Today was a dental day for me, as I started out the day with a dentist appointment. Just a cleaning, but since my mouth has more filling and crown than teeth, it’s always an uncomfortable situation. And by uncomfortable, I mean painful. My teeth (what’s left of them, anyway) are terribly sensitive, and damn near everything makes them ache. I soldiered through the experience, but the dentist, while praising my “home care” efforts (after years of neglect, I’ve been a very good boy) managed to find some shit wrong, so I have to go back in a couple of weeks to get shit taken care of. More pain and money. Not looking forward to it, but I refuse to let shit go until it’s a painful, acute dental incident (been there, done that). Still, it sucks.

In brighter news, we are about to be besieged by a shitload of people at my house. For the first time in years, all four kids will be here for the next week. In addition, we’ll also have one husband, two grandkids, and one other kid that I’m not quite sure how he relates, but I don’t really care ‘cuz the more the merrier. I know I come across as a grumpy old curmudgeon, but I’m not, really, and am looking forward to house full of people. It’s gonna be fun (and noisy, no doubt).

It’ll be interesting to see how the dogs (and cats) deal with it all. The two younger dogs tend to hide under the deck and bark at my in-laws when they come over. My wife thinks it’s the energy that her folks effuse. Hopefully that’s it, and the critters will embrace the little ones. Otherwise, it’ll be an annoying week or so.

Oh my god oh my god OH MY GOD! The baby’s coming! The baby’s coming. Don’t just sit there you guys, the fucking baby is coming!

Or are you not quite as excited by this as the world media seems to think we ought to be? I mean, they even have “live video” (though given all the hubbub over a few grainy topless sunbathing photos, I’m assuming the video is from outside the hospital and not of the actual birth).

I suppose I can see how this might be somewhat of interest in England, but for the rest of the planet? I mean, there are like 370,000 babies born every day in the world, and I really couldn’t give a shit about any of them (except for maybe on those rare occasions when they happen to be born to somebody I know – and, frankly, I didn’t really care all that much about most of them, either).

I see that the nation of Dubai has shown great mercy and magnanimity in pardoning a Norwegian woman for the deeply offensive crime of being raped (or as they call it in the Arab world – and Texas – “having sex outside marriage”). I think we ought to reward them by selling them some fighter jets or tanks or something.

My friendly advice to you gals out there is: stay the hell away from Dubai (or Saudi Arabia, or Afghanistan, or Pakistan, or…).

Another place to avoid would probably be Cleveland, where it appears you’ll either be kept chained up in some nut’s house or wind up dead and rotting in a garbage bag. Might want to stay off of roller coasters in Texas, too (actually, I’d just avoid Texas altogether – especially if you want the right to decide for yourself what medical care you’re allowed to have access to).

So, it’s Monday again, which sucks. On the bright side, the weather is cool and the air is dry, and we’ve actually been able to sleep with the windows open for the past couple of nights. I really would have preferred to stay in bed for another hour or two this morning, to be honest. But duty calls.

Besides, the baby’s coming! :yippee:

Our stretch of hot miserable weather has finally ended. Not that it’s exactly cold out, but it’s a hell of a lot better. When the cooler air came through last night, it of course sparked some storms. Although the lightning didn’t see to be too bad at our place, it didn’t keep the power from going out. I don’t know how long it was out, but Bill Maher didn’t record. I suppose I could watch it on HBO GO, but I saw that Grover Norquist was on, and I really have no desire to listen to that sniveling piece of shit. So unless somebody tells me it wasn’t totally unbearable to watch, I think I’ll pass.

So I guess Obama spoke about shooting black kids and stuff yesterday, in a speech that most people (other than Fux News) thought was very moving. I didn’t see or hear any of, mostly because I was working and also because I really can’t stand to listen to him anymore. All I can think of is that he’s mostly full of shit – at least when he’s talking about not spying on us and stuff. I’m just kind of over him. I only hope we don’t wind up with Peter King or worse next time around (not that I can imagine what “worse” than Peter King would be – maybe Louie Gohmert or Ted Cruz or something).

I’m kind of pulling for Joe Biden. Not that I think his policies would be radically different than Obama’s (I do think he’d be an improvement, though), but at least he’s fun to listen to. And he comes across as a nice guy (and by all accounts of his neighbors when he was going to law school here, he and his first wife were great people). I don’t really know who else is out there, other than Hillary who everybody assumes has the nomination locked up if she decides to run. She’s only 65 right now, though it seems like she’s a lot older. I guess that’s because she and Bill were so damn young and have been around for what seems like forever.

