Connecting the dots.

I've never been a big fan of conspiracy theories, primarily because those who tout them most aggressively seem to be members of the tinfoil-hat brigade or have other agendas I can't buy into.

But I've been reading a lot of material about the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America, and am not liking what I read. The list of proponents -- people like Jorge Bush, the president of Mexico and a cadre of corrupt loons in the USA, Canada and Mexico -- make the idea suspect enough to warrant adding this to the ever-growing list of criminal indictments of our so-called "leaders."

The SPP's detractors claim that the ultimate goal is to merge the USA, Canada and Mexico into a single unit, with a single currency, single external border and a mishmash of laws drawn from all three nations applying to all. They claim that it is primarily designed to make Mexico "equal" to the other two by funneling jobs and money there and by giving Mexicans free access to our jobs and resources.

I think they're right.

Follow a little conspiratorial trail here with me:

-- Jorge Bush orders that American citizens be jailed for upholding our laws (e.g. Jose Compean, Ignacio Ramos, Gilmer Hernandez) while applying a "five-strikes" rule to illegals;

-- Jorge Bush pushes for opening the borders;

-- Jorge Bush orders free access to our roads for Mexican trucks;

-- A "NAFTA Superhighway" is being planned to link Mexican ports with the rest of the continent, bypassing American ports and providing work for Mexicans at the expense of Americans;

-- Despite the Democrats' primal need to rage at Bush for any trivial misstep (as well as some major screwups), they remain completely silent on these issues.

In fact, Democrats are a big part of the coalition that wants to grant amnesty to all 20-plus million illegals in the country now and add a "guest-worker" program on top of this that, between "workers" and their families, will add a million or more poorly-educated, poverty-stricken migrants to our population each year. Many Democrats are major supports of SPP, just like many Republicans.

In the meantime, all those who have followed the rules and want to come here legally -- and who, in many cases, have education and job skills -- are S.O.L. They can wait....

Where do these actions lead? To SPP.

Interestingly, while you might think our Constitution mandates Congressional action, if not Constitutional amendments, to sell out the country, implementation is being done without any public notice, without laws being passed. The politicos have learned that they can do what they want, and by the time anyone gets around to challenging them, the deed will be done. The "comprehensive immigration reform" proposals are meant to speed up the process of integration.

I tend to believe that a major motivation for becoming a politician (along with greed) is a need to impose change on people who don't want or need it, to build new power structures from which control can be enforced. Along with this comes a need to play Robin Hood, taking from the rich (well, some of them; cronies and campaign contributors are exempt) and give to the poor, while simultaneously enriching those who belong to the corrupt inner circle of "leaders."

The Trilateral Commission, Council on Foreign Relations and Club for Growth (among other groups) are filled with people who have Big Ideas about building One World. Which they, of course, would dominate. They look at the European Union -- and, for all I know, the old Soviet Union -- as a model for the future.

PARENTHETICAL THOUGHT: I have known a few committed Communists, who did what they could (which wasn't much) to lead the USA down their path. Amazingly, none of them saw themselves as factory workers or tractor drivers if their dreams came to pass. Nope; they'd be the ones in charge. So much for "egalitarian" political movements....

Fortunately, not all of our elected officials are as blinded by greed and ambition as Jorge Bush and his handpicked sellouts, Pelosi, Kennedy and the rest of the traitors in Washington who support the North American Union concept. Sixteen members of the House of Representatives -- including the sanest man in Washington, Dr. Ron Paul, have introduced a bill aimed at killing off SPP.

Read about it here.

Nancy Pelosi will surely do her damndest to sweep this under the rug as she works to extend her power to the entire continent and keep her fatcat limousine-liberal supporters happy.

The worst aspect of all this is not the sight of corrupt politicians from three countries banding together to enrich themselves and their friends at the expense of hardworking citizens. We've seen that often enough.

No, the worst part is that they believe in this nutcase notion that we will somehow be better off if we give up sovereignty and funnel our wealth to Mexico.

No one whose mind is so twisted should be allowed to hold political office.

It's time for mass impeachments in Washington (and maybe Ottawa) and mass resistance to SPP and all who support it.

Unless, that is, you like the idea of sacrificing your rights, jobs and possessions to foreigners whom your political "leaders" consider more deserving than you.

Things you didn't want to know...

...especially if you eat Twinkies!

I heard the author of Twinkies, Deconstructed being interviewed on the radio earlier today. In the course of writing the book, he traveled around the country in search of the points of origin for everything listed among the ingredients that are combined to make the popular little "snack cakes."

In case you're curious, the book's chapters are named after all the building blocks of a Twinkie. They're listed on the website.

Aren't they cute?



Though it has been a long time since I ate one -- decades, in fact -- I somehow have a memory of both the taste (excessively sugary) and texture (not far from partially solidified Styrofoam). Ugh.

Still, it's amazing that something made up largely from rocks, chemicals bombarded by carbon monoxide and hydrogen, and other oddball raw materials has any taste at all. And not surprising that the nutritional value is virtually nil.

The perfect thing to wash down with a McDonald's no-milk "shake!"

A random kind of morning...

...Where The Ghetto Meets The Sea.

I have neglected my walking, so went out this morning to put four more miles on the ol' feet. Despite some cloud cover, it's quite warm today; lots of people were out enjoying it.

But I had to say it was difficult to find anything worth aiming the camera at. Maybe I'm too familiar with what's around to see here?

It's not as if I saw anyone doing anything too strenuous. Some were floating...



While others were walking...



And others were simply watching...



Not a very interesting day so far. I don't mind, though.

Bittersweet...

...is the word for today.

Early this morning, I heard from someone I haven't talked to in almost six years. It was a happy telephonic reunion.

But also sad. This person and her husband were, and are, close friends of R.B., the woman I should never have let out of my life, the woman who, despite some problems we had (for which I have to take more than half the blame), never stopped loving me, never betrayed me.

I have never stopped loving her. I looked elsewhere later after she was gone, and was taken advantage of. That's something sweet R.B. never did, would not have done, could not do.

Her name came up, obliquely, while I was talking with M. today. I bit my tongue, didn't ask what I wanted to ask, didn't say what I wanted to say. Whether I can hold back when I talk to M. again next week, I don't know.

The rest of the day has been full of memories. Good memories, but tinged with regret and loss.

Interestingly, R.B. was the only woman in my life for whom Hobbes formed an attraction.

Speaking of Hobbes: he is back to his old self, happy and more energetic than he has been for quite a while.

I stopped by the vet's this afternoon to pick up some "prescription" food for him. Everyone there wanted to know how he was doing...he made a lot of friends during his stay.

Somehow, I can't help wishing he could be reunited with R.B. Me, too....

Too angry to write...

...and the reasons have to do with numbers:

-- 65. That's the number of days Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean have been in jail for the heinous crime of enforcing our country's laws;

-- 20,801,119. That's the number of illegal aliens residing in this country right now according to this site, which bases its data on verifiable statistics;

-- 455. That's the approximate number of Senators and Representatives who are, even now, pushing their pathetic pro-illegal-alien, pro-open-borders agenda. A new amnesty bill was offered up in the House today that will ensure all the 20,000,000-plus a free pass and a "path to citizenship"...all you need to know is that the late Ted Kennedy, head of the illegal-alien cheering section, approves of it;

-- 400,000. That's the number of additional foreign "guest workers" who will be permitted into the country each year -- along with their families -- under terms of this traitorous legislation.

-- too high to put a number on. That's the cost to American citizens and legal residents in increased taxes and crime, lower wages and lost jobs.

You can thank Reps. Jeff Flake and Luis Gutierrez for this latest piece of infamy. But they alone are not to blame; a long line of co-conspirators, from Nancy Pelosi to Jorge Bush are pushing this as hard as they can under orders from their corrupt masters in Mexico City and corporate greedheads looking for slave labor.

