreams, hopes, aspirations, whether this country sinks or swims as a society. The Rush Limbaugh’s of America, who have benefited from every advantage this country has offered them and become successful by them , care only about their own personal power and wealth. If America should fail, the Rush Limbaugh’s of the world would be there to say, “See? I told you so. I told you so.” As if their obstructionism might have prevented the mess when in fact their obstructionism made the mess better. I doubt if Rushbo will ever read this blog much less become aware of it in a country that now hosts over 14-million blogs. But should Rush Limbaugh ever read this I would tell him:

    tcsa00241_mIt is better to remain silent and be thought a fool

    than speak out and remove all doubt.

    Rush Limbaugh has removed all doubt for me. He is worse than a fool. He is an enemy combatant. An enemy of America and should be treated as such along with any who practice obstructionist politics and try to thwart the efforts of an Obama administration who could, if given the time and by-partisan cooperation, make America and Americans great once again.

    “See things really have to change
    Before it’s too late.”

    You go Barack!

    KH

    200px-al_gore_presentation

    Global Warming- It’s all over now, Baby-blue

    In general, science is the human examination of reality. Junk science is the clouding of that examination by carelessness, fear, myth, and deliberate falsehood.
    —Dan Agin. Junk Science

    It was just a big lie.
    Global Warming or “
    Climahysteria.”

    A big lie that made Al Gore and other “alarmists” like James Hansen billions of dollars in supposed advocacy, sale of products, and speeches on the lecture-tour.

    Dr. James Hansen,  chief climate scientist at NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS), the keeper of the most often cited climate data, and the man who originally raised the alarm on global warming in 1988 in an appearance before congress,  one of former Vice-President Al Gore’s closest allies in the promotion of man-made global warming fears, is being publicly rebuked by his former supervisor at NASA. Retired senior NASA atmospheric scientist, Dr. John S. Theon, the former supervisor of James Hansen, NASA’s vocal man-made global warming fear soothsayer, has now publicly declared himself a skeptic and declared that Hansen “embarrassed NASA” with his alarming climate claims and said Hansen was “was never muzzled.” Theon joins the rapidly growing ranks of international scientists abandoning the promotion of man-made global warming fears.

    For the last 20-years, global-warming alarmists continually stoked our fears about global-warming, the greenhouse effect, the polar ice-caps melting while the other 50-percent of the scientific community declared just the opposite, that the earth was in fact entering another ice-age cycle.

    Theon declared “climate models are useless.” “My own belief concerning anthropogenic climate change is that the models do not realistically simulate the climate system because there are many very important sub-grid scale processes that the models either replicate poorly or completely omit,” Theon explained. “Furthermore, some scientists have manipulated the observed data to justify their model results. In doing so, they neither explain what they have modified in the observations, nor explain how they did it. They have resisted making their work transparent so that it can be replicated independently by other scientists.

    In short, it was just a big lie. A big fat lie sold to gullible twenty-something journalists right out of J-school and spoon fed the public by a media that did not have the intelligence to discern for themselves what should be printed. As a former editor with the Chicago Sun-Times in 1995,  I images5once questioned the publishing of these wire-stories that made fantastic claims that could not be proved.  I was told by the, then owners of the Sun-Times,  that the newspaper paid big bucks for this filler and that I should keep my mouth shut and just run the copy if I wanted to keep my job. Now, take my newspaper experience times several thousand. Several thousand reporters, editors, copy-editors in print media, radio and television who were also told the same thing. “Run the copy if you want to keep your job.”

    Why would print media or television media knowingly shell out big bucks for such bogus copy, much less run the highly contested, bogus, unconfirmed data in their media-outlets?

    G   R   E   E   D!

    Those in the know like Al Gore, who in my opinion is not only a liar, a scoundrel, and a cad,  and who knew all along about running-mate (Bill Clinton’s) misogyny and affairs with young female interns,  saw a potential when concerns were first raised about Global Warming,  to manipulate those concerns, to raise those concerns to a level of fear, (Climahysteria)  to make millions/billions of dollars for himself and his cronies like James Hansen of NASA.

    Thank God for George W. Bush if only to have kept America from the hands of this lying scoundrel.

    A confidence trick or confidence game (also known as a bunko, con, flim flam, gaffle, grift, scam, scheme, or swindle) is an attempt to defraud a person or group by gaining their confidence. One of the key ingredients to being tricked is the willingness of the participant to believe in the lie and go along with it. Persons of any level of intelligence are vulnerable to deception by experienced con artists. Confidence tricks exploit human weaknesses like greed, dishonesty, vanity, but also virtues like honesty, compassion, or a naïve expectation of good faith on the part of the con artist.

    Al Gore, is a thief.

    The fact that he didn’t take the money out of my pocket directly or yours, does not make him any less of a liar and a thief. He fed the lie, created the fear, manipulated our fears, was  paid big money by American corporations who make global-warming related products.  Gore flew around the country on a gas-guzzling Lear-Jet instead of using a fuel-efficient hybrid car to promote the fears of the American public, get people to buy  useless products made by his cronies that in reality make little difference to the overall world-climate.  He’s a thief. Whether you steal from one individual or steal from those willing to be duped, you are still a thief. But Al Gore is not a petty-thief mind you. He is a thief on a global-scale. The kind of world-wide criminal that you would think the U.S. government would go after. They did not. Al Gore duped them. He duped the Nobel commission in Oslo into awarding him a Nobel prize.

    The sheriff’s in the days of the Old-West would run the snake-oil salesman images3out of town when they duped the public into buying a useless tonic that had no health benefits whatsoever. What makes thieves like Al Gore so particularly dangerous is that he has no scruples and no moral conscience. Al Gore does not care about you and me,  Al Gore does not care whether the world heats up or cools down,  Al Gore only cares about Al Gore. Al Gore only cares about a “cause” if in someway Al Gore can benefit from it financially.

    Oslo- take back the Nobel Peace Prize.

    It’s time to tell these liars and thieves to their face what we think of them. Were Al Gore not surrounded by an army of private security and or Secret Service, I would poke him in the nose. But then, liars and thieves like Al Gore know this, which is exactly why they hide behind an army of security. Along with Gore’s running mate “Slick Willie,” these liars and confidance men have become skillful enough to manipulate the media  and public opinion into believing that they are honest, law-abiding, concerned citizens who care about America and Americans. Until, like in the case of Bill Clinton or Rod Blagojevich, and today’s exposure of James Hansen, Gore’s partner-in-crime,  they get caught with their arm stuck in the honey-jar. Only then, are these liars and thieves exposed for who and what they really are.

    The first known usage of the term “confidence man” in English was in 1849; it was used by American press during the United States trial of William Thompson. Thompson chatted with strangers until he asked if they had the confidence to lend him their watches, whereupon he would walk off with the watch; he was captured when a victim recognized him on the street. The term for people who used to promote these confidence schemes involving medicine, science and technology was called Quackery. a derogatory term used to describe unproven or fraudulent medical practices. Random House Dictionary describes a “quack” as a “fraudulent or ignorant pretender to medical skill” or “a person who pretends, professionally or publicly, to have skill, knowledge, or qualifications he or she does not possess; a charlatan. Today, the term used to describe this practice of quackery is called, “Junk Science” and Global-Warming is now being revealed as nothing more than “Junk Science.”

    images4Junk science is a term used in U.S. political and legal disputes that brands an advocate’s claims about scientific data, research, analyses as spurious. The term conveys a pejorative connotation that the advocate is driven by political, ideological, financial, or other unscientific motives.

    Al Gore and his cronies launched multi-million-dollar campaigns to position certain theories as “junk science”  or Global Warming in the popular mind, often failing to employ the scientific method themselves. The term was further popularized by Fox News columnist Steven Milloy, who used it to attack the results of scientific research on global warming, ozone depletion, passive smoking, and many other topics. In the process, Gore has made billions of dollars for himself and his criminal cronies.

    Over the years, as Gore’s agenda became apparent to those of us in the media, a few independents tried to take on the Gore machine single-handed. Network anchors like John Stossel of ABC News. Their efforts were not successful, many losing their anchor or reporting positions because of Al Gore’s clout and personal political power. ABC News reporter John Stossel doesn’t fear global warming, and he’s working to make sure you don’t, either.  At last March’s conference in NYC, speaking before an audience of skeptic media journalists, and scientists,  Stossel  finished with alerting the audience to the scourge of global warming “scare mongering.” Stossel turned his attention to helping the 400-plus attendees better sell their skepticism to the media. One tip: They should emphasize specific words to get through to “dumb” reporters.

    “It’s important that you make the effort to get through that dumb layer,” Stossel said. “Some of you are brilliant scientists, but you can’t talk worth a damn, but you can learn how to do this better.”

    300px-john_chroma_key_1The founder of the Weather Channel, John Coleman,  wants to sue Al Gore for fraud, hoping a legal debate will settle the global-warming debate once and for all.  Coleman, who founded the cable network in 1982, suggests suing for fraud proponents of global warming, including Al Gore, and companies that sell carbon credits. The Weather Channel has lost its way, according to John Coleman, who founded the channel in 1982.  Coleman told an audience at the 2008 International Conference on Climate Change on March 3 in New York that he is highly critical of global warming alarmism.

    “The Weather Channel had great promise, and that’s all gone now because they’ve made every mistake in the book on what they’ve done and how they’ve done it and it’s very sad,” Coleman said. “It’s now for sale and there’s a new owner of The Weather Channel will be announced – several billion dollars having changed hands in the near future. Let’s hope the new owners can recapture the vision and stop reporting the traffic, telling us what to think and start giving us useful weather information.”

    John M. Wallace, a distinguished climate researcher from the University of Washington tried to steer Al Gore away from global warming at a breakfast discussion in Washington, D.C. As Gore sipped Diet Coke, Wallace nervously left the eggs on his own plate untouched. It was one of the more awkward 180px-al_gore_-_ohhh_you_arent_going_to_get_me_on_this_oneaudiences Wallace ever had, Like many of his peers, Wallace wasn’t convinced greenhouse gases were altering the world’s climate, and he thought Gore was straining scientific credibility to score political points.

    The truth is,  Americans are now finding out that Global Warming, as we think we know it, doesn’t exist. Global Warming, as we have been told by liars and thieves like Al Gore does not exist- at least not in the frightening proportions Gore and his criminal cronies had us  believe.

    Any American with half-a-brain knows when they see our freeways clogged with gas guzzling SUV’s and semi-trucks, when they see the brown clouds hanging over L A, Phoenix, Denver, Chicago or other major US cities that – that can’t be good for our environment. Most Americans have had their consciousness raised the last 25-years about the environment, recycling, eating healthier, exercising more, and most Americans are living “greener” lives than our parents generation. A great majority of Americans in 2009 do not smoke. Surely, that has to be a major improvement over that of our parents generation who chain-smoked, when TV ads made cigarette smoking look glamorous. Yet, liars and thieves  like Al Gore never tell about the progress American society has made the last 25-years towards a “greener” and healthier society.

    Liars and thieves like Al Gore peddle fear, as fear is the only way that confidence man can manipulate people into parting with their money.

