monday morning mayhem...

why it's so difficult to potty train...


this is what little kids really see when you start...







i don't remember it, but i'm sure it was true.
that or a rat coming up and biting me on the ass...
remember all those scary stories?



if you work in retail this holiday season...

you'll love this one.


Two businessmen in Florida were sitting down for a break in their soon-to-be new store. As yet, the store wasn't ready, with only a few shelves set up.

One said to the other, 'I bet any minute now some idiot is going to walk by, put his face to the window, and ask what we're selling.'

No sooner were the words out of his mouth when, sure enough, a curious senior walked to the window, had a peek, and in a soft accent asked 'What are you sellin' here?'

One of the men replied sarcastically, 'We're selling ass-holes.'

Without skipping a beat, the old timer said, 'You're doing well. Only two left.'


new drug for work problems...





maybe it'll help with the economic problems, too?

automaker "bailout" - my take...

i've been watching this as closely as everyone else, listening to the cries of poor us from the CEO's and hearing the tales of woe on how bad it would be for the economy, and i've decided, in my opinion, it would be best to not give them what they want.

the government has given so much funny money away to the banks, mortgage countries, etc and they can't even tell where it's gone. we're supposed to technically own their assets because it's collateral. i don't think we own anything but pieces of paper.

one of the things that is built into our government is bankruptcy laws. they are there for a reason. they allow companies to take a specific task of reforming themselves into new, more streamlined entities or closing down because it's impossible to make them profitable.

the big three automakers are saying that a bankruptcy scenario would be disastrous. why? disastrous for whom? the economy? how much worse could it get?

the reason i believe they are not interested in going the bankruptcy route is very simple. bankruptcy laws demand court supervision while the restructuring is happening.

we already are aware of some of the waste these companies have incurred. what else would pop-up if the courts were to get involved using outside agents that would scrutinize every aspect of the companies?

the Big Three CEO's are promising to reinvent, revise and restructure a model they say is no longer working. can they actually do that? personally, i don't think so.

well, actually they can, but they have too many expenses put on them that foreign companies do not. number 1 - health insurance. all foreign car makes do not have this as an expense because their companies are in countries with universal healthcare. subsidized by the government? of course, but what is so wrong with that?

exactly what are we getting for the taxes we now pay? i mean directly get?

roads and schools are falling apart. bridges are collapsing. sewer and water conveyance systems are inadequate and too old. energy sources are quickly being used up. the air we breath is slowly killing us. i don't think i need to go on.

the purpose of man establishing a government or organizing a community is to support the overall progress and well-being of himself and the community. instead we are closing in on spending $600 billion in Iraq that in no way really has anything to do with making my quality of life any better. nor yours.

priorities certainly have gone askew.

so, in my opinion, it would be best to let the automakers file bankruptcy, go through court supervised restructuring, and either come out of it better or go the way of the 1948 Tucker Torpedo or the Ford Edsel.

their are too many car models as it is...

weekender...

Back in the 1929 financial crash, it was said that some Wall Street stockbrokers and bankers JUMPED from their office windows and committed suicide when confronted with the news of their firms and clients financial ruin. Many people were said to almost feel a little sorry for them . . .



In 2008 the attitude has changed somewhat with the crooks who have put our economy in such turmoil:





might be the only way out of this mess... start from scratch.


might create some new street maintenance jobs too...

"Will no one rid me of this meddlesome priest?"

Henry II referring to Thomas Becket who was once his closest adviser and became his greatest enemy when he took the side of the church. [that would be the Roman Catholic church.]

We are faced again with meddlesome priests who want to destroy people's rights, control people's lives, and threaten them with eternal damnation if they don't support the things they want them to.