I hope Americans wake up before it's too late and let the "servants of the people" know that rewarding illegal behavior, punishing Americans for upholding the law and turning our nation over to an endless flood of new immigrants (while those who have taken the legal path to citizenship wait and wait) is not only unacceptable and intolerable, but clear grounds for impeachment of all involved.

Just as illegals don't deserve amnesty for unlawful acts, neither do the scum in Washington.

Currying favor with the Lord!

According to Bill Handel, a new controversy is brewing in the world of Big Religion.

Churches that maintain "prayer lines" for people to call when in need of spiritual solace are getting some complaints from their flocks. Care to guess why?

It's because the churches are outsourcing prayer lines to call centers in India.

Gimme a a-men!

One of the biggies in this "business" is called India Prayer Solutions of Mumbai. Complaints against their services include listening to an "associate" reading prayers -- haltingly -- off a "cheat sheet" and Hindu employees having trouble keeping the number of deities in their prayers down to the Christians' one God.

Having had to deal with Indian call centers regarding computer and ISP questions, my sympathies are with those calling in. If "Darren" or "Jane" can't deal with issues of dropped connections and misbehaving computer programs, how good can they be with matters of faith?

Come to think of it, the next time AT&T gives me grief and I'm feeling sad, maybe I'll call a prayer line and kill two birds with one stone. So to speak.

Interesting...

...but far from surprising.

Al ("the planet has a fever") Gore testified in front of a Senate committee today, warning a room-full of fawning Democrats that we are in deep doo-doo, global-warming-wise. There were a few skeptical Republicans there as well, though the only coverage of their participation I've seen came when the egregious Barbara Boxer (who, I am embarrassed to say, "represents" my state) chastised James Imhofe, a Republican Senator, for trying to keep the circus from getting out of hand.

But aside for the normal lack of objective facts, emotional generalizations and simple horsecrap I expect from Big Al, there was a telling moment in the proceedings:

Imhofe: "“Are you willing to make a commitment here today by taking this pledge* to consume no more energy for use in your residence than the average American household by one year from today?”

Gore: "No. We live a carbon-neutral life, Senator."

And there is the secret: Gore, with lips trembling and tears in his eyes, tells us in a quavering voice that we must act to cut C02 emissions and cap carbon emissions right where they are. Immediately. In the meantime, he'll do his bit by buying the right to continue to be a gross polluter from people who don't pollute as much.

Oh, yeah: guess who happens to be a founder and shareholder in the company he buys "pollution credits" from?

Uh-huh. Al ("our civilization is threatened") Gore.

* As a believer:
· that human-caused global warming is a moral, ethical, and spiritual issue affecting our survival;

· that home energy use is a key component of overall energy use;

· that reducing my fossil fuel-based home energy usage will lead to lower greenhouse gas emissions; and

· that leaders on moral issues should lead by example;

I pledge to consume no more energy for use in my residence than the average American household by March 21, 2008.”

What I learned from the news this morning.

PARENTHETICAL ENOUGH-IS-ENOUGH THOUGHT: Aside from the usual unending flood of political sewage which is rapidly becoming too nauseating to follow, that is....

I read this story and learned that the latest "thing" for the uber-wealthy is to build giant fireplaces, sometimes with kitchens attached, in their backyards.

I've always wanted a huge chimney in my backyard, haven't you?

I guess if you are one of those fortunate folks who have money to burn -- so to speak -- and feel a need to one-up the neighbors, you have to do something drastic. So yeah, why not put up something everyone in the neighborhood can see, whether they want to or not.

Of course the story was already going downhill for me when it was mentioned that one of the avant-garde couples who have ordered up a big-ass smokestack for their yard spent over $13 million to build the house adjoining the new toy.

A $13 million house? For two people?

I feel left out. I can't even comprehend that.

Then there's a report (sorry, the link doesn't seem to work) that Chinese food is bad for you. So, by the way, are Mexican and Italian foods.

I wonder what the people who compile these studies eat? Raw veggies and meadow grass?

Frankly, I suspect the authors reviewed their work over a meal of Quarter-Pounders-with-cheese, fries and soft drinks. It's the Al Gore Syndrome: tell others how they must live, while living your own life by another set of rules. Or no rules.

Art Bell was right. There is at least one parallel universe out there, and probably more, governed by forces incomprehensible to most of us and peopled by strange beings.

I don't understand...

...one whole heck of a lot of things.

I don't understand why people I care for, who are kind, creative and good, aren't happy with their lives, aren't getting the love, recognition and appreciation they so deserve.

I don't understand why people who are selfish, manipulative and basically amoral seem to have vast cheering sections who will forgive them anything.

I don't understand how my life jumped the rails, how I turned my back on what was good and pursued dreams that turned out to be nightmares.

I don't understand partisan politics.

I don't understand why I fear tomorrow.

No, I take that last one back. I do understand why I fear tomorrow: I fear it because it will be no different from today.

But I do not understand why I was given the ability to see what is good and beautiful and right, but am not able to be a part of it, am not able to contribute to it.

Something is very wrong with this picture.

Every action has consequences...

PARENTHETICAL PRE-RANT THOUGHT: I know some of you would rather see pictures, kittycats and nice stories here. So would I. But some of the things that trouble me deeply aren't getting much play anywhere else, so I feel the need to rant. If enough of us banded together to remove the corrupt elements from our government, we could all write about nice days and post pretty pictures..

...that no one thinks about. Take, for example, one of Jorge Bush's gifts to his corrupt amigos in Mexico, the lifting of restrictions on Mexican truckers driving into the USA. We know what the costs will be in lower wages and lost jobs for Americans, we know the dangers of poorly-maintained trucks and incompetent drivers to everyone else on the road, and we know of the likelihood that illegal cargoes -- humans, drugs, etc. -- will make it across the border with greater ease.

According to reports from several media outlets not bought-and-paid-for by the open-borders crowd, the California Air Resources Board is issuing a report on yet another consequence of Jorge's lunacy:

The CARB estimates some 17,500 Mexican trucks will be on California's roads each day. Since the majority will be more than 10 years old -- and a sizable number will be more than 30 years old -- they will add 50 tons of pollutants daily to the air here.

That's the equivalent of putting an additional 2.2 million cars on our roads.

Note that CARB's figures refer to California only. Trucks from Mexico will be free to go anywhere, to any state....

Thanks to you, Jorge, we lose jobs, pay more in taxes, breathe putrid air and have to worry about worn-out, possibly uninsured trucks with amateur drivers and a greater flow of illegal drugs and humans.

But your amigos in Mexico City are happy.

Good going, Jorge.

The never-ending story...

...of Jorge Bush's war against Americans continues.

Today, Texas Deputy Sheriff Gilmer Hernandez was sentenced to one year and one day in prison for defending himself when the driver of a van full of illegal aliens tried to run him down.

Once again, serial perjurer and obstructer-of-justice Johnny Sutton, an alleged "U.S. Attorney," was behind the persecution. There is no doubt in my mind that Sutton was acting under the express orders of our illegal-alien-loving presidente who, eagerly kissing the culos of corrupt Mexican politicians and the drug cartels that control them, clearly favors illegals' "rights" over the rights and safety of the fools who elected him and pay his salary.

Hernandez joins Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean, who have spent more than two months in prison for doing their jobs.

The wrong men are in prison. Bush, Sutton and every other crooked, traitorous U.S. politician who kneels down to the wishes of would-be slaveowners and big political donors who lust after open borders, should be peering through bars.

Our country is lost unless we do something to take it away from the criminals in Washington and return control to patriotic American citizens.

What I'm thinking of right now...

...is Howard Beale.