    Plain and simple. Al Gore is a criminal, a thief, a confidence man no different than the sleazy snake-oil salesmen of the Old West. The only difference is that unlike the sleazy travelling snake-oil salesmen, liars and thieves like Al Gore and Bill Clinton are Rhodes Scholars, they know how to use the power of words to manipulate people, manipulate public, and world opinion. Just a very “educated thief.”  (We call them: white-collar criminals).

    Believe it or not, Global Warming is not due to human contribution of Carbon Dioxide (CO2). This in fact is the greatest deception in the history of science. We are wasting time, energy and trillions of dollars while creating unnecessary fear and consternation over an issue with no scientific justification. The recipient of a number of awards. Al Gore was one of several hundred recipients of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize (together with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change). He received a Primetime Emmy Award for Current TV in 2007, and a Webby Award in 2005. Time magazine named Gore as a runner-up for its 2007 Person of the Year. All the awards have been based on a lie, ON a scale of the top ten scam-artists of all time, Al Gore has to be number one. He makes William Thompson in 1849, look like a bumbling amateur.  Gore is currently the founder and chair of Alliance for Climate Protection, the co-founder and chair of Generation Investment Management, th225px-al_goree co-founder and chair of Current TV, a member of the Board of Directors of Apple Inc., and a senior advisor to Google. He is also a partner in the venture capital firm, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, heading that firm’s climate change solutions group. Everything Al Gore does is based on a lie, everything Al Gore  says is a lie for the purposes of lining his own pocket.

    It’s time that American government went after these shysters like Al Gore, George Ryan, Rod Blagojevich and give them an all expense paid vacation at the federal Iron-bar Motel or at the very least, show these charlatans for what they really are, con artists on a global scale.

    I don’t care how you dress it up- a snake-oil salesman is a snake-oil salesman, even if he does wear $6,000-dollar suits like Al Gore.

    My hope is that retired senior NASA atmospheric scientist, Dr. John S. Theon and others leaving government work, who are most familiar with Gore’s phony Junk Science and Global-Warming-scams will go after this liar in a collective way by exposing him for the snake-oil salesman that he is.

    KH

    Year Of The OX

    Happy Chinese New Year’s. Welcome to the year of the Ox.

    ox232Bad Omens are roaming in the Year of the Ox — This new year is hardly a happy one for 200 million migrant workers heading home for the New Year holiday leaving their workplaces in the country’s booming cities to travel back to their villages and families. Usually, they go back to work after China’s biggest holiday is over. But this year many of them will not be leaving their villages again. The global economic slump has hit China’s manufacturing sector, which means many migrant workers have no jobs to go back to. As in America, Beijing has already acknowledged that millions have already lost their jobs because their factories have closed down.

    2009 could be a year of increased social unrest in China. It is not only millions of unemployed migrant workers that the country’s leadership has to worry about there are expected to be about 6 million new graduates looking for work this year. It’s easy to understand why: since the US economy is in the doldrums, the west can’t afford to buy as much, China isn’t able to sell as much. Supply and demand. In a snowball effect, China isn’t able to sell as much, WalMart has already begun to slow down with massive layoffs since WalMart is the sole US company that depends exclusively on Chinese made products.

    The Communist Party has stayed in power partly because it has made poor people richer.

    To better understand what is going on worldwide it is important to take a look at Chinese astrology. The ox carried the rat, who pushed the cat, who nearly drowned and lost the race in the legend behind the Chinese Zodiac, an ancient system steeped in lore.

    The Chinese Zodiac is said to follow the stations of Jupiter’s orbit around the sun, which is just shy of 12 years. The animals mark years in a 12-year cycle that begins with rat, followed by ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, rooster, dog and boar. Millions of people consult horoscopes around the world, including China. The animal of your birth year defines and influences you as it “hides in your heart” for the rest of your life, a Chinese saying goes. The Amazing Race,” in a competition that includes a river crossing followed by a gathering at the emperor’s palace. The kindly ox agrees to carry the scheming rat and the cat across the water on his back, but the rat betrays his friend, the cat,  by pushing him into a swift current and hops off the ox to claim the top spot. Always, the cat and the rat were once best friends but wind up mortal enemies.

    A person born in the Year of the Ox, for example, may be considered hardworking and dependable. People born in the Year of the Ox are oxpatient, speak little, and inspire confidence in others. They tend, however, to be eccentric, and bigoted, and they anger easily. They have fierce tempers and although they speak little, when they do they are quite eloquent. Ox people are mentally and physically alert. Generally easy-going, they can be remarkably stubborn, and they hate to fail or be opposed.

    So, now  that the world’s financial crisis has arrived, what happens in the world if hundreds of millions of hard-working, dependable people no longer feel they can get a better life? Migrant workers, who have played a major role in China’s dramatic economic growth over the past three decades, often must live in terrible conditions and have inadequate food as well as unsafe working conditions, which raise their risk of illness and disability. Migrants are denied the right to bargain collectively or form trade unions outside the official All China Federation of Trade Unions, and financial constraints often prevent them from seeking legal redress for owed wages and other labor rights violations.

    tank-1June 4, 2009 marks the 20th-anniversary of the massacre at Tiananmen Square. Where Chinese laid down in front of tanks. In the Year of the Ox, Beijing will either take measures to ease the yoke on the millions of migrant workers who have been the neglected engine of the country’s spectacular economic growth or they will be faced with another people’s revolution.

    According to tales and legends, the beginning of Chinese New Year started 180px-chinese_new_years_poetrywith the fight against a mythical beast called the Nian or “Year” in Chinese. Nian would come on the first day of New Year to devour livestock, crops, and even villagers, especially children. To protect themselves, the villagers would put food in front of their doors at the beginning of every year. It was believed that after the Nian ate the food they prepared, it wouldn’t attack any more people. One time, people saw that the Nian was scared away by a little child wearing red. The villagers then understood that the Nian was afraid of the color red. Hence, every time when the New Year was about to come, the villagers would hang red lanterns and red spring scrolls on windows and doors. People also used firecrackers to frighten away the Nian. From then on, the Nian never came to the village again.

    Americans need to watch the unfolding crisis in China with increased interest because the same scenario is beginning to play out in American cities like Las Vegas whose unemployment rate just hit 9.3-percent. Unemployment is much more than a social problem in a country or big-city where worker unrest is rife — around 250 protests a day on
    average in Beijing,  a political climate that justifies its authoritarian rule by promoting unfettered economic growth. Mayors of large US cities like New York and Chicago need also become sensitive to the unrest as they are both scheduled to have the largest unemployment rates in the natichimera1on in 2009.

    So is the economic unrest in the world just a result of the mythical beast called, Nian? Perhaps we would all do well in the year of unrest (Ox) to wear lots of red,  thoroughly clean home altars and statues,  take down and burn altars that were adorned with decorations from the previous year and replace with new decorations,  burn a paper effigy of the Kitchen God, (the recorder of family functions. This is done so that the kitchen god can report to the Jade Emperor of the family household’s transgressions and good deeds) or,  offer sweet foods (such as candy) in order to “bribe” Gods into reporting good things about our family.

    But as for me? I think I’ll stick with wearing lots of red to scare the poverty beast (Ox) away.

    Nian gao (Chinese: 年糕)

    KH

    84806_jennifer-hudson-sings-the-national-anthem-at-super-bowl-xliiiJennifer Hudson- National Anthem at Superbowl XLIII

    It was the comeback performance of the century!

    Here is a story about triumph over adversity. About turning lemons into lemonade. About getting back on the horse after being thrown off it.  A story about getting back up when life knocks you down, badly as in the case of Chicago native Jennifer Kate Hudson.

    Jennifer Kate Hudson (born September 12, 1981) is an American Academy Award winning actress and a Grammy nominated singer. She first gained notice as one of the finalists on the third season of the FOX television series American Idol. She went on to star in the 2006 motion picture Dreamgirls for which she has won numerous awards, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a BAFTA, and a SAG Award. She was also recently nominated for four Grammy Awards,   On October 24, 2008, Hudson’s 57-year-old mother, Darnell Donerson, and the singer’s 29-year-old brother, Jason, were shot to death inside Donerson’s home, in Chicago, Illinois. Likely shot before 3 p.m., they were discovered by Jason’s cousin. An AMBER Alert was issued for Hudson’s 7-year-old nephew, Julian King, after Hudson’s elder sister, Julia, reported him missing. Later that day, Chicago police arrested a suspect, William Balfour, 27, the estranged husband of Hudson’s sister Julia, but he was not charged with any crime. Balfour is on parole and spent nearly seven years in prison for attempted murder, vehicular hijacking and possession of a stolen vehicle. The body of a young boy was found in a 1994 Chevrolet Suburban parked on a street in Chicago’s West Side area on October 27, 2008. The license plate and the vehicle’s description matched that of the AMBER Alert. The FBI later confirmed the body was that of Julian King. Autopsy reports released on October 29, 2008 from the Cook County Medical Examiner’s office indicated that Julian King’s death was due to “multiple gunshot wounds”. Hudson’s family announced a foundation for families of murder victims. The Hudson-King Foundation for Families of Slain Victims was named imagesin honor of Hudson’s mother, brother and nephew.

    The National Anthem is  a demanding warhorse that requires superior vocal chops to successfully navigate. Few singers can navigate those waters successfully much less aspiring singers who usually attempt the impossible and end up singing the National Anthem badly and off-key at major sporting events. Jennifer Hudson, the Chicago native,  looked beautiful and sounded absolutely amazing. It was the 27-year-old Chicago native’s first public performance since the slaying of her mother, brother and nephew in their Englewood home on Oct. 24. Teetering on high heels with a sober expression, she began and ended the performance with an audible sigh. In between, she was focused and in terrific voice. She began deliberately, then swung low to bring a chilling resonance to the word “gleaming.” Though she stretched a few notes, she didn’t oversell the song or her voice. She reveled in its power. The final “home of the brave” was a howitzer into the heavens.

    Before her performance, Ricky Minor, Hudsons manager insisted that Hudson sing to the prerecorded track. “That’s the right way to do it,” said Minor, who also produced Whitney Houston’s powerful 1991 rendition of the anthem. “There’s too many variables to go live. I would never recommend any artist go live, because the slightest glitch would devastate the performance.” After the performance, Minor said Hudson asked him, “How did I do?” “I told her, ‘Touchdown!’” he said. Hudson’s two cell phones also lit up “like slot machines” after her performance. She even got a text message from her Dreamgirls costar Jamie Foxx. “His text said ‘Amazing. It brought tears to my eyes,’” Minor said. “She’s just getting so much love.”

    Such courage it must take to come out again in public after such a horrific tragedy. I was in full tears as she sang the National Anthem thinking about her horrific ordeal having her entire family murdered and what courage it must take to get up before millions of Americans, on live national television and sing one of the most difficult songs ever written in our nations history. Most people, after trying to navigate Francis Scott Key’s tone-poem, wished he had fallen overboard.