Oh well, time to get out there and seize the day.

Yet another day of too damn hot and muggy. It was 78° at about 4:45 this morning already, and it’s supposed to be up into the 90s again today (it was 94 yesterday, though I suppose I shouldn’t complain because it was 101 the year before). Even the pool water was 90° last night when I got home. You gotta remember, we’re just not built to deal with this heat the way you folks in Arizona and Florida and other warm weather places are. This is really gonna blow if this is just how it’s gonna be from now on. :hot:

Just as I was getting home last night, a quick thunderstorm blew through and cooled everything down to about 80° and killed some of the humidity, so that was nice. They say we’ll have one more day of this crap tomorrow (supposedly the hottest day yet), and then some relief for the weekend. We shall see.

So Jim Sensenbrenner wants to revise the PATRIOT act (he also wants to restore the Voting Rights Act – odd behavior for a Republican).

Wisconsin congressman Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Menomonee Falls), one of the leading authors of the Patriot Act, said…on Sunday that his brainchild must be amended in light of the controversy surrounding widespread data collection by the National Security Agency.

“We need to amend the FISA Act,” he said. “We need to amend the Patriot Act business records section so this type of snooping is only targeted at people who have been identified as foreigners who are trying to do us harm.”
[…]
Sensenbrenner says the laws should mandate that subpoenas and warrants are required to collect information on U.S. citizens.

Also, thanks in large part due to the NSA leaks by Edward Snowden, several privacy lawsuits filed by the EFF are now able to move forward (not that I’d hold my breath on winning them, but it’s a start). And, rather amazingly in my opinion, a fairly wide majority of Americans consider Snowden a whistleblower and not a traitor.

American voters say 55 – 34 percent that Edward Snowden is a whistle-blower, rather than a traitor, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today.

In a massive shift in attitudes, voters say 45 – 40 percent the government’s anti-terrorism efforts go too far in restricting civil liberties, a reversal from a Jan. 10, 2010, survey when voters said 63 – 25 percent that such activities didn’t go far enough to adequately protect the country.

Almost every party, gender, income, education, age and income group regards Snowden as a whistle-blower rather than a traitor.

It certainly seems like Snowden’s revelations have both sparked discussion, changed people’s opinions, and are making a real difference in the courts.

So why are so many “Progressives” vilifying him? Case in point, the snotty and condescending “open letter” that Melissa Harris-Perry wrote to Edward Snowden.

…by engaging in this Tom Hanks-worthy, border-jumping drama through some of the world’s most totalitarian states, you’re making yourself the story.

We could be talking about whether accessing and monitoring citizen information and communications is constitutional, or whether we should continue to allow a secret court to authorize secret warrants using secret legal opinions.

But we’re not. We’re talking about you!

So it’s Snowden’s fault that you brain dead media types aren’t covering the actual story? Well, here’s an idea, Melissa, why don’t you fucking cover all the things you claim would be talked about if only Ed Snowden came home to be thrown into a hole somewhere and disappeared for a year or two the way Bradly Manning has been?

I think for once We the People are way ahead of you media types – and especially the Obama apologists and sycophants (including nearly all the talking heads at MSNBC) whose reactions to all this NSA stuff have really been stunning.

What is it? If my “team” does it, it’s OK?

Apparently it is, as Glen Greenwald found out.

Have you felt as though the criticisms lobbed at Snowden have been extended to you? Obviously from people like Peter King, but elsewhere, too?

Sure, there are people on the right who have done that, like Marc Thiessen, who wrote a column in the Washington Post saying that I had committed multiple felonies, kind of echoing Peter King. But interestingly the most vicious and vehement attacks on my reporting have come from Democrats. Democrats and progressives are the ones who were my loudest cheerleaders when I was writing this stuff about the Bush Administration, and they’ve become the primary source of hostility and contempt now that I’m writing the same exact stuff about Obama.

Is it disheartening to see such a 180-degree turn from former supporters?

I remember I would go around in 2007 and 2008 giving speeches about the Bush Administration, and people would sometimes say to me, “Don’t you realize that once Democrats get into office they’re going to do these same things, and all your allies who are now cheering for you are going to support those policies?” And I would say, “I don’t believe that’s true” — like their dignity would not allow them to spend eight years shrieking about the horrors of these policies, only to turn around and support them because a Democrat was doing it. I turned out to be totally wrong.

In case you missed it, the perpetually offended have found something new to be outraged over (good news for Patton Oswalt). It appears that putting the Boston bomber dude’s picture on the cover of Rolling Stone has lots of people all kinds of pissed off. I guess I should be outraged, too, though I’m not sure why (I haven’t read the article, though, so maybe I’m missing something).