Yeah, I know the poor bastard in the movie Network, played by the late Peter Finch, was being manipulated by Faye Dunaway. But that doesn't seem like an awful fate to me; I'd fall for Faye's charms any time. I've fallen for women with far less going for them....

But I'm right there with Howard. Sadly, the days of the public rising up, as mad as hell, seem to be past.

I'm not sure why I brought this up. Maybe I have a Messiah complex.

No. I'm just feeling horribly out of place.

And I know Faye Dunaway (or her equivalent) has no interest in manipulating me.

The world is not kind to aging rebels.

The abbreviated rant...

...about -- what else -- the disgusting mess in Washington.

I started to write a long, angry screed, but it kept getting longer and longer, and embraced a widening circle of related topics. The hell with it. I deleted all that stuff, and have boiled it down to a few simple points:

1. If Jorge Bush's mealy-mouthed argument for staying in Iraq ("getting rid of a tyrant and spreading democracy") was to make sense, it would have to include moves on Iran, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and most of the rest of the Middle East, as well as North Korea, China, several African nations and, perhaps, the EU.

2. Jorge Bush is a solid contender -- against Jimmuh Carter and Bubba Clinton -- to be named the most incompetent president in modern times. Certainly, he is the dumbest.

3. Removing him (and Dick Cheney) will not, however, repair anything unless we rid Washington of as much as 95% of Congress (including all big-name Democrats and Republicans), everyone in the State Department and the majority of government employees in that cesspool. I think those working at the Smithsonian can stay.

4. Between Jorge's pitiful performance and the ranting, slavering Democrats who place power-grabbing, revenge and hatred of their opponents above actually helping the people who elected them, all pretense of public service has vanished.

5. All Democrat and most Republican presidential candidates (except Ron Paul, Tom Tancredo and -- maybe -- Fred Thompson) represent the broken system. None deserve support.

This should be clear to any sensible person. Which is to say, any person who isn't stupefied by party loyalty.

To quote Jorge, "the fight will be difficult, but it can be won."

Only I'm talking about a different battle, one that will result in the government putting our citizens first in everything they do, not pandering to illegal immigrants and the would-be slave-owners who want them here, the big campaign donors and the UN.

I'm not terribly optimistic, but it seems our only way out of the looming disaster.

As mentioned in the previous entry...

...check out Ludlow, California.

I think I need to drive out there this week. It may be the "home" I'm looking for....

It ain't easy being...

...me.

I know it isn't always being you, either, but a lot of y'all seem to have me beat 12 ways from Sunday when it comes to coping with the stresses coming from both outside and inside your heads.

When I was out in the desert yesterday, I should have jumped the fence and taken possession of that cabin I photographed. No water, no indoor plumbing, no electricity, but hey, it felt somewhat like home to me. A good place to get into full hermit-mode.

I blame my current woes on two events that took place back in about 1969. First, I tried to get a VW Microbus, but the one I wanted was too much money. Then I hatched a plan (which also fell through) to buy a surplus school bus -- appropriately, what some now call a "short bus" -- and convert it into a mobile living space.

Because neither happened, I somehow found myself walking this narrow line between the suburban world and some kind of get-me-out-of-here vibe. I haven't actually worn a tie on a daily basis since 1972 (in fact, I wore one exactly four times last year and have yet to do so this year), but I still feel the urge to settle down in a cozy home with a cozy wife and a couple of cozy cars in the garage.

Not so bad, except that the cozy home began to get more and more elaborate in my mind. Now, I'm reverting.

That, in turn, may be a reaction to not having the cozy wife to, well, make life cozy for.

When I was a wee lad, my aunt lived for a while in a stone house out in the desert near semi-wonderful Ludlow, California. Once, I was taken out to that beyond-the-edge-of-nowhere place to spend some time with her.

And I dug it.

The stars were arrayed in the sky millions-deep, the seemingly limitless desert held no fear for me -- even though the coyotes howled at night -- and the house's well had plenty of cool, fresh water. On hot days, the house was cool inside. Since the place was near a main road, it had electricity and a telephone.

It seemed to me then that nothing could be better than living out there.

I'd forgotten about that until yesterday when I saw the ruins of a stone house that must have been pretty nifty at one time...



If only I could find a willing hermitess to join me, I'd go looking for that stone pad near Ludlow again.

If, that is, it hasn't been swallowed up by Progress.

Probably better not to search for it. I might find that I don't belong there any more than I do here, and that would only make matters worse.

GCotW

No, this isn't Hobbes...just your basic Gratuitous Orange Cat...

Warning for cat and dog owners!

If you feed your cats and/or dogs "wet" food, be aware that one of the largest makers of such foods is beginning a massive recall of some of their products.

Go here for details.

So I went for a drive...

...wanting to get the hell away from Where The Ghetto Meets The Sea.

Though I did not wear green in honor of St Paddy, I drove a green car. Double "green," in fact...



A good thing, too, considering the gas prices here...



I went out to what's called the "high desert," which backs up against the mountains...



There were groves of these trees all over the place. I have no idea what they are, but suspect they might be pear trees, since the nearest wide spot in the road is called (as it has been for many, many years) "Pearblossom"...



Twenty miles away, there are housing developments galore, totaling tens of thousands of new homes. Thanks to the incredible rise in housing prices in California, the collapse of weaker mortgage lenders and a few other factors, many of the new houses sit empty, and work on some other developments has stopped.

One way or another, the desert has a way of overwhelming those not prepared to deal with it...



I'm guessing none of those new houses will last as long -- or look as interesting as they decay -- as this one...



For an obvious reason, the fun of poking around in interesting places is diminishing rapidly for me.

When I have someone to share such outings with, I'll be ready to go again, and stop to look at thousands of fascinating things and places I glanced at today as I drove past.

The fresh air and 90-degree temperatures were nice, though.

Me, in one word:

Dull.

And I don't like it.

Even though I've been this way for just over a year, it's not the "real me." The "real me" is interesting, fun, and has several talents and attributes that have gone unused for far too long.

In fact, even my ability to string words together in a semi-comprehensible fashion, the one of my talents that anyone seems to give a happy damn about these days -- and not often enough -- has lost its edge.

I can hear you: "if that's the case, why don't you just stop being dull?"

Not that easy, buckaroos.

Without an audience, my act is no good.

I've had a couple of good "audiences" who dug my act. They're not around any more.

Maybe that means the act isn't good enough to put over anyway. I don't know. I can see where it needs some polishing, but don't really believe it was so awful they had to walk out on it.

Bah, humbug.

The cat is feeling better today, so I feel comfortable leaving him alone for a few hours. I'm going to go on a long drive*, I think.

Not that I expect to find a new audience out there. But if I'm going to be dull, might as well do it outdoors, in the fresh air.



* Don't worry, my carbon footprint for this run will be smaller than usual.

Why I follow the news...

...even when it makes me angry.

A great friend has been writing about how avoiding the news makes him feel better. I can understand that; when one's own life is unsettled, why make it worse by seeing what dimwitted things others are doing?

I think my fascination with the news comes down to one simple idea: the ways public fools, knaves and unsavory characters around the world act are how many people in my own life act. Those in the news are simply playing on a larger stage.

Example: The reaction to Khalid Sheikh Mohammed's confession that he was responsible for planning a horrifying litany of terrorist attacks, including the attacks on the Pentagon and World Trade Center. This is a man who bears the responsibility for many thousands of deaths, most innocent people. And yet, the left-wing loons in this country are howling in outrage, not at him, but at the U.S.A. Why? Because we tortured him while he's been in custody.

I don't approve of torture in general, but this is simply bullshit. Better we should have housed him in some country-club minimum-security lockup where he could maintain eternal silence in comfort?