    At the end I sat in my living room and cheered.

    tetonsI have been of the opinion for years, especially after hearing Ray Charles soulful rendition, that our National Anthem should be replaced with a song that more adequately describes America and Americans. America the Beautiful. I think “America the Beautiful” should be the National Anthem instead of SSB which is a terrible song, the range is too high for most people, which is why they attempt to “jazz it up.” The other problem with aspiring singers today is that they all try to sound like the singers on American Idol, who overuse vibrato and melisma when they sing. Everything sounds cheesy in that style. Great singers like Jennifer Hudson, Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles can make SSB sound like a great song but most Americans are not great singers- they are lousy singers. most Americans likely have never sung the whole song, and don’t even know there are 3 more verses to it that we do not sing at ball games. Most Americans cannot even remember the words to the SSB. They kind of go,  “da da da …..”  in spots.

    Francis Scott Key penned the words of the Star Spangled Banner – which was later set to music – while observing the battle of Fort McHenry in which the British bombarded the fort with artillary all night long, but failed to make it succumb.

    images-2There are four rules you’re expected to follow during the national anthem or SSB, as anyone who attends a sports event knows: Remove your gimme cap, move your beer to your left hand, place your right hand over your heart (not your crotch like Roseanne Barr) and mumble the words.  (There’s one extra rule in Dallas: Yell the word “Stars!”)

    America is a great nation. The greatest nation on the face of this planet. Which is why all the other nations of the world try to copy us. America, as the greatest nation on earth, deserves a “great national anthem” and America The Beautiful would be just such a great national anthem. America the Beautiful is a patriotic hymn that originated as a poem written by Katharine Lee Bates in the summer of 1893 after a trip to Colorado Springs. The poem first appeared in The Congregationalist in 1895 and was set to music months later. Bates simplified the text in 1904 and made changes to the third stanza years later to create the words that are known today. From over seventy musical settings, the one now best known was written by S. A. Ward. Many citizens have lobbied Congress to make it the national anthem. The beloved hymn was performed frequently following the terrorist attacks of  September 11th, 2001.

    O beautiful for patriot dream
    That sees beyond the years
    Thine alabaster cities gleam
    Undimmed by human tears!
    America! America!
    God shed His grace on thee
    And crown thy good with brotherhood
    22142yyou-go-girl-posters
    From sea to shining sea!

    images-1Jennifer … you are amazing girl. America’s thoughts and prayers are with you and we hope to see lots more of you. Lots more!  You are a shining example of courage and fortitude for the rest of us who have been knocked down so hard that we find it hard to get back up again. And should America The Beautiful ever become our national-anthem, I would want Jennifer Hudson debuting it.

    You go girl!

    KH

    Obama Will Make It Better by Vice Grip

    “If you’re walking down the right path and you’re willing to keep walking, eventually you’ll make progress. It took a lot of blood, sweat, and tears to get to where we are today, but we have just begun.” ~Vice Grip

    images-5The cowardly actions of Circuit City, Linens and Things, KB Toys,  Mervyn’s, Whitehall Jewelers, Steve & Barry’s, CompUSA,  and Sharper Image;  have put all of our retailing at risk in America. These cowards, who for years, refused to “re-tool,” “re-organize,”or  “re-structure” but instead choose to follow the old tired business model before choosing the cowardly way out by closing all their stores and laying off their entire work-force while the CFO’s bailed with huge golden-parachutes,  have now set the tone for every retailer in America who are facing tough economic times.

    images-12As merchants reported their sales figures early this morning, the malaise  crossed the spectrum of retailing, from department chains to teen chains with retailers reporting deeper-than-expected sales declines. Wal-Mart was the only notable exception, posting a 2-percent sales increase that beat Wall Street’s forecast. Unless the economy dramatically improves,  Dan Ansell, chairman of Greenberg Traurig’s real estate operations division, said he believes retail bankruptcies this year could reach their high01-bizsaleest levels since the 1991 recession.  “America is going to see a  mass onslaught with some 500 retail chains go out of business in 2009.” Almost all the news about the retail industry during the past few months is terrible and focuses on the lack of consumer spending and low retail sales, earnings statements, and the number of retail jobs lost. Wet Seal Inc., Stage Stores Inc. and Children’s Place Retail Stores Inc were the hardest hit in January with declining sales.  No retail business, including Wal-Mart, has been exempt from this deep and profound recession or “recession-proof.”images-4 There’s one common theme: The power of national discounters like Wal-Mart, which helped seal the eventual demise of regional discount chains last time around sealed the doom of consumer electronics stores like Comp-USA,  and Circuit City, and may be gunning for Best Buy next.

    We have seen the pain spread from luxury goods stores to department stores to electronics and specialty stores and now even to discount stores. Hiring freezes are across the board. Even Best Buy, who had  dismal Christmas sales despite Circuit City’s demise states on its hiring website as of today:

    profile-culture1

    Please Note:

    We are not currently hiring for most positions. If you’d like to be considered for future opportunities, please click on one of our postings below or subscribe to this category. Thank you for your interest in Best Buy.

    What Best Buy is really saying is this: “But, thank you for your interest. We have no intention of ever hiring you if you are not a teenager willing to work for slave wages and at our beck-and-call day and night. And, we even lay them off after the holiday rush when our stores are only manned by one or two sale’s people you can never seem to find. Best of luck in your job-search cause retailing’s in the toilet you’re really … going to need it.”

    Here is a list of  companies  which may well not make it to Christmas 2009:

    1. Rite Aid (RAD) is an example of a company that proved the old maxim, “what can go wrong, will go wrong”. Its shares are at $.41, down from a 52-week high of $4.72. Rite Aid is bloated with over 5,000 stores, some of which are certainly losing money. The pharmacy company has competition from huge operators including Wal-Mart (WMT). The firm has a massive debt load of $6.1 billion.

    2. Eddie Bauer’s (EBHI) shares trade for $.97, down from a 52-week high of $8.72. The company recently reported an operating loss of $17 million. Revenue dropped slightly to $207 million. The firm has almost 400 stores and outlets.

    3. Williams-Sonoma (WSM) operates 600 stores. Revenue forecast down as low as $732 million.The company is doing badly enough that Barclays Capital recently said that it may violate financial covenants on its $300 million credit facility.

    4. Cost Plus (CPWM) recently released earnings, and they looked grim. Among other things, the chain said same-store sales could drop 6% in the current quarter. The 296-store retailer predicted poor revenue of as little as $356 million for the period. In the quarter just past, revenue was flat at $213 million and Cost Plus lost $26 million. The firm has $146 million in long-term debt and obligations.

    5.Pier 1’s (PIR) shares are on sale for $.50. The company’s guidance for the quarter sent shareholders running for the exits. In the last quarter, revenue fell 7% and the company lost $30 million. Pier 1 pulled its guidance because it believes it cannot predict how much the retail market will deteriorate. With $183 million in debt, it won’t take much to tip Pier 1 into insolvency.

    6. Talbots (TLB) is another struggling operator. It recently announced that it would try to sell its J. Jill brand. This operation has 383 of Talbots 878 stories.

    7. Dillard’s (DDS) is a retail operator that really is in trouble. It has 318 stores, which makes it a relatively small operation in a world dominated by outfits like Sears (SHLD) which has more than 3000 locations. Dillard’s stock is at $3.75, down from a 52-week high of $23.11. S&P dropped the company’s credit rating recently

    8. Pacific Sunwear closed 74 under performing stores in its d.e.m.o. line in 2007 and closed all 154 of its remaining d.e.m.o. stores in 2008

    9. The Home Depot Nearly 7+ months after its chief executive said there were no plans to cut the number of its core retail stores, The Home Depot Inc.announced Thursday that it is shuttering 15 of them amid a slumping U.S. economy and housing market. The move will affect 1,300 employees. It is the first time the world’s largest home improvement store chain has ever closed a flagship store for performance reasons. It’s shares rose almost 5 percent. The Atlanta-based company said the under-performing U.S. stores being closed represent less than 1 percent of its existing stores. They will be shuttered within the next two months.

    10. CompUSA (CLOSED) clarifies details on store closings. Any extended warranties purchased for products through CompUSA will be honored by a third-party provider, Assurant Solutions. Gift cards, rain checks, and rebates purchased prior to December 12 can be redeemed at any time during the final sale. For those who have a gadget currently in for service with CompUSA, the repair will be completed and the gadget will be returned to owners.

    Other companies that may not see Christmas 2009 include:

    PIER 1, FOOT LOCKER, ANN TAYLOR, PAC-SUN, WILSON LEATHER, ZALES, FRIEDMAN JEWELERS, PEP BOYS and CATHERINES, ZALES, PIERCING PAGODA

    So what is really going on in America? Are these retailers really losing so much money that they can’t toughen it out for another year until the economy turns itself around? It’s easy when times are good, and there is plenty of money being spread around to hang out a shingle and open a little shop or novelty business, it is quite another to remain in business and weather tough economic times. Sears and J.C. Penny’s have been rising out tough economic times for over 100-years and they are still around. Most story1home-based “Hobby” businesses fall by the way-side and the sleazy, manipulative door-to-door businesses like Kirby who hire strictly commission based vacuum-salesmen seem to thrive. America saw this happen with the death of the dot.comer’s. Overnight- the dot.com ride was over and millions of dot.coms went out of business.

    Massive bailouts, store-closings, layoffs only seem to fuel the fire of consumer no-confidence and retailing in America becomes a snowball from hell as consumer confidence already faltering, becomes crushed under the weight of retial closings and retail bankruptcies. Obviously, retailers cannot police themselves so now it is time for UNCLE SAM to step in, wielding that big-stick, order price freezes, offer consumer and businesses stimulus’s to jump start our economy while at the same time preventing mass hysteria and public panic as struggling businesses restrucure their debt load under Chapter 11. I am no economist, but even I can see that consumer confidence is shaken to its core. Woodfield Mall in Schaumburg, IL. and the retail district in Rockford, Illinois which are typically busy retailing places on the weekends;  have been ghost-towns the past few weekends. If President Obama does not step in to intercede- as UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown predicted today- not only will America be in a 1930’s depression by Christmas 2009 but the entire world.

    Can you imagine a worldwide depression similar to that of the 1930’s with countries like Iran, India, Pakistan, N. Korea and Israel,  all having nuclear capability? There would be total anarchy, violence, riots. If you think the terrorism in the Middle-East and Iraq are bad now, can you imagine terrorism on a worldwide scale? Now, Government is not the “be all and end all” for everything that ails America. But someone has to stop this run-a-way economy before it destroys us all and the best way to start is to prevent mass panic by the public with Americans pulling their moneys put of banks.

    180px-lange-migrantmother02-1The Great Depression was a worldwide economic downturn starting in most places in 1929 and ending at different times in the 1930s or early 1940s for different countries. It was the largest and most important economic depression in modern history, and is used in the 21st century as an example of how far the world’s economy can fall. The Great Depression originated in the United States; historians most often use as a starting date the stock market crash on October 29, 1929, known as Black Tuesday. The end of the depression in the U.S is associated with the onset of the war economy of World War II, beginning around 1939. Recession cycles are thought to be a normal part of living in a world of inexact balances between supply and demand. What turns a usually mild and short recession or “ordinary” business cycle into a great depression is a subject of debate and concern.