Today, Archbishop George Niederauer of San Fransisco has compared the people who supported Prop 8 in California to abolitionists and civil rights marchers [Queerty: SF Catholic Archbishop Compares Prop. 8 Supporters to Abolitionists & Civil Rights Marchers. So, now they are the victims. They have the sole responsibility of deciding who is worthy of equal rights. This man was the person who brought the Mormans into the fight in California though only 2% of Californians are Morman, along with $20 million. Oh, would it also surprise you that Niederauer was the R.C. bishop of Salt Lake City, Utah before going to S.F. Don't say collusion to me...

Two days ago, December 3, 2008, the Vatican and its man in red decided to enter the fray in another way: The Pope's Christmas Gift: A Tough Line on Church Doctrine Times.com.

s, Archbishop Celestino Migliore, has announced that the Vatican will oppose a proposed U.N. declaration calling for an end to discrimination against homosexuals.

Why? Because some religious are against LGBT and no one should interfere with their beliefs. Huh? That's real christian of them.

Oh, wait. On the same day Benedict, aka God's Rottweiler, the Panzercardinal, as he has been called in the past, also sent this little message to the United Nations: Holy See refused to sign a UN document on the rights of the disabled because it did not condemn abortion.

Following the Vatican's controversial opposition this week to a UN declaration calling for an end to discrimination against homosexuals, Archbishop Celestino Migliore, the Vatican envoy to the UN, has confirmed that the Holy See also refused to sign a UN document last May on the rights of the disabled because it did not condemn abortion or assert the rights of foetuses with birth defects....

...the Vatican supported the rights of the disabled, but could not accept a clause in the UN declaration affirming a right to "sexual health and reproduction" because "in some countries such rights include the right to abortion".

you read that correctly.

It's all right to discriminate against all kinds of people if they don't agree with your isms. It's all right to allow at-risk people to suffer and hurt because some people do not agree with your dogma.

real christian, don't you think?

just asking...


again, though i in no way advocate violence of any kind, "Will no one rid me of this meddlesome priest?

rather than priest, i would replace it with the word religion. i think religion has outlived its usefulness and the likes of Benedict, Dobson, Falwell, Bush and all the others know and fear just that. they will lose their power. they will lose their influence, and, most important, they will lose their money.

life should be a musical...

Andy over at Towleroad put this up on his site today - NEIL PATRICK HARRIS AND JACK BLACK IN PROP 8: THE MUSICAL

i've always thought that the world could be a better place if it was a musical. just think about it.

feeling down? - break into song! really happy? - break into song! feel discriminated against? - break into song!

See more Jack Black videos at Funny or Die

of course, they may lock you up if you break into song. they may say you're a little bit off. oh, and they'd probably say you are blasphemous also...

personally? i'd rather have a good time.

what's wrong with this picture?

It is a photo of one of the terrorists at the Mumbai train station, and the only one captured alive.

And Gulf News has an interview with Sebastian D’Souza, the Mumbai Mirror photographer who took the chilling photographs of Mr. Qasab [also identified as Azam Amir Kasav] in the train station. Mr. D’Souza jumped from train to train on the platform, evading gunfire, in order to get the photographs, which show Mr. Qasab advancing, wearing cargo pants, a Versace T-shirt and black sneakers, with an assault rifle in hand.

New York Times, Tuesday, December 2, 2008

wearing cargo pants, a Versace T-shirt and black sneakers?

something tells me that this is not something bin Laden, Muhammed, or any of the Islamic fundamentalists would approve.

Versace!

so how are we to take them seriously? they throw down denunciations of everything western and American and they wear Versace clothing to kill people.

that is how we are to take them seriously - as hypocrites, just like everyone else.

think about it. bin Laden himself is a multimillionaire from Saudi Arabia. they use all types of funding from sales of drugs, arms and contraband. they are just like every other organization that is into power and domination. they don't do things for their god. they do things for themselves.

the sad thing? i think that we are in for a very long period of these terrorist hypocrites. their egos have become huge. their dementia has taken on gigantic proportions. their need to use others to fulfill their needs by causing death of innocents as well as the believers they've duped to do their nasty deeds surpasses any legitimate reasons they give.


just another thing to multiply the funk i've been in for the last couple of weeks.

monday morning mayhem...

read the signs carefully. very, very carefully...