Even more bizarre is the contention of one Rosa Brooks, wacko mouthpiece on the Los Angeles Times editorial pages. She feels that KSM's confession is politically timed, meant to divert attention from Bush's firing of eight federal attorneys, an act that has thrown the Democrats in a tizzy.

Example: The horribly childish behavior of those who "lead" us, echoed by the pundits who make a living babbling about it from their various viewpoints. Listen to them long enough, and they'll convince you that they can do things that are (at a very minimum) unethical and harmful to the nation because "the other side" did the same thing. When any of them are confronted with this hypocrisy, they say things like "why bring (Politician X) up? That was a long time ago, and we're talking about (Politician Y now)."

Likewise, if you want to blame a political opponent for every misdeed under the sun, do it. As long as you control the reportage, you'll never be called upon to come up with facts to back your assertions.

I heard -- by mistake -- a well-known right-wing "commentator" today who was yapping about how the lefties are destroying all our freedoms. The same guy comes close to having a stroke if anyone mentions abortion, and would cheerfully shove all gays back into the closet.

I could go on and on. This isn't even the tip of the iceberg.

But the point is this: just as all these jerks have ready-made excuses for acting badly and affecting (negatively) the lives of others, so do too many people I have interacted with in recent times. Break promises? Lie? Steal? Hey, everyone does it! These days, the best defense is not to act with honor, but to go on the offense and rage at the person who catches you in the act. Blame the victim.

Or blame society. Just blame anyone but yourself.

This may be a reason why I rant about politics so often. I can see the unattractive features of most of the villains in people I know, or have known. But, somehow, I can't bring myself to shame the latter by specifically detailing the ways they behave. I don't like the idea of causing them embarrassment or unhappiness.

Does that mean I'd like to see Jorge Bush, the late Ted Kennedy, Henry Waxman, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and numerous editorial writers and reporters publicly humiliated and driven to seclusion by the scorn of good people?

Hell, yeah.

But then, I'm not trying to con anyone into believing I'm perfect.

Gray Friday Blues.

I'm feeling inarticulate today. For a writer, that's a Bad Thing.

The list of things that confuse me grows by the day, leaving damn little to hang on to in the way of solid beliefs. More and more, I wonder why the hell I even bother to try living up to any principles at all; doing so seems to make me a doormat, not respectable.

Much as I'd like to be optimistic and cheerful, it ain't working.

Maybe it was the dreams I had last night. One was so bizarre that I tried to go back to sleep to find out if there was any reason for what was going on.

Or maybe it's just that the old order changeth, and there is no place in this Brave New World for me.

Almost two months have passed...

...since Jorge Bush's goons sent Border Patrol agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean to prison for doing their jobs.

Ramos is held in isolation because the prison can't protect him from the assaults of illegal-alien prisoners. He spends 23 hours a day in his cell, and one hour in a small sunless walled-in area. He is not allowed to have any pictures of his family.

In the meantime, Jorge Bush trots down to Guatemala and Mexico, kissing corrupt asses and promising to send money and throw the borders wide open.

Congress, indulging in its usual self-absorbed stupidity, is howling because Bush fired some U.S. Attorneys, as he -- and every other president -- is legally allowed to do. Johnny Sutton, the criminal who persecuted Ramos and Compean and at least one other agent, and is apparently a guiding force behind the effort to railroad deputy Sheriff Gilmer Hernandez, too, was not one of them. After all, Sutton is doing his master's bidding very well.

There will be hearings in the House of Representative, thanks to Dana Rohrbacher (R-CA). Of course no date for the hearings has been set, because the Democrats are too busy looking for any pathetic, trivial political excuse they can find to humiliate and neutralize Bush.

They won't go after him for his championing the rights of illegals and sending ever-increasing amounts of aid to the corrupt regimes south of the border, won't take him to task for punishing Americans for upholding the laws while ignoring the acts of an illegal-alien drug smuggler, because they agree with those foul acts.

As horrified as I am at the cesspool that Washington has become, I am even more dismayed that the public outcry against Bush and Congress has not been stronger.

We should be demanding that an impenetrable wall be built along our border with Mexico. And we should be demanding that, when it is completed, Bush -- and the late Ted Kennedy, John McCain and all the other politcos who are willfully ignoring the laws they swore to uphold -- are on the other side, where they belong.

What's going on comes perilously close to treason. If we accept it in silence, we will have no one to blame but ourselves when the United States ceases to exist.

From my email...

...comes this gem:

Here's your chance to vote on the book title of the year:

Here are this year's contestants:

-- "Tatooed Mountain Women and Spoon Boxes of Daghestan"
-- "How Green Were the Nazis"
-- "D. Di Mascio's Delicious Ice Cream: D. Di Mascio of Coventry--An Ice Cream Company of Repute, with an Interesting and "Varied Fleet of Ice Cream Vans"
-- "The Stray Shopping Carts of Eastern North America: A Guide to Field Identification"
-- "Proceedings of the Eighteenth International Seaweed Symposium"
-- "Better Never to Have Been: The Harm of Coming Into Existence"

Now I know why I've never written a book....

One of my favortie cats...

...is the Jaguar XK 150 Fixed Head Coupe...

Jorge slips across the border...

...back to the USA, the country he supposedly "leads."

He's leading us all right. Leading us into poverty, increased crime and servitude to the interests of foreigners.

For the past few days he's been south of the border, kissing the nalgas of various corrupt politicians and promising them that the United States feels the need to build up their countries and let their citizens cruise freely into our country without having to go through that nasty legal immigration process.

He dispensed promises as if they were sticks of chewing gum. Of course he won't have to pay for a damn one of them. We will. The various tin-pot dictators lectured him, and he took it all with that famous demented smile. They insist we tear down our border fences and send them money. And senor Boosh, who wants to make them happy, will surely try to do both.

The blame is not his alone. Look at Congress, where eager open-borders, one-world traitors dominate, demanding the "comprehensive immigration reform" that will destroy our laws, economy and, in too many cases, lives.

The late Ted Kennedy has his amnesty legislation all ready to go in the Senate, where his fellow crooks are salivating at the thought of the support they'll get from companies looking for slave labor.

Selling the country down the river is a true bipartisan effort.

I have nothing against immigrants from anywhere, so long as they come legally and become Americans. We don't need Mexicans, or Chinese, or Europeans; we need citizens loyal to this country, willing and able to abide by our laws.

Jorge Bush nauseates me. So does the majority of Congress.

Jorge should have been stopped at the border and denied entry. The United States should not provide a home for those who are so eager to betray their fellow citizens.

But anyone who dares try to stop any illegals or undesirables from crossing the border faces the fate of Ignacio Ramos, Jose Compean, Gilmer Hernandez and others. They will go to jail, while the undesirables go about their nefarious business freely.

Consistency...

...has no part in the way those clowns* in Washington think or act. Among a horde of hypocrites jockeying for power, privilege and plunder, Hillary Clinton must rank near the top.

I'll give her credit for one thing: she never lets the truth get in the way of what she wants.

Take this statement her p.r. flack released this morning:

STATEMENT OF SENATOR HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON ON THE GROWING CONTROVERSY OVER THE FIRING OF U.S. ATTORNEYS

Washington, DC - With the White House now acknowledging a direct role in the Justice Department's U.S. Attorney firings, the president must affirmatively step forward to explain what he is doing to address the politicization of our prosecutorial system and what role he and his aides played in this controversy.

The president is the chief executive of the country and this matter goes to the heart of his ability to manage our federal law enforcement and U.S. Attorney system. It is imperative that the president act swiftly to explain what role the White House played in this situation, hold those who acted inappropriately accountable, and take responsibility.

I found this fascinating, especially after my memory was refreshed by this synopsis of a story from the New York Times, published back on March 24, 1993:

Attorney General Janet Reno today demanded the prompt resignation of all United States Attorneys, leading the Federal prosecutor in the District of Columbia to suggest that the order could be tied to his long-running investigation of Representative Dan Rostenkowski, a crucial ally of President Clinton.