    I think what fuels the fire of a recession turning it into a Great Depression is a lack of consumer confidence leading to wide-spread panic, hysteria, a run on the banks with people pulling all their money out. One of my friends says that his technology company is having the best year ever and that they are still actively hiring when most companies are downsizing and laying off. He feels the economy isn’t as bad as people say it is but that consumer confidence is shaken.  “People just think the economy is worse than it really is,” he says.  Get enough people to believe the economy is in the toilet- you escalate what might be a severe recession which could blow over into a full-blown  Great Depression on a world-wide scale. Tough for a Great Depression to blow over quickly.

    Again, I am no economist. You’ll have to get Suzy Orman to explain it to you.

    Hardest hit in this retail mess is the country of Great Britain, a nation of shop keepers. Yesterday. Britain’s Prime-Minister. Gordon Brown  told Parliament that the world economy was in a “depression.”

    “We should agree as a world on a monetary and fiscal stimulus that will take the world out of r… depression.”

    The Tories urged him to clarify his comments and be careful with language. A Conservative MP said prime ministers in particular needed to be careful about their use of language to ensure they do not undermine confidence.

    Speaking after prime minister’s questions, shadow chancellor George Osborne said:2_great_depression

    “The prime minister must personally and urgently clarify whether his statement today that the world is in ‘depression’ was a slip of the tongue, or whether he knows something that we don’t know. For the sake of confidence he should clear up this confusion. Prime ministers in particular need to be very careful about their use of language to ensure they don’t undermine confidence.”

    Maybe President Obama should hire Bobby McFerrin as America’s official retail confidence promoter.

    In your life expect some trouble
    But when you worry
    You make it double

    Don’t worry, be happy……
    Don’t worry don’t do it, be happy
    Put a smile on your face
    Don’t bring everybody down like this
    Don’t worry, it will soon past
    Whatever it is.


    geek-squadTry and tell that to the cowards at Circuit City. Cowardly CEO like Philip Schoonover. Put aside the fact that the national electronics chain has been in a financial mess for the last 18 months – anyone watching CNBC or FBN knows that story. What surprises me is that people would be surprised by the news at all. For years, Best Buy, with its outstanding customer service and the launching of its “Geek Squad was kicking Circuit City’s ass. Instead of Circuit City “re-tooling” or “re-structuring” how it conducted business, Circuit City made no changes at all, continuing in the old, lazy, tired business model it always had. The customer service at the store was horrendous.  The people who worked at the store’s were rude, your local store never had the cash register open. In order to pay for your items, you actually had to stand next to the register in a line waiting to go to customer service to pay! What sense does that make?! Circuit City was not!!! a victim of the lousy economy- Circuit City like Linens and Things and many of the retailers who have closed their doors and laid everybody off- were victims of their own mismanagement. The power of national discounters like Wal-Mart, which helped seal the eventual demise of Circuit City and CompuUSA was merely the final straw to a company who had alienated its customer base, refused to even attempt to offer satisfactory customer service or discount their products. My friend Brian bought a Dell at CC days before they shuttered their doors. Paid more for it than had he gone over to Best Buy. Two-weeks later the screen shorted out, the hard-drive had to be replaced. He mailed it into the company authorized by CC to make repairs. The company found a dozen other problems with this brand-new laptop which was still under warranty. They told Brian it would be 6-8 weeks before he could get his “brand-new” laptop back. Why didn’t they just give him a brand new Dell? His computer was fully covered under warranty. It was a mere two-weeks old. You can be sure my friend Brian will go to Best Buy next time to make his purchase.

    It’s time we demanded from our government leaders that they crack down on scurrilous retailers like Circuit City and jail irresponsible/criminal CEO’s like Philip Schoonover who played fast and loose, was criminally reckless allowing CC’s stock to decline by 80-percent and lay off thousands of CC employee’s nationwide.

    THIS IS CRIMINAL!

    CEO’s like Philip Schoonover should be in jail right now. We jail people on traffic charges which is less than a misdemeanor but the Schoonover’s of the world who create nationwide havoc with their criminal irresponsibility- we let skate.

    Jailing irresponsible CEO’s like Philip Schoonover by an Obama administration would go a long way to restoring the public trust and in the meantime, the Obama administration needs to take immediate steps to intercede in this loss of public confidence, before it becomes a mass panic. Perhaps Obama should start by  singing, Don’t Worry Be Happy instead of The Boys Are Back In Town.

    KH




    Sincerity by Lisa Stansfieldvalentines_day

    “People, rushin’ ’round in their lonely lives
    They’d like to care for others, but frankly,
    They don’t have the time
    ‘Cause they’re always doin’ the things
    They have to do so they’ll be alright
    Their always lookin’ out for their own side
    People think they’ve got priorities right.”

    There’s one thing I have learned in life if nothing else and that is this:

    Valentine’s Day is not!!! just a Hallmark Holiday if you’re a married man, engaged, single man involved in a long-term relationship with a significant other.  You don’t forget Valentine’s Day. Not unless married men want to be sleeping on the couch or in the dog-house for the next few weeks and single men  hope to “get any” for months to come.

    Hallmark may have capitalized on this obscurest of holidays, but women have had expectations from the time of Geoffrey Chaucer in the High Middle Ages, when the tradition of courtly love flourished that if you hope to keep a woman’s attentions in the arena of love (and brother let me tell you it is an arena as fierce as any Colosseum in Rome where the Gladiators fought) if you want to keep a womans affections- you must show your affections and often.

    Venetian playboy Giacomo Cassanova,  famous for being a womanizer was he that his name remains synonymous with the art of seduction and he is sometimes called “the world’s greatest lover”. He enjoyed the company of European royalty, seducing the wealthy, bored wives of the nobility.

    Valentine’s Day or Saint Valentine’s Day is a holiday celebrated on February 14 by many people throughout the world. In the West, it is the traditional day on which lovers express their love for each other by sending Valentine’s cards, presenting flowers, or offering confectionery. The holiday is named after two among the numerous Early Christian martyrs named Valentine. The day became associated with romantic love in the circle of Geoffrey Chaucer in the High Middle Ages, when the tradition of courtly love flourished.

    According to the historychannel.com, St. Valentine was a priest in third century Rome. At this time, war was a part of everyday life. Emperor Claudius II outlawed young men to marry because he believed that they would be better soldiers if they did not have wives or children. When St. Valentine heard of this, he performed secret marriage ceremonies for young couples regardless of the consequences he might face. When Claudius discovered St. Valentine’s betrayal, he ordered him to be put to death. It is said that after St. Valentine was imprisoned, he fell in love with the jailor’s daughter. He would send her letters and sign them, “from your Valentine.”

    An alternative theory from Belarus states that the holiday originates from the story of Saint Valentine, who upon rejection by his mistress was so heartbroken that he took a knife to his chest and sent her his still-beating heart as a token of his undying love for her. Hence, heart-shaped cards are now sent as a tribute to his overwhelming passion and suffering. Another legend implies that St. Valentine was imprisoned because he helped free Christians from Roman prisons. At these prisons, people were beaten and tortured. Freeing slaves would have had the ultimate punishment, death.

    According to americancatholic.org, “The roots of St. Valentine’s Day lie in the ancient Roman festival of Lupercalia, which was celebrated on Feb. 15. For 800 years the Romans had dedicated this day to the god Lupercus. On Lupercalia, a young man would draw the name of a young woman in a lottery and would then keep the woman as a sexual companion for the year.

    Each of these myths occur around the same period of time and suggest that St. Valentine died around the year 270 A.D. The month and day are what have many confused. The Roman myth implies that February is the month of purification, therefore, celebrates250px-antique_valentine_05 love as purity. In England and France, it is believed that Feb. 14 is the day that birds begin mating for spring, making it the most romantic day of the year. It is believed by many others that Feb. 14 was the day of St.Valentine’s death.

    In 498 A.D., Pope Gelasius declared Feb. 14 St. Valentine’s Day. This was 200 years after his untimely death, however that may have occurred.

    In Great Britain, Valentine’s Day began celebration around the 17th century. During the mid-18th century, people exchanged ‘love letters’ on Valentines Day, as opposed to cards. It wasn’t until postage rates dropped and printing improved that cards became popular at the end of the century and today with Hallmark capitalizing on the greeting card holiday with annual sales of $7.5-billion-dollars. The Valentine card business is no small production. According to Hallmark, approximately 191 million cards are exchanged throughout the industry. Hallmark alone offers over 2,000 different Valentine card options. These options include cards that record messages, candy greeting cards, cards with lights and music and many other varieties.

    101499-main_thumbA billion Valentine’s Day cards are sent every year, second only to Christmastime, and 85% of them by women. For this we can thank Esther Howland, an entrepreneurial 1847 Mount Holyoke grad, whose father owned a stationery store and who came up with the idea of mass-producing valentines. The Mother of the Valentine never married but did get very rich, racking up annual sales equivalent to more than $2 million today.

    Advances in technology have also led to advances in greeting cards. People increasingly purchase E-Valentine cards, which they send by email. Cards can also be custom created with photographs and personalized text. Consumers can purchase their paper cards at on-line greeting card websites. According to Bizreport, the website American Greetings experienced 8.1 million unique visitors in the weeks leading up to Valentines Day. They were followed by Hallmark at 5.6 million.

    But we’re always sayin’ we don’t have the time
    We really sympathize, well, maybe another time
    Don’t think about tomorrow
    Do it while you’ve got the chance

    One may “learn” how to intellectually act out sincerity, but one cannot create it within oneself unless one is actually experiencing the emotion of sincerity itself. Sincerity is the key to building quality relationships, which is important in any personal or working environment. Sincerity wins the respect of peers, superiors and subordinates.Sincerity helps to form strong bonds with the people romantically involved with you or working with you. You trust each other, and have this wonderful thing called “quality of relationship.” It is more than enough to enable you to overcome obstacles and differences as a couple or as a team.

    So, this Valentine’s Day, with the lousy economy, instead of being duped by Hallmark to part with money you don;t have to keep Hallmark in business, perhaps it might be a time to practice a little “Sincerity.” Show or tell your significant other, family members, co-worker’s how you really feel, take the time to demonstrate to your children that life is short and it is important that we show sincerity and affection to those in our lives that we care about, while they are still here on earth with us. It’s much to late when we die… to admit we didn’t  see eye-to-eye.

    This, I think, is the essence of what St. Valentine or whoever started the annual Valentine’s Day tradition had in mind. Instead of Hallmark: try a little “sincerity” this Valentine’s Day.

    Happy Valentine’s Day!

    KH

    Republican party- Burning Down The House

    “The party now is over,” ~President Barack Obama

    As of this morning,  (February 10, 2009) this is the kind of America we live in.untitled

    We live in an America in which the Republican party is willing to allow the country to go down the drain for its own short-term political gain. Here is the potentially catastrophic game of chicken the Republicans are playing: They want to force enough compromises in the stimulus bill — which is already not bold enough – to make it too weak to succeed. Then, having negotiated these compromises, they won’t even vote for it — which will allow them to run against the “collapsed Democratic economy” in 2010 for Senate seats and try and regain the White House in  2012.

    A beleaguered President Obama said on National-television this morning that, “Look, we have to try something. Even if it doesn’t work. We cannot just do nothing (as the Republicans want) and watch the country slide into a great Depression.

