* – Falcons 20 – Buccaneers 17. Hey, a win is a win. As Woody Harrelson said in White Men Can’t Jump, “I’d rather look ugly and win than look pretty and lose.” That being said, beating the Buccanneers by only three points is pretty embarassing. Hell, Atlanta had to come from behind with less than 25 seconds on the clock to pull out the victory. On top of that, Michael Turner re-injured his ankle and Matt Ryan missed most of the game with an injured toe.

I’m not looking forward to seeing Philadelphia next week and the rematch with Seester’s Saints the week after that.

* – all I can say is, “Grrrr…”:

* – first it was Joe “I’m really Dan Quayle in disguise” Biden. Now our esteemed Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, is making dumbass remarks:

* –

Hey, Rangel, I got a newsflash for you, you fat, arrogant prick: what you do IS my goddamn business! You’re a PUBLIC fucking servant! Everything you do is every American’s business! You wouldn’t have your job if it wasn’t for us! We don’t work for you, you work for us, so when somebody asks you to explain yourself, “Why don’t you mind your goddamn business?” is NOT an acceptable answer!

* – oh, this is certain to improve troop morale…

* – relax, everybody. While she hasn’t ruled this out yet, he has.

(granted, I’d vote for that ticket LONG before I’d vote for Obama/Biden…)

* – you know, given that, being the first black president and all, Obama is probably a bigger assassination target than any of his predeccesors, you’d think stuff like this couldn’t happen.

* – are you all aware of ClimateGate yet? If not, you should be.

* – I passed this test with 8 out of 10 (I missed #s 6 and 8).

* – another blog that I peruse posed the question as to just why do people who do not live in NYC care if the trial of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed & Co. takes place there? After all, according to this blogger, a majority of New York City residents either  approve of the trial or are at least unopposed to it.

I would argue that it’s not just about the fact that it’s taking place in NYC, it the fact that the trial is taking place anywhere in America. How about the fact that the trial is taking place at all? You can argue all you want about due process. You can bring up constitutional rights all you want. Here’s the bottom line: 1) this quintet of terrorists are not common civilian criminals. 2) They are not prisoners of war. 3) They are illegal combatants. As such, American civilian law does not apply to them, nor does American military law, nor does the Geneva convention. 4) They are not Americans. As such, our Constitution does not apply to them. That document was written to apply towards legal citizens of the United States of America – NO ONE ELSE! 5) These five individuals are self-confessed terrorists, self-professed “soldiers of God,” have admitted to orchestrating 9/11, and have repeatedly asked for the death penalty – GIVE IT TO THEM! 6) “But Obama and Holder have guaranteed that they’ll be found guilty and sentenced to death, so what are you worried about?” Then why have the bloody fucking trial in the first place? It’s obviously a sham, then, isn’t it? If the outcome is preordained, then it’s not really a fair trial, is it? And that’s really the only reason the Libs want to have the trial in the first place – to show the world how “fair” and “just” they are, isn’t it?

They really do believe you and I and the whole rest of the world are that stupid, don’t they?

  Oh, and call me crazy, but I’m willing to bet there are some people who are intimately familiar with the results of 9/11 who are vehemently opposed to this trial…

aka, “So, What Do the Red Sox Do to Try to Win Next Year?”

Like most of Red Sox Nation, I was disappointed with the way the home team faltered out of the gate after the All Star Game and were then unceremoniously dumped by the Angels in three straight games  in the first round of the playoffs. That being said, despite having to share the division with the mighty Yankees, I like Boston’s chances for next year.

Quick aside – notice how I didn’t make any snide remarks about the Yankees buying their World Series title? There’s a reason for that. No, not because I deny the only reason they won is because they have the biggest payroll in baseball. Rather, it’s because the Sox have the second-biggest payroll in baseball, and while it may not be the behemothian (hey! I just made up a word (I think)! And a damn good one, now that I look at it!) wad of cash that the Yanks toss out every year, it still dwarfs what any other team puts out beside the Yankees. So, to make a snide remark about New York’s payroll would be just a tad hypocritical, and I try to avoid being that way.

Anyway (gee, that aside wasn’t really all that quick, was it? Oh well, it couldn’t have been too bad. You’re still reading, after all, aren’t you?), while I’m optimistic about Beantown’s chances for next year, I’m not such a homer that I can’t realize they do have some obstacles to overcome.

The pitching really doesn’t worry me at all. The starting rotation will likely be Josh Beckett, Jon Lester, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Clay Bucholz, and Tim Wakefield, and if all five of them are healthy all year and live up to expectations, then they’re good for 15 – 20 wins each. That being said, the Sox are still expected to kick the tires of some big name (John Lackey) and not-so-big name (Ben Sheets, Rich Harden) free agent starters. They might even try to swing a trade for Blue Jats ace Roy Halladay. Why? Because: a) they are firm believers in the theory that there is no such thing as too much good pitching and b) the more pitching they have, the more ammunition they have to try to make a trade for a big bat in their lineup.