This was, of course, in the days when Hillary fancied herself "co-president" along with Bubba....

If anyone ever asks (not likely, considering the pathetic kowtowing of the media to the wacko lefties), she'll no doubt say she "doesn't recall." That got her off the hook for some highly questionable actions in the past.

Or she might blame it on Janet Reno. Somehow, I doubt Reno did much more than brush her teeth without getting the okay from one or both of the Clintons.

What I find particularly repulsive about this -- aside from an innate loathing for Clinton and all she stands/claims to stand for -- is that we never seem to get past the eternal cycle of partisans slinging rocks at their opponents for doing the same things they themselves did, or would like to do. When one party is in power, the other demands to be cut into decision-making, which naturally doesn't happen.

The Republicans did this. Now the Democrats are doing it, albeit with more success because they seem better able to get away with doling out distortions, half-truths and blatant lies at will.

That's not something to be proud of.

And, lest anyone forget, I think Jorge Bush's real mistake here was not firing US Attorney Johnny Sutton's corrupt ass. Oddly, the Democrats aren't clamoring for his removal.

They're all crooks.



* I need to think of a better insult. I don't have anything against clowns.

It's about damn time!

Forget about Obama, Clinton, Edwards, McCain, Giuliani and the rest of the political-hack, say-anything-to-win doctrinaire sellout greedheads who are trying to sucker gullible Americans into electing them president so they can continue to fatten themselves at the public trough and impose a bunch of spurious regulations on the rest of us.

Ron Paul has announced that he is running for president.

I grant you so-called "conventional wisdom" suggests that a relatively obscure Texas Congressman has about as much chance of winning as Ted Kennedy has of staying sober for more than, say, six hours at a time.

But considering the horrible condition of our nation, perhaps it's time for us to turn "conventional wisdom" on its ear.

Before you dismiss the idea, go to Paul's website (linked above) and click on the links where he states his opinions on critical issues. The man speaks clearly and, most important of all, sensibly about things the Washington establishment can't bring itself to confront in any coherent way, even though our nation faces disaster as a result.

I also suspect that Dr Paul will not go to Alabama and try to transform himself into an African-American preacher (as shameless Hillary Clinton did), or engage in the normal pandering, mindless generalities, overworked cliches and nasty snipes at his opponents that we will inevitably hear from all the "major" candidates.

The man makes sense. And from all I have read, he is as honorable a man as his campaign would like you to think he is.

Honor? In Washington?

That could start a new trend, one the Pelosis, Kennedys, Kerrys, Jeffersons and their ilk could not survive.

For that reason alone, the man deserves to win.

If there are enough intelligent people left in this country, he has a damn good chance.

A lush home...

...or should that be "a home for a lush?"

Dig this story:

A house in Western Australia's south-west is being built entirely from recycled wine bottles.

Around 13,500 wine bottles will be used in the walls of the house, which owner Peter Little says will save energy.

He says by filling the bottles with water, the entire building will be insulated.

The basic idea is nothing new. I've seen a few houses made out of bottles -- some built as novelties, some because bottles were plentiful where the houses were built -- but the notion of filling them with water is a fresh twist to the problem of insulation.

Here's a postcard image of a bottle house in Tonapah, Nevada...



Of course course there are places where this might be impractical. A hard winter could shatter the walls if you tried this in a frigid, inhospitable place such as, say, Idaho. I'd use antifreeze as a filler in that case.

And it doesn't strike me as terribly practical in places where earthquakes are likely. A house that can twist apart is bad enough; having your abode shatter around you would be traumatic, to say the least.

Still, this sounds like a good idea. I'm all for using recycled materials wherever possible; people have built successfully using haybales and adobe, old tires and and many other strange and unlikely raw materials.

I remember being inside a bottle house on a bright, sunny day. The light was beautiful.

All pets must be leashed in the park...

...including this baby monitor lizard, who didn't seem to enjoy it much...



Today was such a warm, sunny day that one member of the local parrot squadron (not subject to leash laws) decided to sun himself a bit on the wires, which is unusual behavior for these noisy avians...

No Gratuitous Cat this week...

...just the cat, back home and showing signs of feeling better...

A dangerous combination!

When mechanical skills, an overly vivid imagination and too much free time are mixed together, the ensuing witches' brew may result in this...



An apt name for a device that mounts a turbocharged motorcycle engine and two wheels ahead of the driver/rider...



And a gigantic rear wheel behind...



The State of California says it's a motorcycle, and you damn betcha I wouldn't get on/in the thing without wearing a helmet. I'd want even more protection if I actually tried to ride/drive it....

What planet am I on?

I woke up at 4:30 -- okay, 5:30 -- this morning, and there was nothing much to do except spend some time catching up on the news. It's clear to me that the time change masked a shift to a parallel, nonsensical universe where nothing means anything, black means white and yes means no. There is no other explanation.

Consider the local newspaper, a scurrilous rag at best. Its bias in favor of illegal aliens, the ACLU and other left-wing loons has long been apparent, but today the editorial page hit the trifecta:

1. When we lock up illegal aliens, we are hurting their children, and therefore should let them continue to violate laws as they please. Oh, the innocent babies! Following that line of "logic," we should never arrest anyone who breaks the law if they have children. Who the hell put the kids at risk in the first place?

2. Israel's "right to exist" is nonsense, because Israel has been nasty to those who try to destroy it. This is the opinion of some wet-brain college professor who believes the news media are "not telling both sides of the story" when they suggest that Israel is a legitimate nation.

3. (and this is a direct quote of headline and subhead) The new American witch hunt: Demonizing sex offenders by passing tough, mindless laws rather than treating them makes little sense. Once again a "professor" laid down this wonderful plea to lighten up on sex offenders. It must be nice to have so clear a vision that one can concentrate only on the offenders and not their victims. As far as I'm concerned -- and yes, I'm old-fashioned -- those who commit sex crimes, especially against children, are demons, and I don't much care what happens to them as long as they are unable to continue their predatory ways.

Another news source quoted Hillary Clinton as saying she's "the new JFK." That must mean she will be indecisive at times of crisis, will sell out allies because she hasn't got the guts to take action, will order the assassination of foreign leaders she doesn't like, has a foul brother she will use to silence criminal associates from her past and will be totally ineffective at passing legislation she cares about. I don't know if it means she will screw around on her spouse, who will wear designer dresses and marry a Greek shipping tycoon later on.

And then there's the New York Times, which is always good for churning up stomach acid. For once, I didn't even bother with the editorial page; the opinions expressed there are predictably left-wing, knee-jerk and ultimately ridiculous. No, this time it was a front-page feature that caught my eye.

The subject is a new trend among married couples to have separate bedroom suites built into their homes. As expected from the Times, a majority of those interviewed are female; it seems women are pushing hardest for this idea.

And it's not just because their partners snore, thrash around in their sleep or drool. Even the Times wouldn't dare suggest women never do those things.

No, it is so they can live their separate lives. Who needs love and closeness when you want to send emails in the middle of the night? Banishing hubby to another room helps with the career path, you see.

The lead photo is of a woman lying on her bed surround by what appears to be some kind of PDA, remote controls -- for lights, radio/TV and humidifier(!) -- and exulting in her own "space."

I believe -- I'm not going back to re-read this piece -- she is the one who is also quoted as saying "I've paid my dues. I no longer need to be awakened at 1:00 a.m. for sex."

Okay, so I am as guilty as any man of the sins of occasional snoring, changing positions in my sleep and (probably) the odd instance of drooling and even farting. The odd thing is this: every woman I've slept with did the same.