    Rightly so, Obama recognizes and points out that the Economic Stimulus bill is not perfect. No bill ever is. But Obama points out that the bill is better than doing nothing and that corrections or adjustments to the bill can be made at a later date. The important thing is to approve it- give it a chance to do some good. Better that, than the continued bickering on both-sides of the aisle.

    “The plan is not perfect,” the president said. “No plan is. I can’t tell you for sure that everything in this plan will work exactly as we hope, but I can tell you with complete confidence that a failure to act will only deepen this crisis as well as the pain felt by millions of Americans.”

    Obama gets it.

    Obama is thinking about the good of America and Americans. For once in our lifetime’s,  we actually have a President who “gives a damn” about America and all Americans,  not just his political party, returning political favors, or lining his own pockets by manufacturing an excuse to invade Irag. He gets it. But can a decent man be President in these ugly political times?

    “This is not your ordinary, run of the mill recession,” he said. Obama said the United States could tumble into the kind of economic pain that Japan endured in the 1990s — the “lost decade” when that nation showed no economic growth.

    This Obama is tired of your shit

    capitol-obstruction-240pxThe Republicans get it to. As I have written before in an earlier blog:

    Obstructionism: the new political posturing

    Ruining this Obama administration allows them to run against the “collapsed Democratic economy” in 2010 for Senate seats and try and regain the White House in  2012.

    [[ 16-years, that's how long  before the Repubs who so thoroughly destroyed their own party by running goofballs  like McCain and Palin can hope to retake the White House. If George W. was in for eight- Obama will be in for eight, unless he screws up in a huge way. Somehow, I think Obama is too smart to screw up in a huge way. He couldn’t make more of a mess than George W did. So, that’s eight-years,  the Repubs will have to wait. A successful Obama presidency  of eight-years will more than likely yield up a Hillary Clinton White House in 2016-2024.

    Do the math! It may well be until the year 2024 before the Republican party could hope to regain control of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. ]]

    David Latt: Obama’s a Wimp (So Says the GOP)

    Can Obama learn to manage the political process and accomplish his policy goals and still remain who he is as a human being? Can a decent man be president?

    I say it’s treasonous for Republican leaders to allow the country to go down the drain for their own political gain. As an American, we should demand that Obama stop playing this bipartisanship game of “chicken” and start handing out arrest warrants. Yes, you heard it. Arrest warrants charging irresponsible Republican leaders who would bankrupt this great nation with treason. They are traitors to all Americans, to the Constitution, to the political party they serve, to their own families. Traitors should be put on trial. Given life sentences if convicted. Perhaps then, our political leaders would act more responsibly in the future and not knowingly conspire to ruin this great country.

    President Obama- what is your priority — bipartisanship or what is best for America? And when the two are in conflict, which are you going to choose? Although the answer should be obvious, the president’s actions over the last couple of weeks have left many wondering. You cannot deal fairly with this kind of irresponsible, corrupt Republican party, hell-bent on ruining America for their own political agenda. They have stacked the deck. They have declared all out war on this Obama administration with their Republican mouthpiece Rush (Bimbo) Limbaugh declaring,

    “I WANT OBAMA TO FAIL!”

    THEY’VE SAID IT. PUBLICLY. THEY’VE CHOSEN THEIR SIDE. THE REPUBLICANS  WANT TO RUIN AMERICA.

    In law, treason is the crime that covers some of the more serious acts of disloyalty to one’s sovereign or nation.  A person who commits treason is known in law as a traitor. Such a person may also be colloquially termed a turncoat, Judas or quisling.

    Oran’s Dictionary of the Law (1983) defines treason as: “…[a]…citizen’s actions to help a foreign government overthrow, make war against, or seriously injure the [parent nation].” In many nations, it is also often considered treason to attempt or conspire to overthrow the government, The word “traitor” may also be used to describe a person who betrays (or is accused of betraying) their own political party, nation, family, friends, ethnic group, religion, social class, or other group to which they may belong. Often, such accusations are controversial and disputed, as the person may not identify with the group of which they are a member, or may otherwise disagree with the group leaders making the charge. See, for example, race traitor.

    Now, Mr. President. What do you call Republican leaders who by definition betrays (or is accused of betraying) their own political party, nation, family, friends, ethnic group, religion, social class, or other group to which they may belong? Traitors!

    What do you call members of a political party whose serious acts of disloyalty to ones sovereign or nationTraitors!

    What would you call political leaders who conspire to overthrow the government, that government being a duly-elected Obama administration, One; elected by the people for the people. Traitors!

    Now, Mr. President, you can either start handing out arrest warrants, 0000011charging these irresponsible Republican leaders with treason or you can start to break up this criminal conspiracy that they call the Republican Party. You can “lock out” this Congress by stationing troops outside the Capitol Building until the Repubs are ready to deal fairly, roll up their shirt-sleeves and do the hard work required to get America back on its feet or they can stay locked out until they come to their senses. Either way, whether the Repubs do nothing on the Economic Stimulus Bill or are locked out of the Capitol Building, the end result for America and Americans will be the same. America suffers and will continue to suffer until both political parties put America and Americans first instead of their own petty political agenda’s.

    A drastic step you ask? Desperate times call for desperate measures and my friends, these are desperate times for America. As I have written before in earlier blogs a failed Obama administration means a failed America. If Republicans cause this administration to fail, if the Repubs cause America to slide into a Great-Depression are they really deluded enough to believe that Americans will pat them on the back in 2010 and say, “Good Show” and put them back into the White House in 2012? Can our Republican leaders really be this deluded? We all remember the dim light-bulbs the Republican-party ran last time, the senile John McCain who treated the entire political primary season as one big “In-joke” and a Moose-shooting hockey-mom from Alaska who didn’t know George W. Bush’s economic plan. But by golly, she said pointing her finger, elect me anyway.

    Thankgod! Americans had the good sense to not put these idiots in the White House and in control of this great nation. Americans did elect the best candidate back in November, this president is smart. This president gets it, but if this president thinks that pulling a Rodney King (Why can’t we all just get along?) is going to solve America’s economic woes when the Republican party is clearly out to destroy America and everything America stands for- this President is as deluded as the Republicans in thinking he can ever fix America with the deck stacked against him.

    The criticism of bipartisanship for bipartisanship’s sake has begun to reach critical mass. Here are Drew Westen, Tina Brown, and Jane Hamsher taking their licks.

    44977763You get a feeling that maybe we’re playing politics instead of actually trying to solve problems for the American people,” Obama said.

    Obama- I say:  No More Mr. Nice Guy! Have your justice department draw up arrest warrants for treason, start throwing these traitors like Rush Limbaugh, Michael Steele, Jim DeMint, Hugh Downs, Ray LaHood, and Pete Sessions, in jail with real Americans. Whatever their crimes, America’s prisons are full of people who love America, men and women who have families who love America. Who struggle to achieve the American dream- and not; like this current Republican party- spend every moment of their time trying to ruin America.

    GOP Rep. Pete Sessions,  says Republicans might need to adopt a Talibanesque approach to taking on Obama. This is the party Obama wants to practice bipartisanship with? Pete Sessions is a traitor! Arrest him! Let Pete Sessions have his day in a court of law. He’s got a 50/50 shot of acquittal. Leastwise, by the end of the trial, all Americans will  recognize by sight these traitorous Republican individuals who seek to bankrupt and ruin America!

    KH

    Congress taking care of business

    Moving with lightning speed, key lawmakers announced agreement Wednesday on a $789 billion economic stimulus measure designed to create millions of jobs in a nation reeling from recession. President Barack Obama could sign the bill within days. I congratulate key-lawmakers from the staff of speaker-of-the-house Nancy Pelosi (D) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (R) in pushing through a midnight-deal for President Obama to sign but my feeling about charging those politicians with treason (Playing a catastrophic game of chicken) who would obstruct this government, watch America go down the drain for their own political agenda,  still applies.

    82204778AW002_House_GOP_ConAdded to the list of obstructionists today: Tom Price from the  Sixth District of Georgia and the privileged chair of the Republican Study Committee who blasted congressional leaders for not making the stimulus bill negotiations open to the public. In other words, while America is hemorrhaging, lets drag our feet, have months of useless public debate before a vote by his fellow obstructionists to turn down the package after thousands more Americans lose their jobs/homes. Price demanded TV coverage of the meeting when the industry had little desire to televise it. Wisely, the staff of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid(R) shut-out Price and his fellow obstructionists who are now charging congessional leaders with “shady back-room deals.

    I applaud the staff of both speaker of the house Nancy Pelosi (D) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid(R) in pushing through the midnight-meeting approval of the bill for President Obama to sign. This is the way our government should work in a bipartisan effort. When America is in dire need, you “stay in session” until the bill is passed. You don’t showboat like Tom Price, playing to the television camera’s and wasting the public’s time with useless debate.

    It’s time the Obama administration got tough with these “obstructionists” and lit a fire under the Justice-Department to charge them with treason. Let them have their day in court to explain  to their constituents and all of America why it is they prefer to watch America go down the drain, watch millions of Americans suffer, losing both jobs and home,  for their own petty political power.

    KH

    Everest Hijacked

    EVEREST- ADVENTURE TRAVEL AS UGLY, DANGEROUS AND EXPENSIVE AS IT CAN GET

    everestfreetibetprotest41

    It is the highest point on earth and, for nearly 100 years was an unattainable goal. After Sir Edmund Hillary conquered it with his Sherpa guides in 1953, it continued to attract record-seekers and intrepid mountaineering explorers. Today, commercial-companies babysit rich “clients” (dollar-dogs) to the summit. The mountain has accumulated hundreds-of-pounds of refuse, garbage, used air tanks, and corpses. Mt. Everest Base-Camp on the Chinese side of the border resembles the bar scene at the start of Star Wars,” complete with brothels, racketeering, fisticuffs, and concession stands. Guided mountain-climbing expeditions morphed into a cultural phenomenon have little to do with mountaineering, but instead a bizarre fusion of Disneyland, the gunfight at the OK corral, and the 1977 self-help tome “Looking Out For Number One.” The result is a panoply of ethical issues as complex and uncomfortable as they are riveting. The 8,000-meter peaks of the Himalayas have become the unfortunate repositories for what  is repugnant about human nature with very little innate goodness surviving. Dying climbers pushed aside, ignored, and denied medical help while their equipment is stolen, greedy guides unethical to the point of criminal, drugs, alcoholism, prostitution – hell this could just as well be inner city New York or Saigon at 20,000 feet above sea level in what used to be one of the most remote landscapes on earth. Everest has become the poster child for  debauchery.

    The first woman to parachute onto Everest, cell-phone-towers on the mountain, a Starbucks-like Internet Cafe at Base-Camp, Mt. Everest, the highest mountain in the world, conquered by legends like Mallory, Hillary,  and Sir. George Everest, was first hijacked by commercial climbing-companies who charged “dollar-dogs” $65,000 per person to summit – has now been hijacked by the Chinese. In 2008, China built a 67-mile “paved highway fenced with undulating guardrails” up to the Mt. Everest base camp, in order to accommodate the “green” Olympics‘ monumental torch run, which China says will reach the 29,035-foot summit of Everest. It’s the world’s highest mountain in what was until recently one of the world’s most remote areas. The Chinese Sohu team has driven a big-ass truck into base camp, strung fiber optics up and down the mountain, and has a task force of 140 people. What does all this accomplish? – About the same thing one climber with a handheld sat phone, PDA, and camera can do. Already there has been death on Everest, close calls, high winds, and lots of action. Just last week the Russians had to sneak a team member back through the Chinese boarder – it’s like a Cold War spy novel out there instead of the regular Lamapalooza.