The bullpen is also solid. Despite his meltdown against the Angels in Game Three of the first round of the playoffs, Jonathan Papelbon is still one of the premier closers in the game. Hideki Okajima and Daniel Bard are excellent set-up men. Manny Delcarmen, Ramon Ramirez, and Takashi Saito are reliable short- to middle-relievers. Either Wakefield or Michael Bowden can be used in long relief, and Bowden could be a spot starter.

The real issue for the Red Sox lies in their offensive capabilities. Jason Varitek is a liability as a hitter at the catcher spot. Big Papi isn’t so big anymore. Jason Bay is a free agent. Mike Lowell gets injured a lot and isn’t getting any younger. J. D. Drew has never lived up to the expectations set by his contract, even on the rare occassion when he’s been healthy. Finally, the Sox haven’t had any consistent offensive production from the shortstop posistion since they traded No-mah back in 2004.

The two catchers for the Red Sox in 2010 look to be Varitek and mid-season trade acquisition Victor Martinez. Martinez is far superior to Varitek offensively, and will benefit greatly from Varitek’s presence in terms of learning how to improve defensively, how to handle a pitching staff, and how to manage a game. Martinez adds versatility as well, being able to play first base and be a DH when necessary.

The regular first basemen will likely be Kevin Youkilis and Casey Kotchman. Youk is a major attribute to this team, being a dangerous hitter, superb defender, and capable of playing third if need be. Kotchman is a good late-inning defensive replacement.

Second base is in the extremely capable hands of Dustin Pedroia. When healthy, third will be manned by Lowell. However, Beantown is rumored to be extremely interested in current San Diego Padre first baseman Adrian Gonzalez. If Gonzalez comes here, that likely moves Youk to third and makes Lowell the odd man out.

Shortstop is a quandary. Since the dealing of Garciaparra, the Red Sox have gone through the likes of Orlando Cabrera, Edgar Renteria, Julio Lugo, Jed Lowrie, Nick Green, and Alex Gonzalez. For whetever reason, the Sox elected to let Gonzalez go test free agency. The guy may not hit much (though he batted a surprising .284 after he came here from the Reds), but he’s flawless in the field. I would’ve kept him, plugged him in the 9-hole in the lineup and viewed anything he did offensively as gravy, but apparently that’s just me. Apparently what the team wants to do is see if Lowrie can be a full-time major league shortstop. Time will tell…

Two of the three starting outfield spots will be manned by Drew and Jacoby Ellsbury. Drew may be disappointing, but he’s not exactly an automatic out. I’d just like to see him stay as healthy as he did this past season. Rocco Baldelli, Jeremy Hermida, and Joey Gathwright are decent fourth, fifth, and sixth outfielders. The big hole is in left, where Bay is a free agent and reportedly has already turned down a four year, $60 milliion offer from the team. There’s still hope to re-sign him, but Boston may have to look at alternative options, such as Matt Holliday (who is a couple of years younger than Bay.

The downside to any attempts the Red Sox make to improve themselves is twofold: 1) the free agent crop is slim on blue-chip talent, especially young blue-chip talent, and 2) the Sox don’t have the young prospects they used to have to use as ammo in potentia ltrade offers. Hanley Ramirez and Anibal Sanchez went to Florida for Beckett and Lowell. Justin Masterson went to Cleveland for Martinez. Bucholz and Bard are now in the majors. Now, if a Lackey and/or Sheets and/or Harden are added to the rotation, Bucholz, Bard, Bowden, and possibly even Papelbon become available to use to bring in somebody like Gonzalez.

When it’s all said and done, I can see the lineup, rotation, and bullpen looking something like this:

1) Ellsbury CF

2) Pedroia 2B

3) Youkilis 3B

4) Gonzalez 1B

5) Holliday LF

6) Martinez C

7) Ortiz DH (yes, Ortiz was a disappointment for much of last year, but he did start to come alive towards the end. Besides, name me a more dangerous #7 in all of MLB)

Drew RF

9) Lowrie SS

Rotation – Beckett, Lester, Matsuzaka, Sheets, Wakefield

Bullpen – Papelbon (closer), Okajima (setup man), Delcarmen (7th-inning guy), Saito (short relief), Ramirez (left-handed specialist), Bowden (long relief)

Thoughts?

* – allow me to pass along a little tidbit I’ve learned as a tech support representative in the cell phone industry…

When you get a new phone and ask for your contacts, pictures, and videos from your old phone to be transferred to your new phone, realize that while I cannot see the actual pictures and videos via the machine I use to do the transfer, I can see the titles that you have given the pictures and videos. So, if you don’t want me to know that you have videos like “Anal Orgasm” and “Fuck Me” or pictures like “Tammy’s Tits” and “Tammy’s Ass” on your phone, try to come up with titles a little more innocuous, ok?

Just sayin’…

* – I’ve tried to avoid talking about the Ft. Hood tragedy, but this story put me over the edge.

Could the shooting have been prevented?!

Are you f#*king kidding me?!

Hell yes, it could have been prevented! As more and more information comes to light about Major Hasan, it becomes painfully obvious that this incident could have and, more to the point, should have been prevented. 

So why wasn’t it?

Two words: political correctness.