I seem to recall Charlie Manson being on the cover of Life magazine (and on the cover of Rolling Stone too, it turns out), and nobody got their panties in a bunch over it. Of course back then there wasn’t a good forum for venting your disgust immediately to people all over the world. I mean, you’d have to write a letter the editor and then go find an envelope and a stamp and then walk to the mailbox, and then maybe they’d print it, and then maybe somebody would read it, but that’s about it.

I guess maybe it’s got something to do with it being the “cover of the Rolling Stone” and all. But RS is more than just stuff about Rock & Roll (as anybody who’s ever read any of Matt Taibi’s stuff knows), and they do actual news, too. In fact they probably do more actual news than a lot of “news” publications.

Still, I’m glad people are finding something to bitch about. It’s good to get offended every now and again and work up a good case of self-righteous outrage.

About all I’ve got to get mad about is the weather, and it’s too damn hot around here to work up much of a case of anything.

Not much of a surprise, I guess, but George Zimmerman was found not guilty of anything – not even manslaughter. Another fine day for the American “Justice” System. And for our friends in Florida, of course. You can’t even blame the verdict on stupid white men – it was an all female jury (5 out of 6 white, though). I saw that Zimmie’s lawyer said his client wouldn’t have even been tried if he was black. Uh-huh. Especially not if he was a black guy who stalked and killed an unarmed white kid. Though I doubt there are too many black neighborhood watch vigilantes in the gated community of Twin Lakes, Florida. If Georgie is smart, he won’t emulate his attorney, and will just go away somewhere and keep his yap shut, rather than become a Fux news media darling (though I suppose a book is inevitable). I wonder if a civil suit is possible? Sure seems like wrongful death to me (but then, I’m no Fat Tony Scalia).

We’ve had a couple of days of blessed relief from a rather pervasive stretch of heat and humidity here, but that’s apparently going to end today as we’re supposed to get back up around 90 degrees. I suppose I should have cut the grass yesterday, but we were obligated to go to a graduation party for somebody. So that killed the whole day, as I had to do laundry so I’d have a clean t-shirt to wear. Hopefully nobody I know will have any kids left that graduate from anything or get married.

Oh well, enjoy your Sunday, and stay away from Skittles if you’re wearing a hoodie.

About a million years ago (OK, more like 33 years ago, give or take), I was in college at a place called Oswego (second in my tour of colleges). One of the really cool things about college (especially in a small town) is that you get to see some really good non-main stream concerts. One of the ones I got to see was David Bromberg. Needless to say (so why say it), it was a great show. Afterwards, we had a keg going down “on the beach” (the shores of Lake Ontario next to the campus), and who came down but David Bromberg and his band mates. I was pretty wasted by then, put I’m pretty sure a great time was had by all. I miss the olden days.

I was listening to NPR yesterday (not sure what show – they all just kind of blend into one another these days), and they did a report on “why Americans use the same hand for their knife and their fork?” This is probably not the dumbest story I’ve ever heard on NPR, but I can’t think of anything more stupid at the moment. According to whoever the hell they had on as a knife and fork expert, Americans cut their food, then put the knife down and switch the fork over to their cutting hand, while Europeans don’t.

And I thought, what am I, just an uncouth barbarian who eats two-fisted with both utensils in hand and poised to take down anybody who gets between me and my food (I also prefer to sit in a corner with my back to the wall so nobody can sneak up on me)? ‘Cuz I don’t do no fancy-schmancy fork hand switching. And I’m certainly not European. Frankly, I think my way is much more American than any of that dainty stuff. They also mentioned something or other about whether you hold the fork tines down or not, but by then I was tuning out so I don’t know what the “correct” way is. I tend to keep my tines up when they’re not in use (better defense posture).

I’ve also heard a few “Lone Ranger” stories over the past couple of days. One was actually kind of interesting, about the guy who wrote the original character for the radio in 1933, and the origins of the mask, silver bullets, and of course hid faithful companion, Tonto (who they came up with because one lone ranger riding a horse doesn’t lend itself to very good radio). I mean, they could have had him talk to his horse, but it would be almost 30 years before they came up with the genius idea of Mr. Ed, who probably wouldn’t have played that well on the radio anyway. Part of the charm was seeing Mr. Ed’s mouth move. But then, who knows. I could never figure out how Edgar Bergen could be a ventriloquist on the radio. I mean, WTF? I think pretty much anybody could be a ventriloquist on the radio. Pretty hot daughter, though.