    You think people would have learned a lesson following the 1996 tragedy on the summit of Everest when several climb-team leaders like Rob Hall and Scott Fisher died herding inexperienced “dollar-dogs” up Everest’s highway to the Summit.

    Everest horror stories have been making the rounds through mainstream media since the 2008 Beijing Olympics that the Chinese have karakalhijacked Everest for its own propaganda and turned it into the highest and deadliest playground in the world with little reagrd for human life. This is the same China that does not care about humans rights abuses,  environmental pollution,  or the protection of the Everest-zone, one of the last fragile environments in the world and the home of the endangered Snow-Leopard. The highway is only the latest symbol of China’s fast-expanding highway network and an unsustainable (and politically charged) development that is tarnishing some of the country’s most valuable cultural and natural sites.threatening both the culture and nature of the Tibetan landscape and for strengthening China’s grip over a province that some insist should be independent. “On completion, the highway will become the major route for tourists and mountaineers who are crowding onto Mount Qomolangma, known in the west as Mount Everest, in ever larger numbers,” Xinhua wrote. Paved roads, and their construction, is of course harmful to local organic life, air quality, and soil, all of which are especially sensitive in Tibet’s fragile environment. And aside from the obvious threats to Tibet’s cultural and natural heritage from increasing crowds of tourists (Japanese climber Ken Noguchi has recently returned from his latest clean-up trip on Everest, hauling off 1,100 pounds of trash), climate changes have led to a dramatic melting of the Tibetan glaciers, which feeds the vital Yangtze and Yellow Rivers. Via Xinhua.

    The Chinese Sohu team has driven a big-ass truck into base camp, strung fiber optics up and down the mountain, and has a task force of 140 people. The famed Internet Café has been written about the most. What is left out of all the stories though is that Base Camp has had Internet for years, and wireless technology has been used from high on the mountain as early as 1999. Most teams in base camp come with a satellite phone and a laptop now a days, yet the world’s media can’t get enough of this Café. They make it out to be the greatest thing to have happened on Everest since the invention of an ice axe. One thing the Café is doing that no one has written about is posting ExplorersWeb’s weather forecasts for the climbers without satellite phones to see (in exchange for the use of ExWebs printer).

    First, the people of Nepal and the indigenous “Uighurs” who live there  felt that their mountain had been hijacked by commercial climbing outfits now they feel like the mountain has been hijacked by the Chinese.

    As big and bad and commercial as it ever was only now- it’s the Chinese who are running the Everest circus these days. Everest has become adventure travel as ugly as it gets. (Michael Kodas’ High Crimes – The Fate of Everest in an Age of Greed)

    So what does all this come down to? Does it diminish Everest and its grandeur? Absolutely. Playing chicken in the death-zone above 18,000 feet where few have dared to go without bottled-oxygen is not my idea of an adventure at $65,000-dollars a pop. Only  supreme egotists and the “insane” would dare to summit Everest with the Chinese and Russians taking pot-shots at each other. March and April 2008 saw the largest protests in Tibet for 5missing-1000web0 years. China’s response was swift and brutal. Today a climate of fear reigns across Tibet.

    It is estimated that over 6,000 Tibetans were detained in connection to the protests. The fate of over 1,000 people remains unknown, rendering them extremely vulnerable to torture.

    April 26, 2007 Three Tibetan independence activists, including one Tibetan-American, were detained by Chinese authorities Wednesday after demonstrating at Mount Everest. One climber was deported when a “Free-Tibet” banner was found in his belongings.

    Wednesday, January 31, 2007- Near Mount Everest, 30 Tibetans were seized by Chinese troops, tortured, and given hard labor. Chinese border guards killed a teenaged Buddhist nun and a male Tibetan.

    September 30, 2006, on the Nangpa La Pass, near Mount Everest, 30 Tibetans captured by Chinese troops, were tortured with cattle prods and forced to do hard labour. 75 Tibetans who were making their way over the 5,800 metre-high Nangpa La Pass on September 30 when Chinese border guards opened fire on them, killing Kelsang Namtso, a 17-year-old Buddhist nun, and a 23-year-old man. The story was taped by a mountaineering expedition and reported world-wide. Of those trying to escape, 41 made it into Nepal and then India; 32 were instead captured by the police

    Every year some three-to-four-thousand Tibetans try to illegally escape their homeland to go to India, paying smugglers in Nepal to get them across the border. They have to do this because it is nearly impossible for Tibetans to get a regular exit permit from Chinese authorities. In India Tibetans are free to keep their culture and, above all, they can meet their spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, who lives in Dharamsala, home to Tibet’s government-in-exile. Kelsang Namtso, the 17-year-old nun killed by Chinese police, wanted to do the same thing. At least half of all those who make the perilous journey are children. Their parents want them to attend a school where they can maintain their Tibetan identity, something impossible in China.

    According to the Tibetan government-in-exile, there are some 120,000 Tibetan refugees in India, Nepal, and Bhutan.

    ONE WORLD – ONE DREAM – FREE TIBET!!!

    Tibetan exiles all over the world have been staging protests against the alleged Chinese suppression in their homeland. The Tibetans’ campaign assumed a political dimension particularly after widespread uprising in Tibet in March 2008. The Dalai Lama, Tensing Gyatso,  forced out of his homeland in Tibet in 1949 and who now resides in Dharamsala, India, congratulated US President-elect Barack Obama, who will be taking the oath of office as the 44th President of the United States said:

    “The new US president, Barack Obama, can give new direction to the world. We are hopeful that Obama will do something for Tibet.

    The massive Chinese security crackdown in Tibetan areas initiated earlier this month has prompted the Tibetan government-in-exile, located in the northern Indian town Dharamsala, to appeal to the international community for help.free-tibet-candleglow-2

    “Living in society, we must share the suffering of our fellow citizens and practice compassion and tolerance not only toward our loved ones but also toward our enemies. This is the test of our moral strength. We must set an example by our own practice. We must live by the same high standards of integrity we seek to convey to others. The ultimate purpose is to serve and benfit the world.” –from How to See Yourself As You Really Are by His Holiness the Dalai Lama

    images1Richard Gere,  was raised by Methodist parents; his interest in Buddhism began when he traveled to Nepal in 1978 with the Brazilian painter, Sylvia Martins. He is a practicing Buddhist and an active supporter of the Dalai Lama.Gere is also a persistent advocate for human rights in Tibet; he is a co-founder of the Tibet House, creator of The Gere Foundation, and he is Chairman of the Board of Directors for the International Campaign for Tibet. Because he strongly supports the Tibetan Independence Movement, he is permanently banned from entering The People’s Republic of China. Gere was banned as an Academy Award presenter in 1993 after he used the opportunity to condemn the Chinese government. [8] In September 2007, Gere called for the boycott of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games to put pressure on China to make Tibet independent. On the March 14, 2008 The Situation Room, Gere spoke against China’s crackdown on the uprising in Tibet. He also starred in a politically themed pro-Tibet Lancia commercial featuring the Lancia Delta in 2008.images-3

    “In saving Tibet, you save the possibility that we are all brothers, sisters.”
    Richard Gere

    “The Chinese authorities in Tibet have launched a 42-day “Strike Hard” campaign on 18 January 2009 resulting in the arrest of over 5,766 Tibetans in Tibet and the crackdown has created great fear amongst the Tibetans,” he added. The Tibetan leadership in exile has asked the Chinese authorities to immediately call-off the “Strike Hard” campaign. In His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s message to the Chinese community on the occasion of the Chinese New Year on 25 January 2009, His Holiness said, “I hope and pray that in the coming year the People’s Republic of China will be able to create a meaningful harmonious society by ensuring equality, justice and friendship among all its nationalities.”

    The Dalai Lama’s first trip abroad in 2009, he arrived in Rome, Italy, 8 February 2009 in the first leg of his visit to Europe. The visit
    comes as Tibetans worldwide are preparing to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Tibetan National Uprising against Chinese rule in
    Tibet. In Baden Baden, Germany where his Holiness received the German award, the Deutsche Medienpreis (the German Media
    Prize) the 20-member jury released this statement:

    “In a time of religious tension, self-destructive, addiction to profit and ongoing violations of human rights, the Dalai Lama actively advocates reconciliation, tolerance, humility and respect. He represents the non-violent struggle for the rights of the Tibetan people, a struggle he has been leading for over 50 years from exile in India.”

    images-13The new U.S. president, Barack Obama, and our new Secretary-Of-State Hillary Clinton must  give new direction to the world by putting pressure on the Chinese to improve their human-rights abuse record particularly in Tibet. Obama’s two predecessors in the White House began as lions roaring against China but ended up as friendly purring cats. President Bill Clinton began his first term in the early 1990s by denouncing Chinese leaders as “butchers of Beijing” for their crackdown on Tienanmen Square protests in 1989. During his eight years at the helm, Clinton gave China the permanent access to the American market, eased its entry into the World Trade Organisation, and declared Beijing as America’s strategic partner in Asia. George W. Bush came to office declaring that China was not a strategic partner of the United States, but a potential competitor. As his attention turned towards the Middle East after 911, Bush avoided a confrontation with China. When he was leaving office this month, Bush and his aides were taking credit for building a productive relationship with China. A recent cartoon in the Chinese press summed up the new situation with President Obama. It showed Obama dressed as ‘super-man’ asking his Chinese ‘girl friend’ for money, yet again. The coy girl friend says she would be prudent rather than obedient when it comes to money. Some in the Obama Administration want to blame China for the current financial crisis, others argue that Washington must be more than nice to Beijing, since it has few other alternatives. Trust Beijing to take full advantage of the unsettled situation in Washington.images-21

    When dealing with China like the weather, one’s fortune may change by evening. China is no sleeping dragon. President Obama needs to stand down China or China will replace the United States as the new Superpower. I’m brushing up on my Chinese just to be on the safe side.

    自由西藏(FREE TIBET)

    (Kilburn Hall is an American Author, a practicing Taoist and an active supporter of the Dalai Lama and a Free Tibet)


    BROTHER CAN YOU SPARE A DIME?

    They used to tell me
    I was building a dream.

    And so I followed the mob
    They used to tell me
    I was building a dream
    With peace and glory ahead.
    Why should I be standing in line
    Just waiting for bread? Brother, can you spare a dime?

    depress1

    Chatted with a lawyer friend in the South-Loop here in Chicago who said business is great. (His firm does bankruptcy, personal and commercial as well as wrongful termination lawsuits). My anecdotal measure of the economy is based upon walking around near empty upscale stores, empty glass boxes or “Kiosks,” and near empty counters at Water Tower, Springhill, Woodfield, Oakbroook, or Hawthorn Malls.  Other observations include booming business at Family Dollar stores in Chicago, and the half empty Metra train-platforms during the morning rush from the West-suburbs into Chicago. No shoppers on State Street or  N. Michigan Avenue, fewer  workers. The jobless rate is exploding in Chicago. It’s starting to look like 1929 around here again.