We as a society have become so fearful of being labeled racists, sexists, homophobes, bigots, and so forth that we are no longer willing to call a spade a spade, and that fear has now cost thirteen people (fourteen, if you count the unborn child that was in the womb of the pregnant woman who was killed, though I’m sure the pro-choice crowd won’t) their lives.

Look, I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again – no, we’re not perfect here in America when it comes to social standards. Yes, there is still racism, sexism, homophobia, and other forms of bigotry in this country. However (there’s that word again… ) we’ve come a long, LONG way from where we used to be, and we’re now dangerously going in the opposite direction. To quote Dennis Miller (shocker, I know ), “I understand where political correctness comes from – a scant forty years ago, we were doing “Amos ‘n’ Andy” jokes on the airwaves, for chrissakes. We were barbaric louts. But now, suddenly, we find ourselves in a classic overcorrection (italics mine), where we’re all supposed to zip through life like some huge societal squadron of Blue Angels, flying six inches off each other’s taste wing, never ever deviating even one angstrom. Well, folks, there are a lot of different aircraft careening through the social stratosphere, and we better start working out some respectfully independent glide paths right now, or it’s gonna start getting real messy.”

At Ft. Hood, it got real messy.

We need to be able to speak out, folks, without fear of repercussions, or this will happen again, maybe even to a more horrifying degree. If you witness an individual acting suspiciously, judge that person as an individual based on his or her actions, and then do the right thing. That individual’s gender, gender preference, religion, skin color, accent, native tongue, political leaning, and so forth, should be irrelevant. Again, judge the person as an individual based on his or her actions, and then do the right thing.

* – you know what really scares me about the upcoming trial of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and the other four 9/11 masterminds in a civilian court in New York City?

What if they win? What if they’re found not guilty?

Think it can’t happen? Think again. They’re going to be tried in a civilian open court. They’re going to be given the same rights in our legal system that you or I would be given. They’re going to be tried as common criminals, not as war criminals or illegal combatants. Any lawyer worth half his salt is going to start with “My clients were never read their Miranda rights” and go from there. The chance that they will be found not guilty may not be big, but the chance exists, and that scares the hell out of me.

Why?

Remember the Rodney King trial? Remember what happened to Los Angeles when those cops were found not guilty? Think what will happen to this entire country if those five scumbags are found not guilty. At the very least, think about what will quite possibly happen to the Muslim community in this country if that quintet is found not guilty.

(shudder…)

* – going back to the political correctness thing, here’s some evidence, ladies, that you should be grateful you live in America.

Suddenly you don’t have it so bad, do you?

Again, yes, there is still sexism, chauvanism, and misogyny in this country, and it is wrong and disgusting, but it could be a hell of a lot worse. You can work wherever you want. You can wear whatever you want. You can vote. You can get whatever level of education you want. You can speak your mind freely. You can make a lot of money. You can hold political office. Hell, you can legitimately aspire to be President. You can freely choose your sexual partners. You can practice whatever religion you want, or none at all.

Could it be better for you here? Yes. Should it be better for you here? Yes.

But you’re not getting stoned to death, are you?

* – you know, picking apart this whole “look at how many jobs we’ve saved or created” thing is almost getting too easy.

Now we’re saving or creating jobs in districts that don’t even exist!

God, I love this Hope and Change! LOVE IT!!!

* – does PETA even realize how moronic they come across?

* – still want to tell me there’s no liberal media bias? The Associated Press assigns eleven people to fact check Sarah Palin’s new book, but never assigned even one to do the same to anything written by Obama, Biden, the Clintons, or Ted Kennedy.

Hmmm…

* – here’s a take on the current swine flu “epidemic” that I’m sure few were aware of.

* – the “Apology for America’s Existence” tour continues…

* – global warming has stagnated? Weird…

Wait – you mean these people might have been wrong or perhaps even holding back data all along? Weird…

* – and now on to the health care portion of our show…

So the Senate voted Saturday night to at least continue to debate about it. Terrific. The vote was completely right down the party lines. Wonderful. Love that bipartisanship. Nice to know that they voted their consciences, not because they were whores who blatantly advertised they could be bought off or anything. Thought the almost-2,000 page House bill was bad? No worries – the Senate bill is even longer!

Just as an aside, look up how long the Constitution is. Why is it the founding document that lays down the framework of an entire country is vastly smaller than a health care bill? I think we need to bring back the Committee of Style. 

Oh, and don’t worry about the cost. The Senate plan won’t cost over a trillion dollars like all those silly alarmists over on the right are crying about with the House bill. The Senate’s version will only come in at $848 billion. Whew – that’s a load off my mind!

Nothing the Chinese – the largest holder of our debt – would be worried about or anything. 

I’m still trying to figure out why it’s taxing elective cosmetic surgery. I mean, I’m glad it’s not saying that stuff should be covered by insurance plans (as much as I like bigger boobs, I don’t feel like paying for yours), but why the hell should they be taxed more?

And now to respond to some blog postings and responses regarding health care that I’ve seen recently…

One post began with this: “How’s that hypocritcal oath working for ya’ doc? How’s that million dollar home, private schools for your kids, and your private airplane doin’ for ya?”