Toilet out of Order -

PLEASE USE FLOOR BELOW

In a Laundromat -

AUTOMATIC WASHING MACHINES:
PLEASE REMOVE ALL YOUR CLOTHES WHEN THE LIGHT GOES OUT

In a London department store -

BARGAIN BASEMENT UPSTAIRS

In an office -

WOULD THE PERSON WHO TOOK THE STEP LADDER YESTERDAY PLEASE BRING IT BACK OR FURTHER STEPS WILL BE TAKEN

In an office -

AFTER TEA BREAK STAFF SHOULD EMPTY THE TEAPOT
AND STAND UPSIDE DOWN ON THE DRAINING BOARD

Outside a secondhand shop -

WE EXCHANGE ANYTHING - BICYCLES, WASHING MACHINES, ETC. WHY NOT BRING YOUR WIFE ALONG AND GET A WONDERFUL BARGAIN?

Notice in health food shop window -

CLOSED DUE TO ILLNESS

Seen during a conference -

FOR ANYONE WHO HAS CHILDREN AND DOESN'T KNOW IT, THERE IS A DAY CARE ON THE 1ST FLOOR

Notice in a farmer's field -

THE FARMER ALLOWS WALKERS TO CROSS THE FIELD FOR FREE, BUT THE BULL CHARGES.

Message on a leaflet -

IF YOU CANNOT READ, THIS LEAFLET WILL TELL YOU HOW TO GET LESSONS

On a repair shop door -

WE CAN REPAIR ANYTHING.
(PLEASE KNOCK HARD ON THE DOOR -
THE BELL DOESN'T WORK)

Northampton Hospital -

BIRTH CONTROL ADVICE - PLEASE USE REAR ENTRANCE

don't loose your head...





neat trick...


so..., you thought you ate a lot this past holiday?





it's just 24 days until Christmas...


i know. i know. one day at a time. just make it through the week... but think of all the fun.

World AIDS Day...

Today, December 1st.

It's the 20th Anniversary of the World AIDS Day.

this is another thing that has had me kind of down for the last week. it's another thing that there doesn't seem to be a lot of forward movement on doing something.

it's also been 18 years since RT died and he's been on my mind a lot for the last week. i even went to the cemetery on Thanksgiving day [it was his birthday also] and i haven't been there in a couple of years.

i actually was in shock. there were flowers, a balloon and a holiday wreath on his grave. i have never seen this before. i thought that i was the only one who usually did this when i went there. i guess it was his family, but i don't know them to do things like this. they denied what happened. they refused to accept how he died. they blamed others for his death. the family basically fell apart when he died. he was the one who kept them together. i kept in touch with them for a few years, but it got to be too difficult. the only person i have contact with is his aunt, who is our age, and she has nothing to do with the family either anymore.

you see, this is one of the things that this ugly, terrible disease does. it destroys families not only by death but by stigma. it's devastated the continent of Africa. it has left millions of children orphans or sick themselves. it has brought inhuman behaviour by many because of it's ignominy.

it's viewed as a gay disease, when the largest proportion of people infected are straight. sadly, most all are African and can be forgotten because of that. the civilized world can dismiss them because they are on the dark continent.

in this country, because it is seen as a gay disease it can be dismissed because LGBT deserve it. it's our punishment for being..., well, you can insert any epithet you've heard over the years.

the idea behind all of the denial or misdirection or gated-community mindset keeps a lot of people immune from the problem. they are part of the problem.

what can i do? what can you do?

the theme for this years observation of World AIDS Day is LEADERSHIP.





from the World AIDS Day site:

The theme for World AIDS Day 2007 and 2008 is “leadership”. This theme will continue to be promoted with the campaigning slogan, “Stop AIDS. Keep the Promise.”