    “The worst is yet to come,” according to Howard Davidowitz, chairman of Davidowitz & Associates, who believes Americans standard of living is undergoing a “permanent change” – and not for the better.

    “As more Americans lose their jobs and their homes, as more businesses crater and banks topple, popular anger is rising like a wall of water over a suddenly quiet beachfront resort. You’d think that the Democrats in Washington would be aware of the danger.”

    Michael Lind, The Daily Beast

    That the worst is yet to come is the “good news”  according to many of America’s leading economic experts. The bad news for American consumers, lenders, retailers, and major employers, is that America is sliding into a Great Depression and that the aspirations have to come down if we are to survive this, the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression of 1929.

    bread-linesDuring the Great-Depression of 1929-1939, a soup kitchen, a bread line, or a meal center is a place where food was offered to the poor and homeless for free or at a reasonably low price. America still has bread lines but now we call them  food pantries or “PADS” of Northern Illinois.  And they have been way too busy of late. The local PADS homeless programs in Northern Illinois have seen record number of “homeless” for the 2008-2009 Pads season (Oct 1st-May 1st) and those seeking a free hot meal.

    Since the Ronald Regan years Americans have been living fat on the hog, borrowing to send their kids to expensive private schools and Ivy-League colleges. Americans starbucks1have been borrowing to buy a home or a vacation home, buy a new car, borrowing to remodel an older home, going to the Mall and buying expensive electronics, video-gaming systems, eating out at expensive restaurants, even the “daily cup” of Starbucks once a luxury became an everyday must-have. The unraveling of an economy built on debt-fueled spending will be painful for years to come and the US economy clearly in a major recession if not a depression, means the end of rampant consumerism.

    What will this mean for Americans? A permanent change in the habits of the American consumer, less discretionary purchases. The days of the disposable income is gone. People have to buy food because they have to survive and people will buy clothes as body covering not as a fashion statements. People can buy last year’s fashions-they can’t eat last year’s food.

    If you want the numbers here they are:

    • An $8 trillion negative wealth effect from declining home values.
    • A $10 trillion negative wealth effect from weakened capital markets.
    • A $14 trillion consumer debt load amid “exploding unemployment”, leading to “exploding bankruptcies.”

    going-out-of-businessWith the collapse of many major retailers, this years potential collapse of retailers like Eddie Bauer’s, Costco, Rite-Aide who cannot maintain their debt-load and others like Starbucks who unexpectedly find themselves on the ropes. laying off 7,000 store workers, 800 administrators, closing 900 stores and then being hit by the coffee growers with huge increases in the price of bulk coffee as Starbucks customers cut down their $5 cup of Starbucks to once a week or switching to the cheaper-priced Dunkin Doughnuts. (where for the same amount of money for a cup of Starbucks coffee, Dunkin Doughnuts customers can get two doughnuts and a cup of coffee). The average American consumer understands that they have to pull back, lower their aspirations, make smarter purchasing decisions and start saving money again. The American consumer has the answer to economic hard-times which government and Wall Street could greatly profit from and that answer is this: tighten your belts, America is in survival mode. Not the kind of news Wall Street wants to hear.

    The free ride  with lots of disposable or discretionary income is over.

    So,  what does this mean for American consumers? It means making due with what you have, tightening your belts, lowering aspirations, living a more modest lifestyle than buying a new car every two years or driviong around the neighborhood in that gas guzzling Hummer, Expedition or Suburban.

    1974_civicIt means a return to the days of the gas-crisis of 1974 when  Americans traded down not up. When Americans traded their gas-guzzling-vehicles for Volkswagen Beetle’s, two-door Subaru F’s, Honda Civics, when Americans sold off the palatal mansion and moved into a modest ranch house. When, instead of attending huge public parties like Taste Of Chicago, Jazz-Fest, Americans threw a backyard BBQ, invited their neighbors, and played jazz music on the boom-box. It means the American standard of living is going to change for good. It means trading down, buying chopped chicken instead of chopped steak, it means a return to common-sense which has long been gone in America since Ronald Reagan was president. America went through 6 years where Americans spent six percent more than they made. Now, we’ve got savings of 91/2 percent because recessionjobhuntersAmericans can no longer use their home as a piggy-bank.

    With double-digit inflation, double-digit unemployment, the retailers that are going to survive this economic mess are going to be the ones that not just have the lowest prices, WalMart has the lowest prices but many Americans detest WalMart. The retailers that are going to be the big winners are the ones that not only have the lowest prices but provide the best customer service. Customer Service is going to be critical for any business. big or small who wants to keep customers coming back. Best Buy knows this. Trader Joe’s know this. Both are having phenomenal sales when most of their competitors are closing their doors.

    We have to pull back- not borrow more.          The government is borrowing more and wants us, “the consumer” to do the same and that is not the answer.

    Consumerism is over, people need to separate necessity v. luxury. Luxury is a thing of the past. the Government is trying to save us by prompting the consumer to spend more when clearly the consumer is not capable so the government wants to give the consumer money to spend by borrowing as from our enemies like China and Saudi Arabia.  Let the consumer save and let the economy correct itself for at least a year.

    Everywhere you look, retailers are slashing prices. Such markdowns reflect a fundamental shift toward lower prices and luxury retail will never be the same. Consumers are shopping at Dollar Store, WalMart and retailers like Target, Nordstroms, Saks  are slashing prices by 70-percent. The changes are bankrupting some firms, toppling longstanding agreements on pricing and distribution, and destroying the very air of exclusivity that designers are trying to sell.”

    • “70% off is the new 50% off,” he says.
    • Expect apparel prices to drop 30% -40% from a year ago.
    • Consumers should actively bargain for lower prices for big-ticket items, especially furniture, jewelry, appliances and electronics.

    depression-1The Stimulus Will Not Work

    Our history is replete with examples of “stimulus” spending failing to move our economy toward prosperity—Bush just tried it, Ford tried it. It fails because you don’t increase economic output by taking a dollar from one person and giving to another. The idea of “stimulus” spending falls for the “ broken window fallacy”—the allure of what is seen versus what is not seen. We will see the jobs created by the government spending. What we won’t see are the jobs lost because consumers have less money to spend because the government got the money its spending from us—the only place it can get money.

    Here’s ten-reason s why Obama’s economic stimulus package will not work. Pay close attention to number #1.

    1. THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT IS BROKE.
    The feds already face a $1-trillion deficit this year and massive red ink down the road from Social Security and Medicare. It cannot afford a state bailout — and indeed, should be trimming some of the 800 current state-aid programs in order to balance its own budget.

    2. SPENDING IS THE PROBLEM.
    Rapid spending growth has pushed many state budgets into deficit. Total state and local spending rose 7.6 percent in 2007 and a further 7.0 percent in 2008, based on three quarters of data. The federal government should not facilitate the states’ spendthrift ways.

    univac13. A KEYNESIAN STIMULUS IGNORES THE LONG RUN.
    Economists in the Keynesian tradition believe that government spending spurs short-run economic growth. Economists in the monetarist tradition believe that any such positive effects would be short-lived. Yet other economists in the “rational expectations” tradition argue that a Keynesian stimulus would have no effect at all on output.

    In truth, economists do not have an accurate or agreed-upon model of the short-run economy, and their advice is often in error. Politicians should be more humble about their ability to control short-term economic ups and downs. Legislative action based on incomplete information risks destabilizing the economy further. Efforts to fix short-term problems often create long-term damage — such as by putting the nation further into debt.

    4. RISING FEDERAL DEBT IS FISCAL CHILD ABUSE.stop-child-abuse-license-plate-color
    Spending on a stimulus package would be funded by additional government borrowing. The burden of that borrowing would fall on young people and future taxpayers. Federal policymakers are leaving a terrible fiscal legacy to the next generation, and a stimulus package would only make matters worse.

    5. A BAILOUT WOULD FLOUT STATE FISCAL TRADITIONS.
    Nearly all the states have statutory or constitutional restrictions on budget deficits and government debt levels. Many of those restrictions were put in place a century ago so that politicians would live within the “allowance” taxpayers provided them. A federal bailout of the states goes against the spirit of those state fiscal traditions, which were designed to encourage restraint.

    6. A BAILOUT MAY DELAY STATE REFORMS.
    Many states have short-term budget gaps, but face a larger fiscal crisis from long-term spending promises. State and local governments have unfunded obligations in their pension and retiree health care plans of at least $2 trillion. Adding to state fiscal woes is rapidly rising Medicaid spending.

    7. STATE INFRASTRUCTURE IS ADEQUATELY FUNDED.
    Despite complaints that “our highways are crumbling,” state spending on infrastructure has been at fairly high levels in recent years. State and local gross capital investment has averaged 2.4 percent of gross domestic product this decade, which is higher than in the 1980s and 1990s. If states need more investment in highways and airports, they should look to private financing, as many foreign governments have done.

    8. STATE SITUATIONS VARY.
    While some states have large budget gaps, more than a dozen states do not — and don’t need help from Washington. If only the states with the big deficits are bailed out, it would be unfair to the states that have been better managed.

    money119. BAILOUTS BEGET MORE BAILOUTS.
    If state politicians know that they will be bailed out by the federal government when they get into trouble, they will be more likely to make irresponsible choices that produce another fiscal crunch. Bailouts of state governments and the automobile firms would likely lead to a longer line of handout seekers on the steps of the White House and Capitol.

    10. A BAILOUT SHIFTS ATTENTION FROM NEEDED FEDERAL REFORMS.dc-stop-raids-march
    Federal policymakers should resist the impulse to try and manipulate short-run growth. Instead, Congress and the new administration should put their time and efforts into policy reforms to foster long-term growth and fiscal stability, such as business tax reforms and entitlement program reforms.

    Once I built a tower up to the sun
    Brick and rivet and lime.
    Once I built a tower,
    Now it’s done.
    Brother, can you spare a dime?

    KH

    Oscars Drunk and Nude

    THE STREAK

    300jackmanhughlc022009

    This year’s Australian host of the 76th-Academy Awards ceremony, Sunday night at the Kodak Theater Hugh Jackman, promises to do the show, “drunk and nude.” IF ONLY HE WOULD!

    “”One of my favorite moments at the Oscars was when the streaker came across [past] David Niven. And we’re upping it a level and we’re just going to do most of the show naked. Um, well, there hopefully will be YouTube moments….Drunk and nude, yes. So that’s our new fresh approach. It’s the Australian way,” says Jackman.

    A streaker would be nice but the Academy Awards of late have become a dinosaur. A monstrosity so devoid of life, warmth, and entertainimages-15ment that watching moss grow on a rock or watching someone die in comparison seems more entertaining. Ever since 1989 when Billy Crystal was hired to inject new life into the outdated, 4-hour-long,  boring behemoth and did, the Oscar’s telecast has been sliding into obivion. Every year, producer’s promise us change. Snipping this and that, shortening the montages, bringing us fresh, entertaining hosts. Why couldn’t we have Don Rickles host the Oscars? It would be hilarious. What we have gotten instead has been anything but entertaining. The public did not dig David Letterman as Oscar Host nor did they warm to Jon Stewart as host of last year’s (2008) telecast. And in all honesty, Whoopi Goldberg as host made AMPAS (Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences) producers nervous as a March-hare in 1994 not knowing the outrageous things she might say.