I did a little checking, and, come to find out, the average doctor’s salary in the United States of America is $122,000 to $211,000. That range of income isn’t even enough to put you Obama’s list of people to get taxed to pay for the health care bill. On the high end, if you’re a particularly skilled physician – you know, like a neurosurgeon – you can make about a half million per annum. For the most part, though, your average family doctor or ER physician – you know, the kind of doctor your average American is most likely to see –  is NOT making enough money to own a million dollar home, private airplane, and/or to send his or her kids to private schools.

More interestingly, in the case of this particular blogger, is the fact that s/he used to be a lawyer. Do lawyers, on the average, make less money than doctors? Yes, they do. In fact, if you’re a first-year lawyer working for a small firm in a small town, you might only pull in about $45,000 a year or so. But, if you’re an experienced lawyer working for a big firm in a place like New York City, your income isn’t all that far behind. The average lawyer’s salary isn’t much lower than the average doc’s, so knock off the hypocrisy, bub. Besides which, who would you rather get paid a lot for their services – somebody who can keep you out of jail, or somebody who can save your life?

Just sayin’…

A response to that post asked if it wasn’t in a doctor’s financial best interests to have patients who were, you know, insured? Well, yes it is. But here’s the thing, whether the patient’s insured or not, the doctor will treat you. S/he is bound by that Hippocratic oath. You cannot be turned away just because you have no insurance. If you are, you have a case for legal recourse. The issue isn’t about health care, it’s about paying for it.

Which brings me to another reply to another post, which essentially asked isn’t it a benefit if health care is cheaper all around? Yes, of course it is. I’d like it to be cheaper, too. But do you really think a plan that’s going to cost us, more or less, $1 trillion dollars is going to reduce costs? C’mon, folks, basic math here. How is this plan going to be paid for? You think it’s only going to paid for by taxes on the rich? You don’t think cuts to existing government health care plans aren’t going to happen? You think your employer isn’t going to get hit with higher taxes? And if your employer is hit with higher taxes, you think your employer won’t look at ways to cut costs to compensate? You think that cost-cutting won’t include employee layoffs? You think you won’t be one of the employees laid off? If you’re out of work, are you going to be able to afford those “lower” health care costs?

But let’s backtrack a step or two. First of all, do you really think, just because you’re not “rich,” that your taxes aren’t going to go up, too? Seriously? When was the last time a politician, from either party, promised you “no new taxes” and then didn’t go back on his or her word? Secondly, do you really think a universal health care plan is going to reduce costs? Let me give you a real-world example of how you’re wrong if you do think that. No, I’m not going to use a British example, or a Canadian example, or a Cuban example. I’m going to an American example. 

What? Huh? Universal health care in America?! 

Yup. Instituted by a Republican, no less.

No WAY!!! 

Way! When Mitt Romney was governor of Massachusetts he instituted a version of universal health care for the state. Among other things, it required people to have health insurance. If you didn’t have it through your work, you had to purchase it on your own. Explain to me how that’s less expensive, especially since most of the people who didn’t have health insurance through their work probably didn’t have it because they only worked part-time or weren’t working at all. After Romney’s plan was implemented, between 2005 and 2007 ER costs in MA rose by 18%. 

Also notice that another intention of the plan, to reduce visits to the ER, failed.

‘Nuff said.

The aforementioned blogger also said something to the effect that if we had more healthy people in the country, we’d have more taxpayers. That damn near made me snort my morning coffee out my nose! Seriously?! Apparently this individual is unaware of the fact that over 43% of filing “taxpayers” either pay no taxes or actually get money back! I’m pretty sure those 65.6 million people far outnumber the people who aren’t paying taxes because they’re too sick to work. You want more tax money flowing into the governments coffers? Fix that fucking problem!

The last response I’ll address questioned whether or not this proposed health care plan really was socialist or not, and even if it was, so what? Don’t we want to make sure everybody gets good health care and good nutrition and all that wonderful stuff?

Again, you cannot legally be denied health care in this country. It’s not about health care, it’s about health care costs. As far as nutrition and other health-related choices are concerned, they should be exactly that – choices. It’s not like the information isn’t out there already, folks. If you don’t realize that smoking, drinking alcohol to excess, and eating McDonalds 24-7 while sitting on your ass in a Lay-Z Boy all day is bad for you, then you’ve been living under a fucking rock, and you deserve to be fat, weak, have a failing liver, and be riddled with cancer.

More to the point, however, I shouldn’t have to pay to try to save your dumbass life. You made your choices, now you live (or die) with them.

To me, ultimately, it becomes a matter of whether or not you want to live in the United States of America our Founding Fathers envisioned, or in a nanny-state that rules over you with soft tyranny.