Leadership was selected as the theme for World AIDS Day to encourage leaders at all levels to stop AIDS. Building on the 2006 theme of accountability, leadership highlights the discrepancy between the commitments that have been made to halt the spread of AIDS, and actions taken to follow them through. The theme empowers everyone from individuals to organisations to governments to lead in the response to AIDS.

One of the greatest promises that I see for the U.S. is an end to the ridiculous sanctions that the Bush Administration placed on helping the world fight AIDS by restricting how organizations could wage war against the spread of the disease in order to get the money. In my mind, it was immoral and against every christian belief that he and his minions held.

what can you do to help? click on the links above or Google World AIDS Day

seems like nothing going on...

the last couple of weeks it seems i've been doing more humor that anything else on the site.

post-election blahs? not really. i'm glad it's over.

too much Obama? no. it is to be expected. Tsar George has basically bowed out of everything, and people are looking forward to a change from the last eight years. i'm sure even the Busheviks are included in this. they probably are happy that the lead weight is going to be gone from around their necks.

holiday blues? not really. holidays have been great for me the last several years. i look forward to them and have a good time.

cabin fever? too early. the weather has just begun to change in Chicago and the sun is coming out every couple of days. besides, fall has always been my favorite season of the year.

idleness? no way. the Thanksgiving holiday. the HEDAC holiday donation mailer. a new startup charity i'm getting involved with called H.A.N.K. - Helping All Needy Kids based in the community my school was located. opera season. [i've already seen Les Pecheur des perles, Manon, and Lulu. Porgy & Bess is next.] the gym. doctors.

oh, there's a big part of it. i've been to see the neurosurgeon again, had a new MRI and also underwent a series of tests to determine nerve damage with my back. it's been a year since the original injury; i've had multiple interventions and one major surgery. looks like it may be another, even more complicated. i'll find out more on the 18th.

the economy? definitely. my portfolio is waaayyyyyyy down, but who's isn't. it's sad to see everyone struggling. being on a fixed income with retirement, i watch the prices of things going up and realize that it effects me also. i go by the local churches and see more people in line at the food pantries, and i don't live in a poor neighborhood. it's very middle class and established. it's kind of sad. no, it's very sad.

Propositon 8 in California? yes, that's a large part of it also. i've been watching so much of what has been happening as it's result. the LGBT community is at odds not only with the wingnutters but with itself also. the latest was an op-ed in the New York Times - Gay Marriage and a Moral Minority - by Charles M. Blow. there is a lot to the article but the effect it is having has at its heart that Civil Rights and rights for LGBT are not the same thing.

you see, i've always believed that a civil right is a civil right no matter what you gender, race, ethnicity, sexuality, etc. that civil rights are the promises made by the Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Constitution, the Rights of Man, Déclaration des droits de l'Homme et du citoyen, etc. had no barrier to anyone who is a human being, in spite of the decades it took to complete it for women, African-Americans and others.

with the latter, i thought that when Civil Rights Act of 1964 was passed, though it was meant to specifically address the standing of the Black Community, it would be understood that no one should be left out of basic civil rights.

i suppose i could mention other things, but probably the ones above are the biggest and, add in my back problems, it sometimes seems overwhelming. i also understand that others are worse off, but i am only a speck. there is only so much any one of us can do.

we just have to make sure we do it...

after Thanksgiving exercise program...

especially with all we ate yesterday...



I tried it, I liked it; and you will too!

The older we get the more important it is to incorporate exercise into our daily routine, especially after holidays. This is necessary to maintain cardiovascular health and maintain muscle mass.

If you're over 40, you might want to take it easy at first, then do more repetitions as you become more proficient and build stamina.

Warning: It may be too strenuous for some.


Always consult your doctor before starting any exercise program!

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NOW SCROLL UP...

That's enough for the first day.

Great job!

Have a glass of wine. It's good for your heart.


...whew, that really tired me out!

think of how much you're going to save on gym memberships...

Happy Thanksgiving...

A game warden was driving down the road when he came upon a young boy carrying a wild turkey under his arm.


