Haven't Had Much To Say.....Till Now

This piece today is dedicated to the two peace officers slain in Northern Ireland last week. My family is partly from the Belfast area, so I feel a kinship with them all, Catholic and Protestant. The wife of one of the slain officers, Kate Carroll said it best, "If they hope to solve Northern Ireland's land disputes, this is all they'll get, a six foot piece of earth in the ground" I've been a confirmed athiest all my adult life, but I want to say "God Bless You Mrs Carroll, from the bottom of my heart" I had thought that once the Sinn Fein had control of the government of No. Ireland, "The Troubles" would cease. Slim hope that. It was heartening to see so many Catholics and Protestants march together in harmony at the funerals. Thounsands attended, Amazing Grace was sung by the Catholic choir, another Protestant hymn by theirs. I don't beleive that this event will lead to revived violence, but I don't live there. I hope any readers there will write and tell me the skinny. You're all in my thoughts if not my prayers.

Had enough of the Jon Stewart grand CNBC bash?? I had to pull it up on the Comedy Central site just for s & g, and Jon really is more knowledgeable able finance than one would think. He did get some truly good shots in, and his opponent had no come backs. I've never watched "Fast Money" or anything on CNBC at all, never having that kind of dough. His guest appeared on Martha Stewart (Convicted Tax Felon??) prior to his appear on the Daily Show, and pounded the crap out of some pie dough, Marth egging him on that it was Jon. THAT was funny! She's really funny when she doesn't try to be.

What's up with the Obama administration?? They seem to have some kind of Bush Fetish. Everytime I read the NY Times or the HuffPo or Whatever, Obama is backing down on one more thing. Next he'll be drilling for oil on the White House lawn. As a devout leftist, I am getting very impatient about GITMO, Abu Grahib, the restoration of civil rights for all people, the excess of power of the excutive branch, the story goes on and on and on, All the abuses of the criminal Bush admininistration seem to just be absorbed by the the current one. But should we expect better? We the People, gave the Bushies those powers. It's our own damn fault. And until we get the ACLU and other groups to do their jobs and sue the goverment for access, we'll get nowhere. One woman sued to have her husband released from GITMO, and they won't even admit that he's there. Still. NOW! After seven years. The ACLU knows he's there. They've seen him, interviewed him. But that doesn't COUNT!! Unless the government says you're there, you're not.. Fucking Crazy. Today Obama said he would not call them "enemy combatanats", but still would not let them go. You can call them "Banana Slingers" for all the difference it makes. Put them on trial, see whose guilty or not. Or courts system may be overburdened, buit I think we could handle the couple hundred there. And in the other "Secret Prisons" the term that makes my stomach do flops. Just Do It Obama! Get It Over With and get On with The Business of Running the Country!

Well, enough rant for today. I want to end in a peaceful mode, not that there's some nice world/trance music on Pandora. Blessings to you all in Northern Ireland, you have my heart, and my name.

Stimulate This!

Well all Seniors and Disabled on Social Security benefits can now rest easy, their HUGE $250 stimulus check is all but a signature away.....The Bill was voted thru both houses of Congress, without a single Repug even looking up from the desk. Some $789 Billion in new spending and tax cuts was approved late yesterday, and unless you were comatose or highly sedated on your last Valium script, you already know all about the details of which I won't bother with here. The Greenies are happy, what with the dark ages of Bushism seemingly behind them, the Public Transit people seem pleased, so why do I have this nagging doubt, this pervasive sense of doom? That it's all going to be taken away like a favored holiday toy, never to see the light again? Could happen, I mean, were talking huge money here. No reason why this thing couldn't hit the crapper in some last minute conference committee, appropriations committee? Something like that. After eight years of having ALL my toys taken away, I'm not overly optimistic until I have the check in my hand. Conditioned pessimism if you will.


Someone asked me this morning why I only blog every couple of days, why don't I write a daily column? Good question, but an even better answer. I need at least a couple of days for the research required for each column I write. If I had lackeys. it'd be much easier, as when I worked for another magazine and had an e-mail in-box full of material waiting for me every bloody morning. I gotta find every bit myself and fact check it. It may seem effortless and the gratuitous use of profanity enforces that perception, but its anything but. I read for a minimum of five hours EVERY day, including weekends. Its a LOT of ground to cover, and a lot of facts to cross check, with no help from anyone, and a household to care for besides. What I wouldn' t give for a lackey or two. Anyone interested, I pay nothing, the hours suck and I have an evil mind and temper. But I make cookies.


Today is St Valentine's Day, and once again I have no partner with which to share it. Me and half the civilized world apparently. Doesn't bother me much anymore, but it does other people. I read massive amounts of very sad posts on everywhere from Salon.com to the NYTimes.com, and while I did ingest a bit more chocolate as a result, it didn't get me down anymore than reading about say "the War in Iraq"[tm], or the vastly more criminal "War on Drugs" [tm] do on any given day of the week. In fact my big bright spot was reading in the NYTimes about how the State of Calif. was going to have to discharge 55,000 low level no-violent incarcerated folks from their prison system. Due to a State Supreme Court ruling there, they are being forced to. Too bad they had to be MADE to do it, but it's a good start for someone like me, a member of the Prison Reform Project and The Drug Policy Foundation for like, EVER. A great start for the rest of the country to follow suit. Made my day not sad at all. I certainly hope that you and (if ya gots one) your other had/have a lovely day and night.