The other stories were about this new Lone Ranger movie, which frankly has me baffled. Apparently Johnny Depp wanted to restore “dignity” to the character of Tonto (and a white guy playing a Native American is way more dignified than the teevee version of a Mohawk man playing a Native American), and since he’s a big star, he gets to do whatever he wants. I can only imagine the pitch meetings.

Johnny Depp: I wanna do a remake of the Lone Ranger

Movie Studio Fat Cat: Brilliant! You’ll make a great Lone Ranger, Johnny! We’ll give you a $250 million budget! It’s gonna be a monster!

JD: No, I wanna play the part of Tonto. And I want to do it with the dignity befitting an Native American.

MSFC: Brilliant! You’ll make a great Tonto, Johnny. A great one!

JD: And I wanna play Tonto wearing makeup like Gene Simmons from Kiss!

MSFC: Yeah, um, OK, whatever. Brilliant!

JD: And I wanna wear a dead bird on my head.

MSFC: Uh. Yeah. Brilliant?

Looks like Edward Snowden can move to Venezuela, if he can figure out how to get there. ‘Cuz you know sure as shit, if he tries to fly over one of our European colonies (as VE president Nicolas Maduro calls them), they’ll force the plane down the way they did to the President of Ecuador. I guess he can also go to Nicaragua, but I think I’d prefer VE. Looks nice there, moderate temperatures, and Caracas seems like a good city for a young fella on the run. The death rate is kinda high (lots of murders in Caracas, too), but as long as he has money, he’ll probably be OK. Now, where he’s gonna get money from is a different story. He’s had some decent jobs, but he’s kind of young to have saved up much money (and I’d imagine that pole dancer girlfriends are expensive). Plus I’m assuming the US has frozen his assets (though they haven’t mentioned that in the news at all).

Maybe the Obama Administration can’t freeze his assets, ‘cuz it’d be illegal, and they’d never do anything illegal. :paranoid: :rofl2:

Oh well, another hot and humid day on tap for us here today. Good for the pool, but not so good for much of anything else (definitely not so good for the dogs, who are more than happy to go swim in a mud hole, but show no inclination whatsoever to go into the pool). Not that I can do much anyway (other than dodge the thunderstorms and try to get the lawn mowed). The problem with my left Achilles tendon seems almost all better, thankfully. Unfortunately, I seem to have developed severe pain my my left big toe and the tendon that makes it wiggle. That just kind of developed overnight, out of nowhere.

Fascinating.

You really tend to take your feet for granted, until they develop a grudge against you.

Happy Birthday to one of the top three nations (not counting the indigenous ones) in North America. 237 years ago, our founding fathers and their slaves aspired to form a more perfect union. Today, we aspire to be Canada. Or I do, anyway. Not that Canada is perfect (they’re not all that great with their First Peoples either, for one thing), but they at least seem to kill a lot less of each other and they have health care and stuff.

Not much going on around here today. It’s too hot and humid to do more than jump in the pool every now and again (my wife appears to have aspirations of doing some stuff, but I can’t really see myself cooperating much).

On the bright side, my right foot, while not perfect is much improved. On the not so bright side, the Achilles tendon on my left leg is inflamed for some reason, and my whole foot is swollen and in pain. Better today (by the end of the day yesterday, I could barely walk), but just walking around a little has it stiffening up. Kinda sucks. By the time they let me retire, I’ll probably be completely crippled.

Anyhow, enjoy the day today, try not to blow your fingers off with fireworks, and get ready to get back to work tomorrow. Well, I have to work tomorrow, anyway. At least it’s home work day.

Wow, been a whole week since I posted anything up here. What a slacker. It’s mostly because I don’t really have much to say. Sadly, I still don’t (unless you want to hear how much rain we’ve had around here – which is a lot better than what’s going on in Arizona), but I figured I ought to put something up, lest everybody think I’ve retired (or died).

So, exciting things going in Egypt, eh? Looks like Mr. Morsi (or Morsy, depending on where you read it) is about to be shown the door (or, if he’s smart, he’ll find the door on his own and just slip out while nobody’s looking). You may see him hanging out with Edward Snowden at the Moscow airport pretty soon.

Have you heard that Dennis Rodman has been nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts at reaching out to North Korea’s L’il Kim? Well, assuming that it’s OK to nominate yourself, anyway. Funny, I saw an episode of Vice where it kinda sounded like that b’ball trip to North Korea was their idea, no his.

Everybody have a safe and happy Fourth of July tomorrow. I have no plans, other that to do basically nothing.