He stopped and asked the boy, 'Where did you get that turkey?'


The boy replied, 'What turkey?'


The game warden said, 'That turkey you're carrying under your arm.'


The boy looks down and said, 'Well, lookee here, a turkey done
roosted under my arm!'


The game warden said, 'Now look, you know turkey season is closed, so whatever you do to that turkey, I'm going to do to you.'


If you break his leg, I'm gonna break your leg. If you break his wing, I'll break your arm. Whatever you do to him, I'll do to you. So, what are you gonna do with him?'


The little boy said, 'I guess I'll just kiss his ass and let him go!'






May your stuffing be tasty
May your turkey plump,
May your potatoes and gravy
Have never a lump.
May your yams be delicious
And your pies take the prize,
And may your Thanksgiving dinner
Stay off your thighs!

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

"one of these day, Alice. one of these days...

POW! right in the kisser."

Jamie over at Green Mountain Jamie always has these fun quizzes.

today he had What color is your kiss? mine?

Your Kiss is Orange

For you, kissing is all about pushing the envelope. You're a wild kisser. And you don't have to know someone all that well to kiss them. (You figure that's how you'll get to know one another!) While you may be impulsive with who you kiss, there's nothing random about your kissing technique. Kissing Type: Unconventional People See Your Kisses as: Intoxicating You Kiss Best With: A Red Kisser Stay away from: A Pink Kisser

What Color Is Your Kiss?

what (who) is a pink kisser?

thanks, Jamie. you're safe since you are a green kisser...

the use of fear in the United States...

I would also add hatred, but it would be an oxymoron because hatred is being used to promote the fear.

It's taken me awhile to digest a report at Media Matters from November 13, 2008 -

Women, minorities, autistic children: Conservative radio's vitriol not reserved for Obama

by Eric Boehlert and Jamison Foser on their blog County Fair that is part of the broader Media Matters site.

Today, there was a follow-up to the report - Homophobic Hate Speech "More Than Offensive" - on County Fair that addresses the specific reaction to the LGBTQ venom that the conservative right-wing media spreads.

LGBTQ is only a part of the initial report. It includes smears against immigrants, sex & gender, race and ethnicity, the poor, "those with HIV/AIDS, people with autism, teachers, other radio hosts, comedians perceived as progressive, Democrats in the House and Senate, and the organizations that document their attacks."

Just one example cited in the article by ultra-conservative radio blatherer Michael Savage on his show The Savage Nation:

... Democratic Party's "membership is made up largely of minority blocs ... that are all against the white person..."

Racist, sexist, homophopic, anti-Latino, and all blatant and non-apologetic. All men, and women, are not created equal to these people. No matter what the Declaration of Independence nor the Constitution of the United States say, even though these men quote and spout it at every turn as justification for what they say.

Every member of the right-wing media has one thing in common. They all profess to be christian.

Yet when you read the article, listen to these people talk and hear the quotes from not only Savage but others like G. Gordon Liddy, Mark Levin, or Bill Cunningham, you see the blatant blindness they have to the law set down by their Jesus in the gospel of Luke,10: 25–37. There is no love in their words; there is no acceptance in their thinking; nor is there any "Go and do likewise."

These people spread fear and hatred in order to maintain their false sense of power. They are losing hold on what they know, deep down in their psyches, is no longer applicable. We no longer live in a White Anglo-Saxon Protestant world. The christian nation they so highly tout has created a world that wants what they have, and they are fighting to keep it away from them. These radio personalities speak out of both sides of their mouths - at the same time.

I recommend that you click on the links to the Media Matters report and today's follow-up. It is long and at times difficult to read without getting angry, but it puts into one place the hypocrisy and an accurate description of these people as the pharisees of today's world.

These men, and they are all men, are not ignorant; they are not stupid; they are idiots. An idiot, according to a group of fourth graders I taught one year, is someone who is too stupid to know they are ignorant.

fourth graders! that would be nine & ten-year olds...

monday morning mayhem...

missed-diagnosis...