Soft tyranny? What’s that? Well, since you asked…

* – finally, I’ll leave you with a picture I recently got from a friend via email:

* – yeah, sure, this is a good way to deal with Iran:

* – a great little political video cartoon, stolen from Drive-by Thinking:

(I think I’m falling just a little bit in love with Kemtee over at DbT – in a purely platonic way, of course! )

* – speaking of Kemtee, I stole the link to this fabulous piece from her, too (and the love grows a little deeper… )

* – here’s a cute little mashup of Peanuts and The Police, stolen from Kwizgiver:

* – ah, ’tis the season to begin getting catalogs for Christmas in the mailbox. The ones from Wireless and What On Earth are often the best. Check out some of this stuff:

http://www.thewirelesscatalog.com/wireless/Item_Never-Moon-A-Werewolf-Shirts_VG6732G_ps_srm.html

http://www.thewirelesscatalog.com/wireless/Item_Shakespeare-Iambic-Yall-Shirts_VH6312G_ps_srm.html

http://www.thewirelesscatalog.com/wireless/Item_The-Dog-Ate-My-Lesson-Plan-T-Shirt_HF6951T_ps_srm.html

http://www.whatonearthcatalog.com/whatonearth/Item_Havent-Had-My-Coffee-Sign_CA8302_ps_srm.html

http://www.whatonearthcatalog.com/whatonearth/Item_What-Would-Yoda-Do-Plaque_CD4582_ps_srm.html

* – Viagra for women? Bring it on, baby!

and now for our weekly dose of politics…

* – another reminder of how the general Welfare clause in our Constitution works:

* – oh, gee, darn, Obama’s Mao-loving communications director is stepping down. Imagine my disappointment.

NOT!!!

* – you know, there’s just so much about the slaughter at Ft. Hood that makes my blood boil that I’ve made a conscious effort to not blog about it.

HOWEVER…

(I have to say that at least once in every JARM post, you know )

the utterly asinine comments about the “true” cause of that shooting made by the likes of Chicago Mayor Daley and New York Senator Charles Schumer, though, take my rage to a whole ‘nother level.

* – glad to see The One is perfectly fine with me getting fined or going to jail if I don’t buy his health insurance plan.

* – still think Big Brother isn’t out there?

* – could be worse, I suppose. We could be Britain.

* – or, you know, well… Britain.

* – ooooh! Or how about the Netherlands?

* – ok, I now know that unless you’ve registered with pjtv.com (which is free, btw. Or, at least one level of it is), you cannot see these videos from them that I’ve been linking to. That being said, I’m going to continue to link to the ones I find particularly excellent.

Like this one for example, featuring their “Trifecta” group of Bill Whittle, Scott Ott, and Steve Green, musing about just why a bigger deal wasn’t made about the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.

I mean, come on, you Libs – a whole country was liberated from an oppressive regime! Isn’t that the kind of thing you guys love? The little guy throwing off the shackles put on him by the big, bad Man?

Oh, wait, the Man in that case was a left-winger (you know, the Soviet Union and its puppet states like East Germany), wasn’t he? And he was defeated by a Republican American President (you know, Ronald Reagan), wasn’t he?

Never mind…

* – the number of jobs saved or created by the stimulus package was wildly inaccurate?! No WAY!!!

* – obviously this idiot has never listened to even one Lou Dobbs show in it’s entirety:

* – so, now, ask yourself, honestly, if this incident had been a case of a white male professor punching a black female colleague, don’t you think there would have been another beer summit by now? Don’t you think the story never would have left the headlines?

So why is it, then, that nearly a week later I haven’t heard anything else about this?

Oh, that’s right, because it was a black man punching a white woman. That’s ok, then. Silly me. I forgot.

Think I’m the only one who thinks that way? Think I only think that way because I’m white?

Think.

Again.

* – hey, Al Gore, been to Australia lately? How’s that global warming working for ya down there?

* – wanna really do something about “climate change,” Al? Ask Obama about the carbon footprint he’s leaving with his 71-fucking-car motorcades!

* – so The One might order a domestic agency spending freeze, huh? Or perhaps even order those agencies to cut their budgets back 5%? Ooooh! Color me less than impressed.

Sure, every little bit helps. But this is a show piece. This is fluff. When your budget exceeds $3 trillion, this is nothing more than your version of “Let them eat cake” – a little scrap meant to keep the rabble at bay, not seriously address the issue. This won’t do much more than that $100 million you ordered cut out of the budget a while back.

* – hey, look, I dislike Nancy Pelosi as much as anybody (and more than most), but this is going a little too far.

* – speaking of Pelosi, let’s do a little American Government 101 review here, shall we?

Why?

Because I feel like scaring the ever-loving shit out of you, that’s why.

We’re all aware that if, God forbid, something should happen to Obama,  Joe Biden would become President, right? Scary enough, I know. But wait – it gets better. If something should happen to Biden, Nancy-fucking-Pelosi would be our President! What if something should happen to her? Former KKK member Robert Byrd would step in (what? A Democrat was a member of the Klan?! No WAY! But no Republican congressman has ever been in the KKK. Weird…). After Byrd? Hilary. After Hilary? Timothy “Tax Cheat” Geithner.

Should I keep going? Or have you soiled every undergarment you own already? 

But for their committment, their sacrifice, their blood, what would your life be?

* – I need this license plate:

* – after losing two in a row to Dallas and New Orleans (congrats, Saintseester), my Falcons bounced back to beat Washington 31 to 17, thanks mostly to Michael “the Burner” Turner getting back on track, rumbling for 166yds and two TDs.