For all that, we enjoyed sleeping together. This was especially true with the last one, who was an ardent snuggler and accepted the quirks of her bed companion with remarkable grace, as I did hers.

She even woke me up in the middle of the night for sex on several occasions. Or sometimes didn't wake me, but got what she wanted anyway. Neither of us wanted TVs, radios, remote-controlled lighting or any sort of computers in the bedroom. Or humidifiers, for that matter.

And women wonder why men are losing respect for them? If marriage has to take a total backseat to career or "being me" -- for either party -- or is seen as a part-time, "there when I want it and not there when I don't" proposition, it ain't marriage.

This is no longer a world I understand, or am particularly happy about being in.

Hobbes is back...

...and, happy as I am to have him here, it's been a rough few hours.

Clearly, the experience was traumatic for him, even though everyone at the vet clinic went out of their way to pay attention to him. When we got into the apartment, he hid for a while, and still shies away when I get too close (though he will come over to be rubbed and petted). He probably thinks every time I get near him, he's going to get a pill, a shot or worse.

And, for the next week, that will be partly true. He has meds to take twice a day, one pill, one liquid. A cat does not "take medicine." Some human -- me -- forces them down the poor guy's throat. Put the stuff in his food? He's not eating much right now, and has shown a wonderful instinct for eating around pills in the past.

I'm not complaining at all. I'm incredibly happy to have him home and, as the hours go by, he's getting back to being his normal self.

But it still hurts to know that I did something that frightened and upset him. The concept of "for his own good" just isn't something he can grasp, and I doubt he associates all that grief with an improvement to his health.

No matter. My friend is here.

He did achieve a new place in the record books today: not only is he the oldest cat I've ever had, but he is now the most expensive.

I don't think I'll tell him.

51 days...

...of imprisonment for Border Patrol agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean.

In the meantime, the illegal-alien drug smuggler is free and no doubt is pursuing his $5 million lawsuit against the USA for "violating his civil rights."

While every Democrat, liberal and bleeding-heart in the known universe is howling about the "outrages" committed against terrorists held at Guantanmo Bay, Ramos, whose "crime" was enforcing our laws against the express wishes of el prsidente, Jorge Bush, is locked in his cell for 23 hours a day because the prison can't protect him from the illegal alien druggies who have already assaulted him there, does not receive his mail (the prison said he's getting "too much"), was refused a Bible -- the Gitmo prisoners have Korans, by the way -- and is restricted to one 15-minute phone call and one family visit per month.

This is the fate those who oppose the disgusting open-borders policy of the government can expect to face.

Where is Johnny Sutton, who tampered with/withheld evidence and lied to secure a conviction of Ramos and Compean? Where are Alberto Gonzales and Michael Chertoff, who participated in the conspiracy against the agents?

They're all free, fat and happy and doing their disgusting "jobs."

One thousand "public-spirited, high-minded lawyers have volunteered to represent the terrorists at Gitmo, whose goal was to destroy this country. How many have volunteered to help Ramos and Compean? Zero.

We all know where Jorge Bush is tonight. He's on his way to Mexico. He will, no doubt, receive a hero's welcome.

As far as I'm concerned, he should stay there. Mexicans, and not the American citizens who were foolish enough to elect him -- God help me, I was one of them, thanks to the pathetic excuses for candidates the Democrats fielded -- are his true constituency.

And 475 or so open-border-loving, spineless, crooked, traitorous members of the Senate and House of Representatives should join him there.

This is a national disgrace.

It is beyond a national disgrace. It is irrefutable proof that Bush and Congress will sell us out (and destroy anyone who chooses to uphold our laws) in pursuit of their ultimate goal, which is to hand the USA over to the pro-slavery corporations and corrupt Mexican politicians for whatever personal gain they have been offered.

If we citizens don't act to protect our country, we will lose it. Sadly, those who are sworn to serve us are the Quislings who will do the most to hand it over to outsiders.

Talked to the vet...

...and Hobbes won't be coming home until tomorrow.

The bad news: he has an infection.

The good news: They are treating him for it and it won't cause any problems.

The better news: No diabetes. Moreover, some of the odd blood indicators were -- as I really wanted to hope -- a result of his condition when I took him in, and now that he is eating/drinking/cleaned out again a second series of tests produced quite normal results.

Everyone at the veterinary clinic loves him, naturally. He has all the charm for females that I don't.

Oddly, the vet asked me to confirm his age. He estimated (by appearance and, I guess, heart rate and other signs) that Hobbes was 12-15 and wanted to change the chart if I wasn't certain. I take that as a hopeful sign, too.

Tomorrow could be a very nice day. Keep the good wishes for my friend coming, please.

So far, so good...

...even though the vet isn't ready to release Hobbes yet, and may not until tomorrow.

I was told he is doing better, ate this morning and seems more energetic. But they are continuing with testing, because they feel he has (in addition to his digestive system issues) some kind of infection and might even be diabetic.

The bill for all this is going to be a real crusher. But I will find the money for it somehow. I can do no less for him.

I barely slept last night.

Next challenge: getting some work done while I wait for more news. The only thing that helps in this regard is knowing that I need the money -- pronto -- to get Hobbes back home.

Tonight is the first night...

...in 17 years when I have been truly alone in my own place.

PARENTHETICAL EMOTIONAL WARNING: If you think it's silly for a grown man to get weepy over a cat -- which is, after all, just an animal -- just do us both a favor and go the hell away now, please.

Hobbes is spending the night at the vet. With luck, he'll be home tomorrow. I'd feel better if I was in hospital; at least I'd know what was wrong and what could be done. He's there, in a strange place...I can't imagine how frightened he must be.

And I can't begin to explain how lonely I am. It's not that he's noisy; he's not. Nor is he the kind of cat who needs constant attention. When he wants me, he comes in and lets me know. The rest of the time, he's happy to do whatever it is cats do.

But he's not sleeping on the chair next to the desk, or curled up on the couch. He won't wander in to remind me he's hungry. Tonight when I go to bed, he won't curl up next to me. Worse, he won't be waking me up in the morning -- so I'll feed him, of course -- with a gentle paw to the face.

I've always known a day would come when he wouldn't be here. But I'm not ready to face it yet. Of all the things I have lost or have had taken away from me, losing him may well be the worst.

He has never done a thing to hurt me. I've taken care of his needs, and he has done the same for me. He has known when I was unhappy and has stuck close so I could feel the warmth of some living being that loves me. He has adjusted to living with four different cats, three dogs and three women (one of the women was a particular favorite of his which, in hindsight, I think showed remarkable good taste on his part), and has been loyal to me throughout.

I have every reason to think I'll be able to bring him home tomorrow. Tonight, though, I'm getting a taste of what complete loneliness is like.

It hurts, in a way more frightening than I can say.

Goals and desires.

Several people I know have been writing in recent days about what they want to achieve and what they want in their lives. These are things I try not to think about.

Various events have put consideration of anything beyond surviving the next couple of days out of my mind. This morning is the worst yet:

My cat is once again at the vet's. A different vet this time. He is suffering the same problems as he's had twice before and, apparently, may have received inadequate treatment at the last place.

This involves a likely overnight stay while they work on him, though probably no surgery. They expect him to recover fully -- and will give me medication for him that cuts down on the chance that it will happen again -- but, as always when one of my animals has been suffering, it is tearing me apart. Seeing him in pain wrecks me.

And, if the estimate for services and medications is correct, it may wreck what's left of my bank account, too. Veterinarians aren't cheap.

I have no choice, though. He has given me so many years of companionship, and I cannot desert him when he's in pain.

Getting him back home and happy is my sole goal right now. There is no substitute.

With so much else in the world beyond my reach, I hope I'm allowed this one small blessing.

This place feels so empty and lifeless right now....

Captain America, R.I.P.