    Every year, Oscar viewers and the academy members are promised change but what we get is so bland, boring, stuffy that even the Oscar award-winners often-times do not attend to accept their own awards but manage to show up at the many “after parties”. Even Oscar’s most popular host,  Billy Crystal,  said in 2008 that he passed on the Oscar hosting job that went to Jon Stewart because his one-man stage show is consuming his attention. (That was code for this show is so crappy I don’t want to be associated with it). Smart career move for Crystal who as host of the telecast in  1989 (when Jack Palance did a one-armed push-up)  host Billy Crystal riffed on the 73-year-old’s virility for the remainder of the broadcast.

    images2Billy Crystal. Hosted: eight times (1989-1992, 1996-97, 1999, 2003) … he brought the Oscars into contemporary times by injecting himself into the year’s classic footage. But even Crystal knows that the Oscar ship-of-state has sailed.

    The fact is, the Oscar telecast (scheduled for Feb. 24, assuming some sort of miracle) is the worst three hours and 27 minutes on television, and it has held that distinction for decades. It was the worst television in 1989 even when Palance did his one-armed push-up, the only highlight of that year’s show.  Go ahead, try to think of something, anything, memorable from a telecast in the last, say, five years. The witty host’s monologue? The moving images3acceptance speeches? The outfits? Sure, you can remember that such staples existed, along with a cute joke or moving moment or two. But considering the length of the show, 4-frickin hours!!! those tidbits don’t convert to a very high on-base percentage.  Considering the anticipation and hype that precedes the show every year, this is one pretty awful excuse for prime-time entertainment. Don’t agree? Think about the most memorable moments from the show in recent years. Adrian Brody tonguing Halle Berry in front of millions, Most memorable acceptance speech: Halle Berry’s endless tear-fest. Dress: Bjork, dressed as a swan. Host shtick: David Letterman’s “Uma-Oprah” monologue. Presenter’s moment: Elizabeth Taylor’s addled “GLAD-i-a-tor!”  Production number (a tie): Rob Lowe meets Snow White, and any of the best-song montages choreographed by Debbie Allen. That’s some hit parade, isn’t it? And why is Bjork even at the Oscars? Is she an “actress” or a “mistress?”

    The Oscars has become the multinational corporation of television shows, so it’s afraid to offend anyone. This is live television, but it feels as if it was freeze-dried back in 1956.

    How has the show changed in 20 years, and how has the humor changed?images-22

    The show has changed in 20 years only in so far as the Academy will let it change. It was put together by a bunch of people who believe the art director is as important as the star so 24 awards given out. Maybe 20 of the awards academy members care about, (to boost their careers) and four of them the public cares about – (best movie, actor, actress, best supporting actor/actress possibly movie soundtrack) the acting awards and maybe if we’re lucky we get a star in some other category. But since AMPAS won’t  turn it into the Golden Globes who hand out 20 acting awards, the Academy tries tochange up the way things are done in hopes that that will keep people on the edge of their seats through the rest of the stuff. It hasn’t worked the last 20-years and most probably never will.

    Johnny Carson once said the Oscars are an hour and a half of entertainment spread out over a four-hour show.

    It’s time for the Oscars to die!images-31

    Here’s the way the Oscars work: It’s no secret that, in general, the studios hold back till the fall their “Oscar-worthy” pics, so they’ll be fresh in voters’ minds come nomination time. This year, the movies were dumped in the theater’s one day and the very next day the announcements were made that movie so and so received 7 Academy ward nominations. From whom? No one even had a chance to see the so-called “nominations. The nominations have become as big a lie as political promises made by candidates during a presidential primary. Why have the movies become such a marketing football? With countless bazillions at stake, in boosted box office revenues and bigger paychecks for nominees and winners, nobody will willingly dispense with the little golden guy’s (Oscar) bounteous windfall.oscar-ballot

    The Oscar telecast has deteriorated into a fashion-runway for the latest designers or as a marketing vehicle for Pixar or one of the many studio’s to plug their studio.

    I am convinced that the Oscar telecast needs to be abolished, at least the way they do it now. If the Academy is not willing to make it enjoyable for the presenters, the recipients of awards and the audience attending, most of whom are academy members and members of Hollywood’s creative family then by all means put an end to it. One suggestion, is to have the movie-going public nominate their favorites in all categories by a ballot at the movie-theaters and then later, vote for their favorite’s in all categories either by ballot at the movie-theater’s or on-line. The winners then, (like Dark Knight most likely would have been for 2008) would have been by public ballot would be the real #1 movie of the year. Not this phony politicking by academy members and movie studios who hand out free baskets of free gifts to try and buy the votes of academy voters. It resembles a presidential primary season with as many dirty political tricks as Richard Nixon. Even many well-known and respected film-critics like Ebert are lured by junkets trying to sway them to review an Oscar movie-entry favorably. Fortunately for the movie-going public- Ebert is a true professional. One of the last true film-critics whose opinion cannot be bought. That cannot be said for  many recent college-graduated film-critics looking to build careers for themselves. What else can you say when one of these Lucas-babies calls a movie like Wall-E the best movie of all time? Of all time????

    Please!

    Make the Oscars a party like The Golden Globes. Do away with  AMPAS arbitray rules. Rules which say that Kate Winslett could not be nominated fro two films like The Reader and Revolutionary Road. So they pick The Reader. What if she looses? She will be kicking the Academy for hamstringing her when she might have easily won for Revolutionary Road.

    Even with Hugh Jackman’s empty boast, no doubt this year’s (2009) Aacdemy Award will turn out to be boring Oscar business as usual.

    images-6Oscar Awards I would like to see in the future:
    1. Best sex-scene in a movie
    2. Best movie-caterer like Wolfgang Puck
    3. Most popular Awards-ceremony host like Billy Crystal or Tom Hanks
    4. Actress that can walk, talk, and chew gum while wearing those long gowns on the red-carpet
    5. Worst movie of the year really deserves an Oscar otherwise why do we have “The Razzies?”
    6. Movie with the best bloopers. (You know- the best parts of a movie that usually come during the final credits)
    images-51

    So what to do? Shorten the telecast, for one. When you’ve won an Oscar for best animated short, the statue should be enough recognition, thank you. Do we really need a 15-minute acceptance speech thanking your mother for bringing you into the world?

    “They like me … they really like me.” ~ Sally Field

    Do away with the acceptance speeches altogether. Face it, in 2009, we’re not going to get the moving speeches of Sidney Poitier’s acceptance speech in 1964. Being the first black honored in a lead category. Poitier made a moving speech. Who are the likes of Sean Penn or Mickey Rourke going to thank anyway? Their acting c300streaker1oaches who are by now sitting out retirement in an old folks home somewhere? Jack Palance’s acceptance speech for City Slickers was short and to the point. “Billy Crystal. Ha! I crap bigger than him.”

    If AMPAS does not want to make meaningful change or institute meaningful reforms then AMPAS should do away with the current format altogether and turn it into an informal party like over at The Golden Globe Awards where all the recipients, presenters and the Hollywood community actually enjoy attending. They sit at round tables sharing a meal and drinks, joking and laughing with friends.

    If only Hugh Jackman would appear drunk and nude, that, I might at least be interested enough to watch, but as it is with the Academy Bored er … Awards, nothing could drag me to a TV to watch, for four sickening hours, as Hollywood pats itself on its collective, overdressed back. If only all that energy could be channeled instead into writing better scripts, making the kinds of movies like Dark Knight that the movie-going public actually want to see,  what a joy then it would be, every year, to revel in the Oscar telecast and the  finest achievements of the motion picture arts and sciences .

    The way they do the Oscar telecast now is a “pretense” of a show they call, “AN AWARDS CEREMONY.” The Oscar telecast has become more like “AN AWARDS FUNERAL.”2

    I so wish that a streaker would run across the stage, or some senior citizen attempt a one-handed push-up, or Janet Jackson were a better actress so she could get into the building and give us a wardrobe malfunction.

    KH

    protestors-clash-with-mou-001

    Duran Duran – Violence of Summer

    Already it’s begun. Middle-class anger at the economic crisis in Great Britain could erupt into violence on streets. This week in London, protesters clashed with police over Israel’s action in Gaza. Such scenes could become more common sights in the UK and the US as the worldwide economy falters. Police are preparing for a “summer of rage” as victims of the economic downturn take to the streets to demonstrate against financial institutions. A senior police officer has warned that the economic crisis will drive people who would never normally consider joining demonstrations to do so this year.

    the-poll-tax-riot-001Britain’s most senior police officer with responsibility for public order raised the spectre of a return of the riots of the 1980s, with people who have lost their jobs, homes or savings becoming “footsoldiers” in a wave of potentially violent mass protests. Superintendent David Hartshorn, who heads the Metropolitan police’s public order branch, told the UK Guardian that middle-class individuals who would never have considered joining demonstrations may now seek to vent their anger through protests this year. He said that banks, particularly those that still pay large bonuses despite receiving billions in taxpayer money, had become “viable targets”. So too had the headquarters of multinational companies and other financial institutions in the City which are being blamed for the financial crisis.

    5-92f_15jpegThe Chicago Race Riot of 1919 was a major racial conflict that began in Chicago on July 27th, 1919 grew out of tensions on the Southside, where Irish descendants and African Americans competed for jobs at the stockyards, and where both were crowded into substandard housing. The 1967 Newark Riots were a major civil disturbance that occurred in the city of Newark, New JerseyNewark, New Jersey
    Newark, nicknamed The Brick City, is the largest city in New Jersey, United States, and the county seat of urban Essex C…
    between July 12 and July 17 1967. In the period leading up to the riots, several factors led local African-American residents to feel powerless 1992_00band disenfranchised. The Los Angeles Riots of 1992, also known as the Rodney King uprising or the Rodney King riots, were sparked on April 29, 1992 when a jury acquitted four police officers accused in the videotaped beating of black motorist Rodney King following a high-speed pursuit. Thousands of people in the Los Angeles area rioted over the six days following the verdict. Widespread looting, assault, arson and murder occurred, and property damages totaled US$1 billion. Many of the crimes were racially motivated or perpetrated. In all, 53 people died during the riots. Jul 21, 2007 Road Rage Forced California to Shut Down Highway. Drivers inconvenienced by a road-widening project subjected construction workers to so much abuse — including death threats, BB gun shootings, even a flying burrito — that the state revoked a rush-hour window and shut down the highway altogether. Americans and Iraqis agree that the enmity ignited by a government crackdown on Shiite militias remains, setting the stage for ‘a hot summer (2009) in Iraq. There also are signs that the group Al Qaeda  in Iraq and the Taliban in Afghanistan are working to regenerate themselves. Car bombs and suicide bombings, the hallmarks of the Sunni Arab extremist group, have crept up since December, according to U.S. military figures.

    Here is the one thing the Obama administration must do to halt the spread of violence across the world this summer (2009): 3237437426_16f1ecd269

    CREATE JOBS! - 3 to 4 million of them, roughly. His proposal will cost $800 billion over the course