“Matty Ice” needs to stop throwing picks, though.

* – now, given who I work for, my view may be a touch prejudiced, but these new Droid phones rock! Sorry Mrs. C., but I think the iPhone has some competition.

This one’s political the rest of the way through, folks. Sorry.

* – so the House passed PelosiCare. Yippee-frickin’-skip. At least it was close (220 to 215). At least there’s a good chance the Senate version of the bill will get shot down. I was also pleased to see 39 Democrats be truly “bipartisan” and vote with their heads and according to the will of their constituencies and vote against this nearly-2,000 page monstrosity.

I mean, seriously, folks, do you want a health care bill that will require you to purchase an insurance policy for at least $15,000? And if you don’t you will go to jail?!?!?! You want a bill that will raise your taxes? You want a bill that will require you to prove that you’re enrolled in a qualified plan and that will fine you if you don’t (oh, btw, illegal aliens are exempt from this clause)? Isn’t filing your taxes enough of a pain in the ass as it is?

* – speaking of paying attention to the will of the constituency, I have something to say here that might not be to popular with the GLBTQ crowd, but hear me out…

First, understand that I am PRO-gay marriage. I just cannot fathom denying people the right to call their love a marriage and the benefits thereof just because of their gender preference. I voted to sustain the gay marriage law in the state of Maine. I was disappointed that the law was repealed via a referendum vote back on November 3rd.

That being said, I understand where some of the anti-gay marriage crowd was coming from when they voted to repeal the law. No, I don’t understand where the bigots are coming from. No, I don’t understand where the narrow-minded religious zealots are coming from. I do understand where those who felt the law was forced upon them are coming from. A while ago there was a gay rights referendum vote in Maine that was defeated. Whether you agree with them or not, the people spoke and said they didn’t want that law. The state government then essentially said, “Well, maybe you say you don’t want it, but we know better than you. We’re smarter than you and more enlightened than you, so we’re just going to pass this law anyway.”

And that’s exactly what the state government did.

What the anti-gay marriage crowd did was exercise their legal rights. They gathered enough petition signatures to force the matter to a vote in a referendum. They campaigned vigorously to make their position heard. They voted in the referendum and won. Those of us who disagree with them may not like the results, but they played by the rules and won fair and square in an exercise of democracy.

The pro-gay marriage advocates shouldn’t quit. I’m sure they won’t. They can play the same game, and they can win. What they need to do is learn from this defeat. It seems to me the two biggest worries people had about legalizing gay marriage were the possibility of religious institutions  being forced to perform ceremonies they didn’t want to and the possibility of their children being taught about homosexuality at an inappropriate age and/or being indoctrinated about homosexuality. I distinctly remember one ad from the anti-gay marriage side that had a woman claiming to be a mother from Massachusetts whose second-grader was being taught about gay marriage in school. Even worse, she was not allowed to remove her child from that class! Now, I don’t know if that example is true or not. I never heard anybody from the pro-gay marriage side specifically deny it or disprove it, so I’ll have to assume it’s true.

Know what? As pro-gay marriage as I may be, I do find that example disturbing. I think the second grade is too early to be teaching my child about sexuality, hetero- or homo-. I also think it’s wrong to not allow me to remove my child from that class if I want to. It’s my child, not yours. I’ll decide when he or she is ready to learn about sex, thank you very much.

What the pro-gay marriage leadership in the state of Maine needs to do is write a piece of proposed legislation that makes it clear that no religious institution will be forced to perform a ceremony it does not want to, nor will it be penalized in any way, shape, or form if it chooses not to. This proposed legislation also needs to assure people that schools will not be forced or even asked to teach homosexuality at an inappropriate age (what would an appropriate age be? Well, as a suggestion, I remember having my Sex Ed classes in school when I was in the sixth grade). In addition, such education should be from a scientific perspective, not social. In other words, it should taught as a part of human sexuality, of biology and/or psychology, not as a social commentary. Educate, don’t indoctrinate. Finally, if a parent wants to pull his or her child out of a sexuality class, he or she should be able to do it without fear of repercussions against him or her or the child.

When such a piece of proposed legislation is written, follow the lead of the anti-gay marriage folks. Get the word out. Gather the signatures on a petition. Put it up for a vote on a referendum. Win your rights back.

* – still GLBTQ related, but on a slightly different tack: I have one issue with this story. While not quoted in this article, the Maine Human Rights Commission has been quoted as saying in regards to the situation, ”Gender is a state of mind.”

EXCUSE ME?!

Um, no, gender is defined by biology. Forgive my bluntness, but this is very simple: if you have a dick, you’re a boy. If you have a pussy, you’re girl. Have a dick? Use they boy’s room. Have a pussy? Use the girl’s room. Especially when you’re in the 5th-fucking-grade!

Gender is NOT a state of mind! Gender preference is.

Any questions?

* – going back to the health care brouhaha, here’s a pair (1 and 2) of great pieces by Kemtee over at Drive-by Thinking.