So Marvel comics is killing off Captain America, or at least his mild alter-ego....



It's about damn time, if you ask me.

None of the great comic-book heroes of the past -- Superman, Steve Canyon, the original Captain America -- would have tolerated what America has become.

They would not have "celebrated diversity," or insisted that the terrorists held at Gitmo should be transferred to the States so the lefties could work for their release. They would not have suffered angst when they fought the Main Enemy. They would not have helped those poor illegal aliens cross the border to a Better Life.

Hell, no.

They saw things strictly in terms of Bad -- which was anyone who attacked this nation or tired to hurt people here -- and Good -- the United States.

Their time is past.

The original Captain America would have stomped the bejeebers out of Fidel Castro, Osama Bin Laden and any other misguided fool who dissed America.

Superman, as originally constituted, suffered no angst when he defended "truth, justice and the American Way." Batman fought crime with nary a care for the "rights" of criminals.

Any one of them would have kicked the **** out of Teddy Kennedy or Nancy Pelosi. Heck, they would have stomped Jorge Bush, too.

But we are past them. We care. We feel guilt because we are Americans, and are supposed to want to give all our "ill-gotten" gains to others. We are supposed to feel shame because we built a nation on the principles of freedom and haven't taken care of everyone else on the planet. We are supposed to understand those who want to destroy us.

There is no place in today's environment for superheroes. Or, for that matter, any heroes.

The writers of comic books figured this out. They added sensitivity to their characters, brought superheroes down to a level that even the hacky-sack generation can understand.

With that in mind, I'm happy to see Captain America go. The America he represented is long-gone. Why make the poor bastard fight for something that no longer exists?

A strange night...

...here at the place called "Land's End."

Yes, that really is the name of this apartment building. And appropriate it is, as the next step -- well, next 100 steps -- plunks you into the Pacific Ocean....

People were wandering around tonight, talking. It seemed each had had too much of their favorite high, whether booze or dope. Me, too.

One neighbor was helping his ex move to a distant city where, as it happens, I once lived. She was cheerful, he was too mellow to show that he cares. Though I know he does.

Another neighbor was polishing up parts for his cherished car. He had found them at a swap meet, and was excited to have "authentic stuff" for his ride.

Lonely, lonely people. No earth-shaking events, no politics. Just small meaningless jokes and idle chatter to hide the fact that everyone here has reached the end of their particular road and, despite dreaming big dreams as everyone does, has nowhere to go, nothing to do beyond lasting through another day.

We talk every day. None of them know what -- well, what and who -- keeps me awake every night. No one knows what shattered dreams brought me to this place.

Somehow, we all make each other laugh. But sometimes, most of the time to be honest, the laughter is forced, hollow.

Some of us reach a place from which there is nowhere to go. This is one of them.

This is Land's End. It says so on the building.

Be glad you're not here. I wish I wasn't.

A sure cure for what ails us...

...would be severe restrictions on what computers are allowed to do.

I'm not talking about home computers, but the ones that increasingly dominate business and government affairs.

This morning, I received an email (computer-generated) from my bank, informing me that a computer had decided to put a "hold" on money I deposited last Saturday.

As you might expect, this did not fill me with joy, particularly considering that I had already written checks on a good chunk of said deposit.

So I first b*gg*r*d around with the bank's online "service." When that got me nowhere, I went the "24-hour helpline" route. Equally frustrating, from the moment I had to declare my interest in getting instructions in English -- as opposed to Jorge Bush's favored language -- to the point when I simply slammed down the receiver in disgust.

In desperation, I went to the bank's nearest physical location which, thanks to the creeping spread of "automated banking" and a mad desire to maximize executive bonuses by canning employees, is some distance away. I passed two former locations while driving there; one is being converted to "loft" apartments, while the other is home to a rival bank.

I was not in a lovely mood when I got there. However, a nice lady listened to my story, checked things out (using her computer, of course) and released the money on the spot, explaining that a computer -- of course -- makes such decisions based on a flimsy set of assumptions.

She also discovered that I have been overcharged fee-wise since, well, forever. Which is to say since my current bank bought out my former bank back in 1990 and conned me into signing up for a deluxe service I didn't really want or need. She remedied that swiftly, determined that she could refund some of the charges, and popped them into a brand-new savings account for me.

She didn't know how angry I was -- at times of great stress, I become very polite, which only a few people have ever seen -- but the anger faded swiftly anyway. Dealing with a human who can (and is willing to) make decisions rather than a computer saw to that.

I still don't like my bank though, sadly, it is probably no worse than any other.

But I like her. At least I know where to go when, inevitably, the computers try to take a bite out of me again.

We had a pleasant chat while she was straightening things out; once she determined what I do for a living, she asked the kind of questions most people pay $4.95* to get answered; it was well worth it for me to answer. I didn't even feel, as I did after trying the "modern" methods of problem-solving, that I had just seen an hour of my life poured into the sewer.


* -- the cover price of most magazines I write for.

The double standard in action.

So Lewis "Scooter" Libby has been convicted of telling nebulous "lies" to government investigators and, absent a successful appeal, will be doing some jail time for it.

I'll be the first to admit I don't know the "facts" of the case, but I'm not alone in that. Based on their post-trial comments, the jurors didn't know what they were there to do either.

And those who are jumping on the bandwagon and crowing that this is an indictment of Dick Cheney and the Bush administration are equally guilty of a lack of understanding and should be ashamed of themselves.

You do not put someone in jail because you dislike his boss.

Not, conversely, to you excuse criminal behavior because you like someone. That happens all too often as well. Consider a few people who are walking around free today who would have faced serious time in the slammer if put to the "Libby test:"

Bill Clinton: perjurer;

Hillary Clinton: multiple perjurer;

Sandy Berger: thief, perjurer;

Harry Reid: perjury, illegal real-estate transactions;

Ted Kennedy: manslaughter, DUI;

Rep. William Jefferson: bribe-taker.

At last report, all these people were doing just fine, having never been called to account for their malfeasance.

All -- what a surprise! -- are Democrats, and as such are members of the "ethical" party.

This is not to say no Republicans should be joining their Democrat colleagues in the cooler. At minimum, Jorge Bush, Alberto Gonzales, Michael Chertoff and Johnny Sutton should peeking through prison bars right now.

And these people represent only the tip of the proverbial iceberg.

What bothers me most about this is not that Libby is, as of this moment, a convicted felon. Heck, it may well be that there was more to this case than the smoke-and-mirrors "evidence" the prosecution appears to have brought out. There are times when justice triumphs in strange ways, after all.

No, I'm angry because the double standard is so obvious.

While this was going on, Congress is howling about the despicable conditions in which our wounded soldiers receive "care." By all accounts, the military-hospital system has been in bad shape since the Vietnam War. It has been that way when we've had Republican presidents and congresses, and when Democrats have been in charge. To suddenly "discover" the facts and stand in front of microphones venting is hypocrisy at its worst.

None of these pathetic excuses for "leaders" have given a happy damn about that so long as there was no political advantage for them. They voted money for ridiculous schemes and self-aggrandizing projects, sent billions overseas to "aid" unfriendly nations, and didn't allocate money to turn the military hospital system into something that actually works. While they rage at George Bush -- who absolutely bears his share of guilt -- they should look in a mirror and see who else is to blame.

The most frustrating part of the situation is this: regardless of your political affiliation, there is no one in Washington who can be said to have clean hands. Without exception, they are political hacks, pandering to the gullible and grabbing whatever goodies -- legally gained or otherwise -- they can for themselves.

Until American citizens shed their partisan blinders and realize that corruption, lies and outright illegal behavior have become the rule and not the exception in Washington, it will always be so.

While I was out today...

...I had a chance to see the two largest free-standing wooden buildings in the world.