Doctors registered opinions about the current financial disaster, specifically in regard to the Government "Bail Out Package".

Opinions were as follows:

Allergists voted to scratch it, whereas

Dermatologists advised not to make any rash moves.

Gastroenterologists had sort of a gut feeling, but

Neurologists thought the Administration had a lot of nerve!

Obstetricians said we were laboring under a misconception, but

Ophthalmologists flat out vetoed the bill as being short-sighted.

Pathologists yelled, 'Over my dead body!' and

Pediatricians rallied to chant, 'Oh, Grow up!'

Psychiatrists thought the whole idea was madness, while

Radiologists could see right through it.

Surgeons agreed to cut it up and wash their hands of it, yet

Internists thought it was a bitter pill we have to swallow.

Plastic Surgeons said, 'This puts a whole new face on things.'

Podiatrists thought it was a step forward, but

Urologists said the it would not hold water.

Anesthesiologists noted that the whole idea was a gas, but

Cardiologists didn't have the heart to say no.

Final opinion was voiced by a coalition of Proctologists

Who advised everyone to leave the financial fiasco with the assholes in Washington who caused it.



IMPORTANT BREAKING NEWS...

China will no longer publish a phone directory due to chaos-

There are so many Wing's and Wong's in THE DIRECTORY,
people were always wingin wong numbers.

I felt you needed to know this.

if anyone gets smart with you at work this week...

try this -

hey, it's a three-day week for most of you with turkey day. you can save the flying bitch slap for when you really need it...

so have a great week...

learning English...

i've been learning Spanish over the last couple of months in anticipation of going to Honduras in February to work with the schools through HEDAC, the charitable organization of which i'm secretary. unfortunately, the doctors have put the kabosh on my going since my back is all screwed up again.

i speak French fairly well; i spoke and understood an Italian/Albanian dialect for most of my younger years; and i took two years of Russian in College. learning Spanish has brought me a lot of new understanding about language. having taught elementary school and being a elementary school administrator for many years, i understand the concepts behind learning and teaching.

each language has a lot of idiomatic and structural challenges, but they are nothing like in English. when you are a native English speaker you take a lot for granted. people learning English have a worse time than with any other language. English is probably the hardest one to learn.

here is just one little sampling of why it is so difficult:

Lovers of the English language might enjoy this. It is yet another example of why people learning English have trouble with the language. Learning the nuances of English makes it a difficult language. (But then, that's probably true of many languages.)


There is a two-letter word in English that perhaps has more meanings than any other two-letter word, and that word is 'UP.'

It is listed in the dictionary as being used as an [adv], [prep], [adj], [n] or [v].

It's easy to understand UP, meaning toward the sky or at the top of the list, but when we awaken in the morning, why do we wake UP?

At a meeting, why does a topic come UP ?

Why do we speak UP, and why are the officers UP for election and why is it UP to the secretary to write UP a report?

We call UP our friends and we use it to brighten UP a room, polish UP the silver.

We warm UP the leftovers and clean UP the kitchen.

We lock UP the house and some guys fix UP the old car.

At other times the little word has a real special meaning. People stir UP trouble, line UP for tickets, work UP an appetite, and think UP excuses.

To be dressed is one thing but to be dressed UP is special.


it's no wonder some people get all f***** UP when they talk and start screaming "UP yours..."

commercial time: a group of the others is still going in February to Honduras; we are in the midst of our annual fundraising drive right now. if you would, please click on the HEDAC link in the sidebar and help us help the kids.

all money goes directly to services, supplies and school rehab for the kids, less operating expenses for things like mailings. each person who goes on our trips pays the way for him/herself.

the link allows credit card donations or you can send a check to HEDAC, 111 E. Chestnut #50G, Chicago, IL 60611. please notate my name [Mike] on the donation as we need it for accounting purposes being a 501(c)(3) with all donations being tax-deductable.

we thank you for your help...

m/