* – staying with health care for just a bit longer, I have to respond to a blog post I saw that essentially said “Of course we have a right to health care. It’s right there in the Declaration of Independence (“…certain unalienable rights, that among these are life…”) and the Constitution (“…promote the general Welfare…”)”

First of all, the “life” in “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,” is just way too vague to be used as a defense of health care reform. Hell, you could use that as a defense of repealing the death penalty (which I’m sure this blogger would). You could also use it as a defense of being anti-abortion (which I’m sure this blogger would not). Call me crazy, but given that this passage was in the Declaration of Independence, I’m fairly certain the authors were defining “life” as in a life of freedom, a life free from the constraints they were living under at that time, which they likely felt wasn’t a “life” at all, but rather just an existence.

There’s a difference.

As far as the tired old argument of “promote the general Welfare” being a clause for government-provided health care, consider the following:

* – the same blogger also used the results of election in New York Congressional District 23 to take a shot at (as he calls them) “you Teabaggers/Carpetbaggers.” The Democrat, Bill Owens, won the election, a pretty remarkable accomplishment, given that the district had been solidly Republican for generations. However, the Republican Owens was initially running against, Diedre Scozzafava, was truly a RINO (Republican In Name Only). She was anti-gun. She was pro-choice. She embraced the stimulus bill. She was endorsed by ACORN. When she ended her campaign on Halloween Day, she endorsed Owens. Essentially, her winning would have been no different than Owens winning. Disgusted at the thought that such a liberal candidate would represent the Republican Party, the Conservative Party nominated Doug Hoffman, a career accountant with no previous political experience.

The blogger contemptuously mentioned the fact that Hoffman had people like Sarah Palin and Fred Thompson throw their support behind him, and yet he still lost. Stunningly, this blogger failed to mention how many times President Obama and Vice President Biden went to New Jersey to campaign for Democrat incumbent Governor Jon Corzine and that Corzine still lost to Chris Christie, even though New Jersey is a notoriously Democrat state.

The bottom line, sir, is that Owens defeated a heretofore unknown, third-party candidate by a mere 4%. To borrow a line from Glenn Beck, that’s like the Yankees beating a high school team by only four runs.

And you’re proud of this?!

Oh, and by the way, it took Owens a mere one hour after his victory to break four of his campaign promises.

Hope you’re happy.  

* – hey, 13 dead and 29 wounded in a shooting at Ft. Hood, TX. Let’s give a shout-out!

* – oh, yeah, that Congressional Medal of Honor winner he gave the shout-out to? Not a Medal of Honor winner. A Medal of Freedom winner. Bit of a difference.

Think I’m nitpicking? Thinking to yourself, “Jeez, Falcon, give the guy a break! It was an honest, simple mistake!” Yeah? Really?

What would you have done if G.W. had made that mistake? What do you think the media would have done?

* – more evidence that these jobs that were “saved” by the stimulus weren’t.

* – speaking of the stimulus, how’s that working out for the 10.2% currently unemployed in America?

* – and the walls of ACORN continue to come tumbling down…

* – from Newsmax magazine…

President Barack Obama’s decision to spurn German President Angela Merkel’s invitation to attend ceremonies commemorating the fall of the Berlin Wall 20 years ago is “the most telling nonevent of his presidency.”

That’s the view of National Review Editor Rich Lowry, who notes that Obama has visited more foreign countries than any other president during his first year in office, yet has begged off going to Berlin to celebrate the Nov. 9 anniversary because of a crowded schedule.

“It’s hard to imagine any other American president eschewing the occasion,” Lowry writes.

“Wouldn’t Obama at least want to take the occasion to celebrate freedom and human rights — those most cherished liberal values? Not necessarily. He has mostly jettisoned them as foreign-policy goals in favor of a misbegotten realism that soft-pedals the crimes of nasty regimes around the world.

“During the Cold War, we undermined our enemies by shining a bright light on their repression,” Lowry writes. “In Berlin, JFK called out the Communists on their ‘offense against humanity.’ Obama would utter such a phrase only with the greatest trepidation, lest it undermine a future opportunity for dialogue.”

The Berlin Wall came down because the free world, led by America, stood resolute against communist tyranny. But for Obama, “we are less an exceptional power than one among many, seeking deals with our peers in Beijing and Moscow,” Lowry observes.

“Why would Obama want to celebrate the refuseniks of the Eastern Bloc when he won’t even meet with the Dalai Lama in advance of his trip to China?”

(Obama did speak at the ceremony – via a giant TV screen)

* – from my bother-in-law’s brother over at The Pinetar Rag:

You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich.
You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong.
You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift.
You cannot lift the wage earner up by pulling the wage payer down.
You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred.
You cannot build character and courage by taking away people’s initiative and independence.
You cannot help people permanently by doing for them, what they could and should do for themselves.

–Rev. William John Henry Boetcker

* – it fucking snowed today. Kill me.

* – and by Monday they say it’ll be near 60. WTF?

* – why, yes, I’d love some hot Mormon muffins, thank you very much!

* – umm, whoops!

* – yet another reason why I’m glad I don’t have to buy bras (and if I ever do need to buy them, please shoot me).