They are hangars at the former Naval Air Station at Tustin, California. Built to house dirigibles, they have been essentially unused since the Navy ended its lighter-than-air program many decades ago...



The former military base is now being developed in typical Orange County fashion: runways, hangars, control tower and various buildings are being torn up, soon to be replaced with shopping malls, thousands of houses and, with luck, a few square feet of grass here and there.



The "deal" is that one of the blimp hangars must be preserved. I'm told both may survive if commercial uses can be found for them -- and they are huge, believe me -- but there's also a chance neither will survive.

I wish the doors had been open so I could have taken a photo of the inside of one of them. They are awesome.

I shouldn't pay attention to the news...

...but I just can't help myself.

We live in a dangerous age. And I'm not referring only to international terrorism, nuclear proliferation and the destructive open-border machinations of el Presidente Jorge Bush.

If you need an indication of how much undeserved power we have given our politicians, here's a small example mentioned in today's Sacramento Bee:

[California state] Assemblyman Lloyd Levine, D-Van Nuys, is the sponsor of Assembly Bill 1634. It would prohibit any person from owning or possessing any unaltered cat or dog over the age of four months. A major exception is if the owner possesses an "intact permit."

Which cats and dogs qualify for such permits? Under AB 1634, cats and dogs could legally procreate if they were registered as a purebred with a pedigree from either the American Kennel Club, the United Kennel Club, the American Dog Breeders Association or the International Cat Association. This is a bone being thrown at the breeding industry, with the mongrel relegated to the black market.

If buffoons like Levine had their way, none of my cats -- or my sweet little dog -- would have been born. Neither would any of the animals, all "mutts," whose photos have appeared here.

And of course Levine, in his mindless push to reduce the animal population, ignores a simple fact: so-called "purebred" animals are often the least healthy; many suffer from chronic illnesses and weaknesses brought about by inbreeding.

Levine, like most of us, is probably a genetic "mutt" himself.

He is definitely one of those "I-know-best" jerks who feels his election to public office gives him unlimited permission to intrude into every aspect of life, whether he has any qualification to do so or not.

This is 21st Century America: a century in which government has made the transition from servant of the people to our master.

How much more will we let politicians get away with? Too much, I fear.

GCotW

This week's Gratuitous Cat is a bad-tempered, suspicious little critter indeed!

I interrupted her while she was hunting some invisible prey, and she didn't appreciate it one bit...

Lunar-cy...

...as in: some of y'all were enjoying a rare total eclipse of the moon, but out here at the edge of the Earth it was just the usual bright ball in the sky.

But, being full, it was bright enough to light up the ocean...



And bright enough to light up the rocks under the waves at the shoreline...

Saturday car photos...

...and not the usual sort, either!

I saw these this afternoon....

Because I'm an erudite smartass, I call this photo "the Axis Partners." Is that totally obscure, or can one of you figure out what the hell prompted the title?



And this one, clearly, is a "green" car, in more ways than one!

Earthquake weather?

I felt a little uneasy this afternoon -- nothing to do with my situation, as I received a couple of checks today, which will keep the blood-suckers at bay for a few weeks, anyway -- and so decided to go for a walk.

While out, I ran into a neighbor who, like me, is one of those rare beings, a Native Californian. The first thing she said was "it feels like an earthquake's coming." My immediate thought was: "she's right!"

The phenomenon of "earthquake weather" is disputed by the so-called experts, but many people I know believe in it. A day that's unseasonably warm with a "strange" sky and very still air seems to precede big shakers more often than not. In fact, the really strong 'quakes I remember most clearly -- most notably the 1971 Big One in Northridge -- were preceded by conditions similar to today's.

There are many theories: watch how animals are acting; dogs, cats, birds horses and others sense quakes before they happen. The lore of the Great San Francisco Quake is full of stories about animals gone crazy in the hours before the 'quake. I've seen a little evidence of that with my cats over the years. Other theories link phases of the moon, tides and temperatures.

But the warm, still day/night under dull skies is the one that seems most valid to me.

I'm one of those who looks at the USGS earthquake map daily. Over the last week, there have been many shakers in Northern California, but very few here in the South. Don't know what that means; probably nothing.

Tonight or tomorrow morning? I don't know. The cat is asleep, but he's so laid back that anything short of a direct hit right under his feet probably wouldn't bug him. There didn't seem to be as many seagulls and pelicans around as usual when I was outside earlier, but I wasn't really paying much attention.

My guess is that there won't be one tonight. Or tomorrow either.

But it was odd to run into another native who felt the same premonition today.

We know more...

...about where the peso stops in the Ramos/Compean case.

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, el Presidente Jorge Bush's numero uno "lawman," gave an interview to a local radio reporter -- which has now made it to CNN, courtesy of that network's one courageous reporter, Lou Dobbs.

Gonzales, while standing with another notorious open-borders fanatic, L.A. mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, said he "fully supports" federal persecutor Johnny Sutton, falsifier/withholder of evidence and perjurer. After all, Sutton was a big buddy of his back when the two of them were helping then-gobernador Bush with his attempts to make Texas part of Mexico.

Of course Gonzales "supports the Border Patrol." Just not Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean, who dared to actually stop an illegal-alien serial drug smuggler and were subsequently railroaded for doing their job.

Who Gonzales really supports is the lying druggie who was given all sorts of inducements (with more to come when his $5 million lawsuit against the USA comes up for trial, no doubt) to lie on the witness stand for Debra Kanof, Sutton's co-conspirator.

Gonzales would not address the ever-mounting pile of evidence showing that Bush's government was willing to do -- and did -- anything to make the Mexican government happy. He simply supports good ol' Johnny, Bush's loyal lapdog.

None of these people work for us. They are all in the clutches of the corrupt cartels down south.

Today, a petition to remove Johnny Sutton from his job appeared at firesociety.com, an offshoot of grassfire.org, which gathered more than 300,000 signatures to demand a pardon for Ramos and Compean.

It does not go far enough. Gonzales needs to go, too.

And the individual who put Gonzales and Sutton in their jobs?

He needs to go, too.

In fact, unless all those who have nothing but contempt for American citizens, our laws and our lives -- a bipartisan group that seems to comprise about 455 Senators and members of Congress, plus hundreds in el presidente's posse -- lose their positions of power in our government soon, the chances of there being a sovereign United States in another 20 years or less are virtually nil.

Silence is...

...not necessarily golden, but probably a good idea right now.

Everything I might choose to write about at the moment, any opinions I might express, are surely so tainted by my current levels of anger and frustration as to not be of any particular value.

I shouldn't even be writing this, but there is nothing else I can do. I'm waiting for various individuals to respond to emails and phone calls. Under the circumstances, I know any work I might attempt to do would be worthless.

That said, I'm just going to sit here and keep my damn mouth shut and my hands idle for a while.

The rest of the day...

...as expected: In the mail, copies of yet another magazine, in which two of my articles take up a total of 16 pages.

No checks.

I called the company accountant. She had already left for the day.

Totaled, I have 30 magazine pages in print right now. Even at the lowest rate any of them pay, that represents a sizable sum of money. I need it. I don't have it.

No wonder I can't stop throwing up.

Enough to make you hurl...

...is what this morning's breakfast turned out to be.

A colleague and I went to a restaurant. A cheap one; we are both waiting for checks from the same clients.

I barely made it home, and within an hour was spending far too much time either staring at porcelain or the ceiling above my bed. And it's not over yet.

Hard to say whether something was wrong with the meal -- which did not contain any peanut butter -- or stress has finally caught up to me in a major way.

That is the whole story of my day so far. The mail hasn't arrived, and the phone hasn't rung. The only emails have been the usual stack of "Fw: Fwd: Fw:" crap from an idiot who spends far too much time spreading all the crap people with more time than brains crank out to amuse themselves.