* – unfortunately, 10 years from now this product likely won’t do me any good!

* – idiot.

Did you catch this part from that story?: “I didn’t mean to do it.” Didn’t mean to do it?! So, what – it was an accident? You tripped and fell and accidentally stuck your dick in a horse? Reminds me of this scene from The Last Boy Scout:

* – heaven forbid you wear a button about God and country at work.

* – it’s a little early to get me started on another Christmas rant, isn’t it?

* – Hollywood takes another not-so-subtle shot at Obama.

* – you know, I had always wondered how Obama was going to define a “saved job.”

Well, now we know.

* – CBS gives us more examples of the White House fudging the numbers to make us believe the stimulus is working.

* – even more examples of fudging.

* – hell, even Dan Quayle – excuse me, I’m sorry, I meant Joe Biden – admits the numbers aren’t accurate.

* – don’t worry, though, because, according to Sting, Obama is “sent from God.”

* – I’m sure this story will get all the Lefties fired up about right-wing terrorists.

* – so does that mean this story can get all the Righties fired up over left-wing terrorists?

* – so, let me get this straight – we’re going to pay Taliban members not to fight against anymore?!

ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?!?!?!

* – amazing what a car company can do when it’s not run by the government, isn’t it?

* – so, PelosiCare is a bill that is almost 2,000 pages long…

* – it’s gonna cost us just over a trillion dollars…

* – it’s not really all that attractive to people…

* – it’s going to regulate fast food restaurants and vending machines…

* – rather than institute tort reform, it’s going to punish states who try to institute it on their own…

* – and it’s going to… oh, hell, there’s too much shit here – just read the transcript.

* – any wonder why, for the first time in his presidency, most Americans think Obama’s got us going down the wrong track?

and just how the FUCK do I get off?

The past 48 hours have been… umm… entertaining(?!), to be extremely polite.

It started this past Sunday night. I had gone down south to visit Mrs. Chili. Cookiemaker and Little Man had been traveling earlier in the day and had elected to stay home, so I was by myself. I had a wonderful time with Mrs. Chili (would you believe we were able to have a calm, rational discussion about Glenn Beck?! ), Mr. Chili, the two little Chilis, Tonks, Bowyer, the two little Bowyers, and MeadMaker’s wife Bobbie. Such a wonderful time, in fact, that I was the last person to leave Chez Chili.

Once I left, however, my fortunes took a turn for the worse. I’d been on the road for perhaps an hour (out of a slightly-more-than-two hour trip) when my car’s engine hiccupped multiple times and then died (keep in mind that by now it was 9PM or so). I gave it a couple of minutes to rest and was then able to restart it. It stayed running for perhaps ten minutes when the process repeated itself. In total, my car died four times between Chez Chili and my saying “fuck it” and calling AAA.

The tow cost me $57. The first potential dropoff point for the car turned out to be a false alarm because the shop I normally take the car to had, unbeknowst to me up until that point, moved. Being a Sunday night, I had to, of course, leave my key in an envelope with a description of the problem in a drop box.

Fortunately, I had Monday off. However, I had to drive to Massachusetts Monday night to check into a hotel because I had a three-day training for my job Tuesday through Thursday. So, I walked to a car rental agency around the corner (figuratively speaking) from my house to get a car for a few days. Problem? The credit card I wanted to use to rent the car had expired back in September and I had NO clue where the current card was. I also really didn’t want to walk all the back to my house and then walk all the way back to the rental agency again (remember, I said the agency was “figuratively” around the corner… and I’m a lazy schmuck). The girl I was working with at the agency volunteered to drive me back to my house and then waited in the driveway while I tore the house apart looking for the card.

I finally found it and was able to rent the car.

I called the shop about my car at 9AM. When they hadn’t gotten back to me about it by 3PM, I called them back.

“We’re still trying to diagnose the problem. We’ll call you back.”

Uh-huh.

So I drive to Mass. No problems. I check into the hotel. No problems. I watch my Falcons lose a heartbreaker to New Orleans. Whatever. I really didn’t expect them to win. At least they made a game of it. I got to sleep around 1AM and got up at 6. I arrived at the training facility aorund 8:45.

And then proceeded to mill around wondering WTF? with the rest of my classmates because nobody seemed to know what room the training was supposed to take place in. At 9:30 somebody finally came to tell us that logistics had gotten effed up and there was no room for the training, so the training had been cancelled! We were to drive back home and go to work in our stores!

Are you fricking kidding me?!

As I was packing up my stuff in my hotel room my boss called me and said there was a three-hour training class taking place along my way home if I could get there by 1PM. If I could, I could just go home after that.

So that’s what I did.

Oh, yeah – my car. Needs a new fuel pump. Gonna cost me $700. Should be ready by Thursday.

Fucking kill me.

P. S – I’ll do a J.A.R.M. tomorrow night.

likely until Friday.

I’m in MA on job training.

WARNING!!!: this is me being a pig again.

You have been warned…

Wanna know what’s really scary?

My friend Bowyer probably saw a LOT of costumes like these at the Halloween high school dance he chaperones every year.

(Bad Falcon! Bad! )

Happy Halloween, everyone!